We both began our studies at the Jutland Art Academy in Aarhus in 2007. Since then, we have played together in our band Måske bare musik (Maybe Just Music). Our approach back then was an experimental investigation of sounds through play, without thinking - just play and see what happens…and it still is today, 14 years later. Since the beginning, we have been working with four  constraints:

1) never play in the same place twice
2) everything, rehearsals as well as concerts, is improvised
3) always take a photo of the place and the setup
4) everything is recorded

How do we communicate and think before, under and after playing? 

Our main focus is the process, and how to dissolve the distinction between rehearsal and concert, or, more generally, between private and public. Furthermore, we are interested in states of mind – what happens while we play, what kind of change do we undergo, how do we communicate and think before, under and after playing?     

Ultimate exposure

Energy is important for us, and we try to understand what kind of energy we create from (that is, with what kind of energy, do we affect our audience). Fragility. Is fragility associated with a 'feminine' energy? We believe that we, through our work, show the power in fragility. Our setup is simple, some might say 'naïve', or exposed. What kinds of qualities lie within the power of fragility? – surrender, devotion, or perhaps we are taking on the fragility? We have both given birth to two children, which can be seen as an ultimate exposure. How does that influence our music? In other words – does one's life situation affect one's artistic work? – and vice versa. An awful lot of questions come out of this. For example, why is it important to create artistically while being a mother/parent? Can you compare working with art to having an ordinary job, in order to pay the bills, especially when you have children to support?     

We generate compositions by dragging the surroundings into the sound

Basically, the conversation we present in this audio paper is about the necessity to create. In the audio paper, we try to adapt the same approach as when we play music. This subtlety you will notice, if you listen. Family life is subtly demonstrated by the sounds of a baby being breastfed, and a son entering the room. We find it problematic to articulate the feminist elements in our work directly. Therefore we try to grasp this huge and important subject with the same subtleness. We generate compositions by dragging the surroundings into the sound, therefore rehearsals and concerts take place in different environments. In this way, the timbre of the instruments are colored by the materials we stand or sit in. This is where the subtlety of an intimate, private or public sphere is expressed.

Compositions: Sara Willemoes Thomsen and Kim Sandra Rask
Sound designer and engineer: Kim Sandra Rask
Text: Sara Willemoes Thomsen