Can you give a brief introduction to the band and it’s short history?
The band consists of:
Jerina Welgraven. She is a classically trained clarinetist, but plays almost every wind instrument. In the band she plays a.o. the tin whistle, low-whistle and bass recorder.
Patrick Lieffers is our didgeridoo-player and he also plays percussion (cajon and dumbak).
The harp is played by classically trained harpist Anouk Platenkamp.
We actually started out as harp and whistles. Jerina and Anouk met at a concert in Nijmegen and during the intermission Anouk blurted out how great it would be to play in a folk-band. Jerina agreed and we exchanged contact-info. We started rehearsing and playing folk music, and tunes by other great bands (like die Irrlichter and Sava). After about half a year we decided we were ready to perform in public and entered the Buskers-Festival in Elst. That is where we met Patrick. We saw him playing didge and decided to ask him to join us. He agreed and the rest is history.
You found each other while busking says your myspace profile. Can you explain what busking is and what it means for you, do you still do this?
Busking is playing live in the streets. We met at a Buskers-Festival in 2009 and have joined the festival this year as well (with good result: we got 2nd place). In the near future we will also be playing the buskers festival in Leiden (on July 4th 2010). So we do plan to keep on busking.
You all are highly skilled musicians, for that you have to start early with music lessons, what made you decide to play the Harp/Clarinet at a very young age?
Anouk: That is a hard question to answer… I have no idea why I wanted to play the harp. According to my parents I was 3 years old when I first mentioned it. They think I must have seen a harp on TV. They tried to get me to accept another instrument, because it was hard to find a teacher in the little village we lived in, and the harp is an expensive instrument to start with (you can buy a guitar for a few hundred euro’s, but harps start at about 2500 euro). But I was sticking with the harp.
I remember going to a concert with my father when I was 9. My father played the clarinet in the local brass band. There was a man playing the horn during that concert and every time he played he turned bright red. I thought this looked fun and I mentioned this to my father afterwards. I said that if I couldn’t play the harp I wanted to play the horn. Somehow this helped and I got to start the harp when I was just about to turn 10.
Jerina: My sister played the flute in the local brass band. I went to some of her concerts and this is where I first heard a clarinet being played. I loved it, and so I joined as well.
Usually kids start with music lessons at a young age but stop when they hit puberty (first boy/girlfriend and so). What is the reason that you continued, in what way did you deviate from so many other kids?
Anouk: I wanted to play the bass! I loved bands like Bad Religion, Rage Against the Machine and Nirvana. I thought it would be really cool if I could play the bass. But playing the harp got me a lot of friends because I was the only harp-player in my high-school; I always got asked to play at school-concerts and happenings.
Also I had a great harp teacher who kept me interested in playing the harp by organizing for her students to play together and by making sure I got to play music I liked. She even made an arrangement of a Guns ‘n Roses song for me!
Is there any other instrument you would to play in the near future?
Jerina: I am taking hurdy-gurdy lessons at the moment. We are working on some songs with the saxonett I just bought. Also I would love to have medieval bagpipes.
Anouk: I would love to play the hurdy-gurdy and maybe pick up the guitar again. Last weekend I met someone who builds hammered dulcimers, so who knows we might give that a try.
We were really surprised about your show at InDeepEnd in the Netherlands. It’s hard to believe it was your second show ever, how did you prepare for this show?
By rehearsing the setlist a lot! We decided on what we wanted to play in April and put everything else aside for a month. Part of the preparations was also to play the buskers festival in Elst, that got us performing in public a bit.
This show was very different from our first show though. We have really grown in the months since the Doornenburg concert. It also helps that we all have experience playing other concerts in different bands.
On paper it sounds a bit strange, a band that plays Nordic and Celtic folk songs and have a didgeridoo, how did you find out this worked really well, what does this instrument add to the sound of Faerydae?
Patrick: First off you just have to try. I started playing because I love it’s rich earthy sound. Over the years I have played with different musicians, using the didge with rock music, indie music and in contemporary compositions. With Faerydae we found it works on a couple of songs.
I see the didge as a percussion instrument, bringing a drone and adding a rhythm. In this way it adds to our unique sound.
In the past there are countless songs being written, how do you manage to pick out the right ones for Faerydae?
We just play what we like to hear. Usually it starts out by one of us hearing a tune, or picking one up from a book or a workshop. We all love to listen to music and that gets us a lot of idea’s.
When we get together to rehearse we just try out the new tunes and see if we can get inspiration for them. Sometimes it works straight away, like with Busker’s Dream.
Sometimes we play the tune for a few weeks and then decide not to use it.
You have to change the songs quite often to make it work, how do you do this and what kind of adjustments do the songs usually require?
We like traditional Celtic/Nordic music, but our choice of instruments is not very traditional with the didge and cajon in it. So that makes it easier to make other changes as well. Sometimes we stick to the traditional tune (like Busker’s Dream), because it just works.
Sometimes we get a crazy idea. Like with Lisdoonfarna. Anouk played an intro to the tune (different to what the intro is now) which gave Jerina the idea to play the tune in 7/8 (traditionally it’s called ‘the Road to Lisdoonvarna’ and it’s played in 6/8). That meant changing the tune slightly. Patrick wanted to use the didge and that sounded so good we decided to have a didge-solo in it. Then the old intro just sounded weird so Anouk wrote a new one.
This is how it often works for us. We play a tune for a few weeks and let it develop over time.
You just released a three track demo, how are the responses on it so far and how can people achieve it?
The response is very good so far. People are enthusiastic about what we do. If you want to listen to our demo, we have put it online at www.faerydae.nl People who want their own copy can email us at Faerydae@harpiste.nl
All track are instrumental, have you ever thought of adding vocals as well or don’t you miss them?
So far we like our music as it is. But who knows what the future brings?
You are also a musical therapist, can you explain what this is and what music can do for people besides making them enjoy a good time?
Anouk: The term “musical therapist” might give some wrong idea’s. I studied with the International Harp Therapy Program and since I graduated I am a “Certified Therapeutic Harp Practitioner”. The difference is significant, because music therapy is a 4 year training, and I only studied a year.
What I do is play harp-music for people who are ill, have a disability or are dying. I have been taught to fit my music totally to the clients needs. I have been playing for people with Alzheimer’s disease since I was twelve. It was really amazing what the music could bring these people. If I played a very sad tune, people would start crying. Very common among people with Alzheimer’s is that they get agitated and keep walking the halls. Some people will walk the halls for days/weeks, which is a serious problem to their health (especially if they are prone to falling). Anyway, I would start playing my harp, and these patients would sit down and listen! Some for 10 minutes at a time.
Now I am able to really connect to people with my music. It can help relieve pain, give people much needed rest and calm, and give family support. Music is a universal language….
In what way does playing in a therapy setting deviate from playing a concert with Faerydae for you?
Anouk: When we play with the band it’s about having fun and performing music we like to make. If people like it, so much the better, but it’s more about what we like.
In a therapy setting it is all about the client. I try to match their needs as much as possible. What I do is improvise for them, and I match their breathing tempo, their musical taste, their tone. Matching can mean just playing one or two notes for someone, or it can mean playing a classical tune they used to listen to or a familiar song they can sing along with.
What will be next for Faerydae, will there be an official album soon?
We do want to make an album sometime, but it isn’t going to happen this year. We are working on writing our own tunes. We love traditional music, but there are also some good idea’s for Faerydae originals. We don’t want to rush into making an album, get some experience playing live first.
We have a website under construction and in the mean time we are expending our repertoire.
Any last words for our readers?
Thanks for taking an interest and hopefully we will meet you at one of our gigs!
www.faerydae.nl