🎈🎉 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀! 🎉🎈
𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭. 🎂
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| Photo credit: PhotoArtTeam (main photo), smaller pics unknown / edit by Silke |
📢 ”I have known the band socially for many years because we have several friends in common in London, and we used to meet at gigs before Placebo became hugely successful and their tours took them away for long periods. Brian remembers seeing me playing violin with Michael J Sheehy about 10 years ago at the 12-bar club in London. At the time I was playing and writing with various bands, including Dream City Film Club. Coincidentally I was also in the band Tram for a while, and Bill Lloyd was in this band before me! Small world… But our musical paths didn’t officially merge until the band decided to use strings on the 'Meds' album. They asked me to write with them, and we found musical material and a sound that could add something to the songs without overpowering them. It worked well and after this I collaborated with Stefan on the strings for the Hotel Persona album.”
(Interview with Niki Phaser, January 2010)
🎬 𝗙𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼 – 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗞 (𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟵)
🎵 https://bit.ly/2YyTkB3 🎵
♦️𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐅𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀♦️
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖?
📢 “I started creating music from the age of four, when my mum gave me an old tape recorder with a microphone. I started making up songs and recording them. I don’t come from a musical family but I learnt recorder, piano and violin whilst at primary school, and I was encouraged by the excellent teachers at the county music service in Northamptonshire (NMPAT), playing in the Youth and Chamber Orchestras. This exposed me to the world of classical music and I fell in love with the String Orchestra repertoire, writing for chamber ensembles from 11 onwards with pieces performed by my peers. I went on to study at Kings College London and the Royal Academy of Music, studying composition with Silvena Milstein and Sir Harrison Birtwistle, but I found the academic world there creatively stifling, so I started playing with London-based rock bands instead.“
𝗪𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠 '𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗦 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠', 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗕𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗛𝗔𝗦𝗡'𝗧 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗕𝗘𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘?
📢 “Thank you! It is chamber music for piano, violin and cello. Reflective, consonant, relaxing. It is inspired by travel and each piece was conceived in the city it is named after. It represents my emotional response to that location at that particular time. I am not attempting to represent the place itself, just me within it.“
𝗪𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗪 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘 '𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗧 𝗡𝗢. 𝟭', 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗛 𝗪𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗞 𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗬 𝗕𝗘𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗕𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗬. 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘?
📢 “I was approached by Brother Tree Sound, led by fellow violinist Anna de Bruin, to see if I had anything they could perform at their debut concert. I had been working on a string quartet that was nearly finished so I offered to finish it for them to premiere. They gave me the incentive I needed to complete the work, basically. I love writing for string quartet because it is the perfect capsule ensemble. I have the players in mind when I am writing, always asking myself ‘How would it feel to play this?’ I want it to be exciting and satisfying for the performers. I am inspired by the quartet repertoire in general, and by the love of playing that music.“
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝗧𝗥𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗨𝗣 𝗧𝗢, 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖-𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗘, 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧?
📢 “I’m currently working on music for a BBC documentary, and I am close to finishing my second solo album, which is a lot more sonically ambitious than “Postcards From”. I have a new work being released by the Thesis Project in the new year, and will continue writing orchestral arrangements for bands and touring with different artists.“
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| Photo credit: stagr.de |
📢 “Yes particularly my early influences.. Bartok, Prince, Shostakovich, Blondie, Lennox Berkeley, Bach, Mozart, The Velvet Underground, Debussy. The genre distinction was irrelevant to me, I didn’t hear ‘pop’ or ‘classical’, I just connected with their music. Obviously my musical tastes have developed with age and I listen to a wide range of music but I know that these artists have informed my writing and arranging style.“
🎬 𝐅𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 – 𝐃𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐬 (𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨)
🎵 https://bit.ly/3ln3HRe 🎵
𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗩𝗜𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗩𝗘. 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗢 𝗙𝗔𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗬𝗢𝗨?
📢 “Performing with Placebo at Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia for MTV was pretty special. It was my first gig with the band, and I went on to tour with them for nearly a decade. I’m also particularly proud of some of the recording work I have done with John Grant, especially the violin line on ‘Mars’. It was a good day when I came up with that. Performing with Roy Harper is always a memorable experience and it is a privilege to be onstage with him. Actually, whenever I go into an orchestral session at Abbey Road or Air, I feel proud of the musical heritage, the lineage running through those great studios, and I don’t ever take that work for granted.“
𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗬 𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗚𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗬 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗔 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗡𝗗/𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙?
📢 “Be humble. Be polite. Be on time. Listen. Don’t be scared of silence. Serve the song, not your own ego.“
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗘𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗬𝗢𝗨?
📢 “Music is a vital language, an important form of communication. Composing allows me to create a tranquil space, to process my emotional responses to this world in an abstract but hopefully meaningful way.“
(Contemplative Classical, January 24th 2019)
Post by Silke
