We’re currently working on new songs, a couple of them should be based upon songs taken out of these few CD’s…
§ Yann
Edit from Simone : I’m not sure I’ll get inspired by the covers for our next visuals…
Balkan effect
Musicians’ Diary
Making new with old
This is exactly what our music is about: taking something old, that you would almost not use any more, and bring it to a new life, turn it into a new experience. The old will still be there, but it will taste so much different that it will stand out.
And the Dress then?
Well the dress is a very old concert dress, that I used again and again for years, that I used indeed so much until it was so tired and threadbare that I couldn’t wear it any more. But I can’t get rid of it so easily. I haven’t been able to for years, so I’ll use our music technique: turn it into something totally new!
§ Simone
Wrapping day… which colour is your music?
We also used to have some blue wrapping tissue , and some other ribbon colours too… well, we’ll get some more, piles of albums ready to go looked much more harmonious!
It’s for a gift, can I request a colour if I order your album?
Of course my dear! Just add a note when you order it >here<
§ Simone
Because music is not only about music…
It’s also about creating another world in which you can feel and sense our music, in which everything will tell you “you are there”.
I had started decorating this small tambourine I use on stage for a couple of songs, but then, I felt it missed some extra twist and colours to really fit into the way our music has evolved. Not done yet, but I’m getting there, and I’m excited to try it… I’m sure it will really look cool.
§ Simone
Do you want our android app? Astrakan Project android app!!!
Doesn’t it absolutely look really cool?
You can download it for free using this link:
http://www.reverbnation.com/astrakanproject/android
With android app you’ll have:
- Music of course: our new EP on streaming + Live in Lebanon on streaming + 3 Martelod from our album + more to come (of course more to come, Yann is already working on our next EP!)
- Songs lyrics
- Easy links to our videos, blogs, social networks that you can share around, to buy, to send us feedback…
- A cool feature to submit your own pictures! We will most definitely use it soon to create a new video.
We got it tested on a couple of devices, it works fairly well, although we are still fixing little bugs. As it is a free app that will download from a direct link and not from Google Play, a message will display asking you if you trust the source – yes, you can trust the source, it’s an app from Reverbnation, a huge social network for musicians… and anyway, if you’re an Astrakan Project fan that kind of tells you love to take risks!
Let us know… are you using it? Do you like it? Please share it around, it might just be a cool way to get your friends to find out about our music (+ you’ll look cool too, because that band they have no idea about has its own app!)
“Within the Circle” EP presentation {vlog}
[youtube http://youtu.be/PSCtWWnU5Ak]
Full download from EP: https://astrakanproject.bandcamp.com/…
Artwork on sale: http://goo.gl/toLfcn
A Green See Goddess for our EP
Very colourful again, even if at the moment you’ll only see it threw your screen, it will complete your music experience. The painting is an evocation of the Greek Goddess of the Sea Tethys, which will be perfect to go along with the second song of the EP inspired by a circle dance rhythm from the Karpatos islands.
Music will be released next Friday, 4 long tracks (about 25 min all together!) and available for download directly here, also on our bandcamp page and on our Android app. Yes! We’ll have our android app! How cool is that?
More Art from Simone on her Tumblr: http://rosaborboniana.tumblr.com/ or on her on-line shop: http://rosaborboniana.alittlemarket.com
EP’s expected release date? Friday, November the 8th!
We are done with recording our 4 tracks short album, Yann is doing some fine-tuning work on the mixing/mastering part, but… we are done. And we are happy! We really like what we came up with, and we’re totally excited about sharing it around!
What are we waiting for? Well…
I had in mind something more simple, but I can’t help, at the very last minute when I heard the final recording, something simple and soft just didn’t fit. I guess I like when it’s super-over-colourful. Maybe that’s also the way I feel about our music.
What else? We need to transfer all the tracks there and there so that anyone can access with one simple easy click. We decided it will be a release on “pay-what-you-want” system, like for our >Live in Lebanon<. But the great new we are totally excited about is also that it will be available on OUR Android App!
If you haven’t heard the short sample we shared, here it is again:
One more pic from the cover?
In the meantime, stay tuned, follow us on Facebook :
Tradition: freedom of evolution vs. Museum gate keepers
While searching my pile of lyrics a couple of days ago, I fund that printed copy:
It’s the first version of 1932 I got back in 2004 while I was studying with Erik Marchand.
It’s a messy piece of paper. With notes from various projects I used it for. With rhythm variations. With pronunciation variations.
An time I attended workshops, I always noticed singers had the same kind of messy lyrics. It feels like even when we type them into our text editor, as soon as they get printed, we need to mess them around.
Certainly it has a strong connection with the fear we all have that it would make it “the” ultimate version. For centuries songs have evolved, people would forget about some parts, then re-invent them, or just adapt some parts to the way they would pronounce them, or feel that it would sound even better with some little changes…
Being able to make mistakes, to forget, admitting that there is never one truth but only individuals, that tradition is not one, but made of many people bringing their own interpretation together, this is also what has made my singing journey so fulfilling and ever-surpriing so far.
§ Simone
The places that stimulate inspiration
I think the place you are in can strongly influence your inspiration for creating music. Let’s have a quick tour of some places that gave us some inspiration while we were working on the album…
The first one is of course the place we live : Istanbul…
…which is supposed to give inspiration. We had the idea of 1932‘s rhythm while crossing the Bosphorus…
We worked a lot on Twist en-dro war al leur-goat, Kreñv veld ar garantez and Mouezhioù in Bulgaria…
…in this wonderful house…
…with FOLK TV running all day long…
Listening to Folk TV all day made me fully understand 9/8 rhythms, and gave us the basis of our song An daou gamerad fidel.
The Traditional Music School of Shiroka Laka [BG]:
Of course, every day view / environment is extremely relevant…
Istanbul can be extremely stimulating !
But also somewhat disturbing…
Maybe the time has come to look for another stimulating place…
§ Yann
. astrakan project . 