| It was the summer of 2003 and MP3.com's active message board community was heating up as well -- with flame wars.
Along came Chaz Fanaro, looking to cut through the negative noise. He began to interview many of the musical artists who pitched a tent on the popular indie music forum. Others pitched in with questions of their own. July of 2003 could have turned ugly, but thanks to the interviews blanketing the forum, it became a home for insight and mutual respect.
The forums were wiped clean by Vivendi in December, 2003. The interviews live on.
Deryn - Electrocello
Artist description
Passion and energy
Music Style
Eclectic
Musical Influences
Classical, jazz, cabaret, popular
Similar Artists
No-one on this earth...
Artist History
Deryn grew up and studied music in South Africa. Her qualifications include Performer's Licentiate (University of Stellenbosch) and B Mus (Hons) (South African College of Music). She moved to London 3 years ago, and is busily establishing herself as a Cellist With a Difference. She is playing with two established groups: eclectic duo, TickTock, and rock band, Favourite Ache.
Group Members
Deryn - Cello Johan De Cock - Piano, synth, arranger Simon Kitts - recording engineer
Instruments
Cello, piano, synthesiser
Albums
Hommage, Duo
Press Reviews
"...the atmosphere was alluring and the music piquant and seductive. If classical music needs to look beyond the concert-hall ghetto without simply selling out to barbarity, then this might well be the way to do it." Rupert Christiansen, Daily Telegraph, 1 April 2003
Location
London, England - United Kingdom
Chaz the Spaz
Growing up and studing music in South Africa sounds adventurous (and dangerous), who were your musicial influences when growing up?
electrocello
Mostly international artists based in the UK and USA. It was very rare that we ever got to hear them play live, but i collected CD's avidly.
We have a fairly lively music scene in South Africa - some very talented musicians. Unfortunately, it's still a very isolated country in many ways, so not much of our talent ever gets heard beyond our borders.
Chaz the Spaz
You say not much South African music gets past the border, what kind of music is played in South Africa?
electrocello
As South Africa has such an incredibly diverse mix of cultures (11 official languages), there is a variety of music to match. We have some exceptionally talented jazz musicians, most of whom play a brand of jazz that is unique to Southern Africa, including a multitude of African music elements. There are some great bands - the rock/pop scene has been getting more and more lively over the last 15 years. On the classical front, things have quietened down somewhat. We used to have a multitude of symphony orchestras. During the dark years of Apartheid, the government used to fund all classical music, but when the ANC came into power, it was clear that there were far bigger financial priorities than classical music (ie putting rooves over people's heads), and most of the orchestras were shut down. Classical musicians are slowly learning that the only way forward for them is to find corporate funding, and are learning a bit of business savvy.
Chaz the Spaz
What are your goals and what do you have planned for your music?
electrocello
My main goal is to play my cello for as long as possible to as many people as possible. It is an instrument with almost unlimited possibility, and my experimentation at the moment is far, far away from my classical training.
My biggest focus at the moment is my band, Favourite Ache. I've always loved rock music and playing it on my electric cello is a buzz beyond all others! We are working towards a) finding decent management, b) a publishing deal, c) playing EVERYWHERE, d) either a record deal, or starting up our own lable.
As far as my solo playing is concerned, I'll always love playing classical music and will always look for opportunities to do so. But I'll never limit myself to that.
MORE INTERVIEWS WITH CHAZ
-- Rick Munarriz
Liquid
Stereo
|
