25/08/2023
⬇️Alljärgnevalt äsja tehtud intervjuu Siebeniga. Inglise keeles, et midagi tõlkes kaduma ei läheks.⏬️
🎵SIEBEN : “a loop pedal helps draw people in, creating a hypnotic world of music”🎶
Legendary Matt Howden aka Sieben (UK) with his violin Kev and loopers will perform as headliner this Saturday 26th of August at Elektrikirik 23 at Viru-Jaagupi church, Estonia. He answered the interview questions just a few days before arriving for the fourth time to Estonia.
His music style has changed a bit with every album. Somewhere dark folk meets neoclassical, some pop tunes, ambient, electropunk, even some techno touch.
📌How do you yourself describe your current musical style?📌
• I don’t! I think it falls in many categories, but mainly my own. “Aiming for genreless” I make songs of all sorts with my violin and voice, looping them, playing and singing. You have to come see 🙂
📌Which of your songs are the most meaningful and important currently for you yourself?📌
• With me, it’s often my newer material. My style changed in the Brexit/Trump world, more relating to the current world than looking to build pictures of beautiful old worlds. My new album, Ten Hymns For Modern Times deals us losing our sense, decency and and reason.
📌What is your favourite style of songs you like to play on stage? Why?📌
• It changes always- currently it’s my latest single, Buried In Snow- well, because it’s new, but it’s also very catchy, I think. I also like digging out songs from my long-gone past of early albums. This weekend will be a mix, but more from my latest albums as it has been a while I played in Estonia and my new style will be new to many 🙂
📌Why do you call your violin the name Kev?📌
• He’s made of Kevlar and I thought he should have an earthy name 🙂
📌You released a cover album Lockdown The Covers in 2020. How difficult is it to make covers with your looping technic and with violin? Is it possible to cover every song you like or there are some elements or structure of the song you can cover in your way?📌
• Songs with lots of sections are hard- they take a long time to build the loops, so I tend to go with songs where just the verse and chorus are needed. It has to be song I really like, too. I’ve been having a lot of fun lately, with The Cure’s Lullaby at live concerts.
📌Your also released 10 CD boxset Lockdown Sieben. Why did you decide to make that kind of box?📌
• It happened organically, growing from the shows in Lockdown (55 shows in total, each Friday) and then recording an album’s worth each month, offering it for free on bandcamp. Then one of the lovely Lockdown Sieben facebook group suggested I make a physical CD box of it as a memory of those times. So i did 🙂
📌Both, the cover album and boxset have Lockdown in the names. How was the Covid and lockdown time for you? Was it a more depressive period or the opposite, it gave more time for creative work with your new and old music? 📌
• Personally, we had much tragedy, friends and family, and in many respects a difficulty lockdown. Artistically, I have to say it was a gem; time to tweak and adapt my work (i didn’t write anything new, except daft songs, which I felt people needed), an audience each week without leaving the house. It was like a bootcamp for me; once I knew people were at the livestream each week I worked really hard on decor, re-learning songs so my set was always varied. As well as teaching online 3 days a week…
📌It will be the fourth time for you to visit Estonia. You performed at the Darkland Fire festival in 2010 and 2018 and four concert Dark Romantic Evening tour 2014 mixed with family vacation in Estonia. What are the things you like and always remember from Estonia?📌
• I have so many great memories; of Rakvere, nice food, great company, really good beer. Great concerts at each of Darkland Fire festivals and Dark Romantic tour, lovely trips across Estonia, to Hiiumaa, on the shore of Peipsi.
📌Is there anything you think is a bit weird or unusual about Estonia? 📌
• There is weird and unusual everywhere, it is part of the joy of life. A little thing comes to mind… it makes me chuckle that so much of Estonia, shops included is wood-clad - perfectly natural of course, and something you have in plentiful supply- I laugh partly because it is unusual, but mainly because my wife accuses me of wanting to wood-clad everything I can. So I guess it makes me feel at home.
📌Which message would you like to give to the people who come see you live on Saturday evening in Viru-Jaagupi?📌
• Come see me! I mix a range of styles in my music, and I hope that the way I build my music live in front of you with a loop pedal helps draw people in, creating a hypnotic world of music 🙂
📌What do you expect from the live taking place already this Saturday?📌
• I expect to give people a good time (that’s my job) and I’m sure I will enjoy it too 🙂 I like to weave a spell, when I play, and really have to psyche myself up to transmit the energy of my music the way I want to 😉
📌What are your future plans for Sieben?📌
• I’m working on being self-sufficient. No label, no desire to have one. Brexit has messed up selling to the EU, and my (normal) job is in danger, so I’ve set up a Patreon - people pay a little each month to support what I do. And I make regular livestream, behind the scenes videos, daft movies where I talk to my violin, and secret mini festivals in my home. It’s working out beautifully with this, building a lovely little community, post-lockdown.
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