TLSQ BLOG |
On Sunday April 23rd, 2017 TLSQ are honoured to be playing Oracle Marker by Evelyn Morris (Pikelet). So honoured that we have named the whole concert after this gorgeous work! Evelyn wrote this piece for us in 2015 and we premiered it at our Abbotsford Convent Concert Series. Playing it in the beautiful acoustic space of The Hawthorn Arts Centre is going to be a treat and you really should come along.
BOOK HERE. Evelyn is a very busy musician but she was kind enough to answer some questions for our curious audience. Have a read below.
When did you know that you wanted to be a musician?
When I was 3 apparently I told my mum I would be a concert pianist. Although I lacked the discipline to follow through on that, I have just always known music is my life-long pursuit. What was your first instrument? Piano, I nagged for lessons until I was 4 or so. What is the strangest music gig/job that you’ve done? The strangest thing I've done musically was in a group that I don't reveal to anyone I'm a part of so... I can't tell you. I also used to play in a children's band and anyone who has played to children knows that can be pretty wild and abstract. What is the strangest non-music job you’ve ever done? All work is kinda strange when you think about it... my main work over the years has been bartending in small bars and often it feels very strange watching people socialize every night and spend heaps of money on this liquid that makes them act different. But I found call centre market research to be the most bizarre job. You end up feeling as though there is a disembodied angry voice constantly in your ear. I didn't last long in that line of work though I tried it a few times. You work across many different styles of music, what was your first love as a listener and how did it lead to playing so many different styles? I can't really remember what composer was my first love but probably Mozart, as that's often the thing you are first most exposed to when you're learning. I became very keen on Debussy in my teen years and that has remained a (somewhat too prominent) influence. However also during my teens I loved Ace of Base and Abba, all kinds of heavy punk and thrash, lots of 70s music my parents had like Cat Stevens and Black Sabbath... so I guess my interest in eclecticism has always been present in my listening as well. I go through intense phases with lots of different artists, rather than a specific genre or region of music.
Tell us about the music you have composed for TLSQ:
This piece grew out of an improvisation on the piano, and I think I would love to develop it further to be honest... haha. But I love the interpretation that Biddy and the Letter String Quartet have given it. Biddy notated it from a recording I gave her, because I'm terrible at actual scoring. She did an excellent job. What is the next project that you are working on? I'm working on a bunch of things at once all the time. Currently I play in an Ethiopian band with some friends who are from that area, I'm working towards film soundtrack, recording bands as a producer and engineer at Phaedra studios, and booking events every week. Plus I'm writing/recording a new Pikelet album and always composing piano pieces. I play in a duo with my friend Aviva Endean who plays clarinet and bass clarinet and we're called Crush Crush. Plus once in a while I get back into drumming heavy stuff in my old bands Baseball and True Radical Miracle when we get back together. Plus I'm working towards some kinda feminist performance series for Deakin Uni. Too much. What music are you enjoying listening to right now? I'm really into a 70s composer called Roberto Cacciapaglia, a friend gave me his album Sonanze a fair few years ago and I love it still. Also loving Angel Olsen, Kendrik Lamar, and locally there's a million bands I hear all the time and love. What is your favourite podcast? Woah... huuuge question. I am obsessed with podcasts. The Heart, Answer Me This, used to be radiolab and This American Life but they've sorta trailed off... Love and Radio, Snap Judgement, srsly it's too hard to choose.... If you were not a musician or performing artist, what would be your ideal occupation? I would be a more active activist and doing much more political work and writing I think. Or perhaps a dog-sitter. Comments are closed.
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