KATHMANDU, Feb 27: The workshop will be followed by a fusion performance by Martina Topley-Bird, vocalist and songwriter from the UK with Kutumba on February 28 at Patan Durbar Square.
This is Martina’s first event with Un-Convention but she has already collaborated with artistes from the likes of Massive Attack, Gorillaz, rapper Common and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.[break]
Martina has already released three solo albums, and her last one was about reinterpreting her previous works in different parameters.
“I tried to pick on the essential recognizable elements and focus on them,” she says. She also beatboxes but admits she isn’t very good at it. “I can only do kick drum and snare but those are all I need for now,” she adds.
Here, she discusses about her genre of music, improvising with Kutumba, and what all she’ll be performing on Thursday.
What instruments do you play and will be playing at the concert on Thursday?
I play keyboard and piano and a little bit of guitar. I’m learning ukulele right now. I’ll be playing one song on guitar, apart from vocals, and I hope I get to use my pedal. We’ll be playing some of my songs – Poison, Baby Blue, Too Tough to Die – with longer instrumental sections for Kutumba.
We will also be recording the live sessions. So if I;m not able to collaborate with Kutumba like I had hoped, we’ll have that.
Which genre do you identify your music with and was it difficult to improvise with Kutumba?
My music is largely identified as trip-hop but there are Blues and Jazz influences in my vocals. Although I use loop station to overdub my vocals and create backing tracks, usually, when I’m performing, I use only live instruments. So there’s no electronic music then. It’s eclectic.
My songs have simple chords. So what I did was playing one of my songs and let the guys from Kutumba figure out the melody and work on the rhythm. I’ve chosen songs in which the rhythm is negotiable and the melody is strong enough in itself.
What did you discuss with the participants during the workshop this morning?
They asked me about my career and how things have changed. We discussed ways an artist can monetize his/her music, and one of the important things is to put pressure on the government to make them realize the commercial importance of music and that it can be an export.
As a recording artist, my biggest concern is copyright laws and ways I can make money apart from touring. It was disheartening to know that there aren’t strict copyright laws in Nepal.
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