Mae Kartäuser Trio are live at Ashburton Arts on Friday 5th October.
TICKETS HERE or from Church’s Ironmongers in Ashburton or message 07832 200980 to reserve.
Can you tell me more about the trio – who are they and how did you meet and why do you love playing with them?
The trio! Who are they? Its comic: we have Rich and Ric! And they are not to be muddled! Rich Taylor plays a beautiful wooden acoustic bass – we have been good friends for over 10 years and have played music together in various forms since 2009. Rich has seen the band in so many forms! I really treasure that. Ric Byer is newer on the scene – we met a year ago and immediately hit it off in such an immediate way, I don’t remember any other time I have ever had such an instant rapport with someone like that. Within minutes of playing together we realised we had insane amounts of things in common and were instantly acting like playful idiots.
I love playing with these guys so much because we spend our whole time together laughing and messing about. When we’re on stage all of that just feels even more elevated.
Seriously, we really have so much fun together.
Do you gig a lot with them or is this a rare thing?
This trio is a rare thing… we’ve been playing together in different forms over the last year, but this will be only our second live gig together. We’re building momentum…
What are you up to at the moment, musically?
So over the last 4 years I have been performing all over the place – mostly in France, Belgium, Sweden – but almost exclusively solo. In that time Ive been writing a lot but Ive felt that the songs, whilst complete, were yearning for a band to really sculpt them and so I have a big catalogue of unheard material that we are slowly, piece by piece, pulling out of the bag and bringing into life. We’re not in a hurry, but the aim is that within the next year we will release a new album. I know it has been long in the making because I have had a lot of enquiries since the release of Atlas back in 2014.
When did you first know that music was your thing? Can you remember the first live gig you went to? What do you remember about it?
I knew that music was my thing when I was very small. We had a 6 octave piano in the dining room and once everyone had eaten dinner and migrated to the television next door I would turn off the lights and just sit at the piano and thump it (delicately) like I was a very emotional virtuoso. I remember thinking, why do people need to learn the piano? I already know how to play it and it sounds as good as real modern music? At school I would disappear into the piano rooms at break and lunch times and just disappear into the sonic euphoric world of vibrating strings. I don’t know why, music was just always part of our daily lives. There was never a question.
One of the first live gigs I remember was a Russian vocal ensemble. I remember just feeling euphorically connected to the glorious crunchy harmonies and my Mum and I could not stop talking about it afterwards. It was so moving.
Is it music that makes you get up in the morning?
Hmm thats a good question. Music is so intrinsically imbedded in life that its hard to think of it abstractly. Music, like life, is the river and I am the boat.
If you didn’t do music…what would you choose?
Im a hobbyist. Sometimes I feel burdened by my enthusiasm for what can seem like – everything – in life. Making things, growing things, fixing things, learning about everything, exploring, gallivanting by foot or hoof… But seriously, I guess if it wasn’t music, I would probably be a child psychologist, or an arts facilitator working with vulnerable people overseas.
If you were to have a lyric tattooed on your body, what would it be?
Hmm. Wow. Thats too hard! I love impermanence too much.
Where are you from? What do you love about playing in Devon?
I was raised in Hampshire but Im half Devonian (and yes, half German). My mums ancestors were Dartmoor folk. I couldn’t feel more at home in Devon. To me music is raw and wild and so basic. And so I cant think of anywhere else more suitable to play it than in a raw and wild Devon, under the stars, next to the sea, floating down the river dart.
What do you like about Bert Miller?
Bert is terrifically funny and writes with such a beautiful blend of tenderness and absurdity. He is one of my all time favourite performers.
What is the future of your musical journey?
I love the journey of being an artist because, like any kind of real journey, it really unfolds before you. I never know what is next, I am constantly uncovering new stepping stones and junctions. I have spent several years now exploring music in relation to contemporary circus (and playing music as an aerial artist!)… and now I feel my curiosity leading me towards Bulgarian and Middle Eastern vocal styles. Im not sure yet what this looks like, but Im sensing that the songs are beginning to really diversify ….
