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Anja Franziska Plaschg was born on April 5, 1990, in Gnas, Austria. As a teenager, she learned violin and became interested in electronic music. At 16, she left a graphic design program and moved to Vienna to study art at the Academy of Fine Arts, though she left after two years.
In 2008, under the stage name Soap&Skin, she released her first EP and began performing to critical acclaim. Influenced by artists like Björk, Nico, and Aphex Twin, as well as composers such as Sergei Rachmaninoff and Arvo Pärt, Plaschg developed a unique style. Her debut album, "Lovetune for Vacuum" (2009), charted in Austria, Germany, Belgium, and France, and earned her an Amadeus Austrian Music Award in the Alternative/Rock category. Her second album, "Narrow" (2012), reached number one on the Austrian charts.
In film, Plaschg scored the Italian horror-action film "War Games" (2011) and the fantasy drama "Sicilian Ghost Story" (Switzerland/Italy/France, 2017). Her title song for "Sicilian Ghost Story," “Italy,” earned her a David di Donatello nomination for Best Original Song. In 2017, she also composed the theme music for Netflix's hit series "Dark" (2017–2020). Over the years, she has created music for various theater productions, including "Antigone" at Vienna’s Burgtheater in 2015.
Plaschg's acting career began in 2011 with a lead role as a prostitute in the award-winning drama "Stilleben" ("Still Life," Austria, 2011). She then starred in "Die Geträumten" ("The Dreamed Ones, Austria, 2016), an experimental film in which she and actor Laurence Rupp read from the correspondence between poets Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan. In 2017, she appeared in "Axolotl Overkill" with a haunting cover of Gil Scott-Heron's "Me and the Devil."
Her third album, "From Gas to Solid / you are my friend" (2018), reached number three on the Austrian charts and was nominated for Album of the Year at the Amadeus Austrian Music Awards. However, Plaschg withdrew her nomination due to the inclusion of the politically controversial Austrian singer Andreas Gabalier in the same category.
In 2024, she starred as a depressed farmer in the historical drama "Des Teufels Bad" ("The Devil’s Bath," Austria/Germany), composing the film's score as well. For her work, she won both the Best Actress and Best Music awards at the Austrian Film Awards. Later that year, she released a new Soap&Skin album titled "Torso" and was honored with the Outstanding Artist Award for Music.