A working year is less hard every time I remember that I will have four days in Paradise in August. It’s my third year at FATT Festival (Didgeridoo Festival) and it certainly won’t be the last. The place (Sítio das Fontes), the environment, the people, everything is magical!
The festival has a lot of activities, for all
tastes, during the day, and concerts at night.
The weather is really hot but
the natural swimming pool with fresh water helps a lot. The food trucks sell
mostly vegetarian food. And it’s important to know that this is a festival
suitable for children.
The stage, which is turned to a beautiful outdoor
amphitheater, opened the first night with a Jam Session. Those who wanted,
could go up there and show their gifts to everyone.
Tomás Carro was next with
his didgeridoo and hang.
João Jardim, with the same instruments, finished the
night with almost everyone dancing in front of the stage.
The second day
started still with lots of people coming for the weekend. The workshops started
in the morning and we went to a djambé class. After a great vegetarian lunch, I
spent the afternoon in a phytocosmetic workshop where I learned the steps to
start the preparation of each product.
The afternoons where very hot so
everyone spent them near the water.
The soundtrack is constant in FATT, there
are several jam sessions formed everywhere so we can hear all the time djambés,
didgeridoos or people singing.
The second night of concerts began with
Turbodzen, a duo from Russia. With each one using only a mouth harp, they gave
a full concert that filled the stage with a huge sound despite the small
instruments.
The group Transmongolia was next. Like the name says, they came
from Mongolia, with traditional clothes, to show us the sound and instruments
of their country. A beautiful concert that ended with everyone singing along.
Ab Origine, an Italian duo, were the last concert of that night. With a
didgeridoo and a lot of percussion instruments they made everyone dance
bringing some influences and instruments from other countries, with a sound
like Trance music but in an acoustic form.
Saturday started rainy, not a bad
thing for people who are sleeping in tents in such a hot place as the south of
Portugal is.
The day, as usually, was spent amongst activities, socializing and
having fun. I was able to finish my phytocosmetic apprenticeship . We made a
massage oil and a lip balm. Everything was 100% natural, of course.
The sun set
with the sound of Sage, the artist from Russia who brought to us his
experimental music. With a didgeridoo and some loop stations, he helped us
travel.
The travel continued with Kabeção & Mayuko on Hang. A really
peaceful and beautiful concert (perhaps the one I liked the most) that the
audience listened attentively.
The sound of Hang is very delicate and has been
gaining a lot of fans lately.
Dubravko Lapaine, from Croatia, was the next
artist. He brought not only music but a message as well. Only with didgeridoo
he played and delighted everyone.
“Difficult is still possible”.
To finish the
concerts, the band Muscaria Psico Waves, from Spain, went on stage. With a mask
and a initiation ritual they set the public on fire for the last night. A mix
of different styles and instruments that ended in a really positive note the
2015 FATT Festival.
The last day, or the last morning, is always sad. The
goodbyes are needed but it’s only a "see you next year!"
During the
afternoons at the festival I also had the privilege to interview some artists:
Sage
(Evgeny Tolstykh)
Can you
talk a little bit about your project?
It’s a solo
project now, where I use some electronically devices to combine sounds and to
make some effects. I come to FATT Festival as a didgeridoo player mostly but
with different sounds as well. I also have a different musical program where I
sing some songs, traditional Russian music but there you need to understand the
meaning of the words, so you need to understand the language.
What
inspires you?
Everything.
It could be events like this festival, meeting interesting people, traveling a
lot, ...
The
festivals and the travels help you in the composition?
They bring
good opportunities to communicate but when I need to compose I need to be by
myself, moving but inside me.
What are
you thinking about the festival so far?
The
organization, Ricardo and his team, they were very kind and helpful along the
day. It’s a very nice place. It’s my first time in Portugal, it’s different
from Russia but you can find something close to this in the South next to the
Black Sea.
What is the
message behind your music?
It’s
difficult to put in words. The art express what words can’t explain. When you
play something you can feel some emotion but for others can be a different one.
In different situations you can also play the same music, same song but with
different feelings.
Is the
didgeridoo common in your country or is more alternative?
It’s more
experimental music. Modern instruments are very complex but didgeridoo is very
simple at first sight and sometimes it’s difficult to make it unique and
different. I like to use some devices that help me fill the sound.
How did you
get in touch for the first time with didgeridoo?
I met some
guys, one of them was playing this “stick”, he wasn’t very expert in playing it
but for me the sound was very new and unique. He had brought it from the
States. At that time I was playing guitar and rock but I was passing through an
artistic crisis because I thought everything was the same. The didgeridoo has a
unique sound, simple but complex.
Ab Origine
(Gianni Placido e Mario Francavilla)
For people
that don’t know you, who is Ab Origine?
GP – We
come from Italy. I started to play didgeridoo a few years ago in a solo
projects. Then I started to develop the Ab Origine project in two different
directions, with other musicians that I met in jams and with Mario in this duo.
We met two years ago and we developed some tracks that I already had. We have
now a brand new show and a brand new album, “Keeping the wire”, that we are
here to present.
MF – This
project is a mix of sounds from instruments of different parts of the world.
Modern didgeridoo and my modern cajon. It isn’t a traditional didgeridoo and
it’s a modern style of playing it. And my (cajon) it isn’t traditional flamenco
or Peruvian music, it’s another style of cajon, similar to electronic music but
with a lot of elements from traditional music around the world, for example
I’ve studied Brazilian music and in some songs I introduced shaker and bongos.
How did you
get to that cross of cultures and musical genres?
MF – With a
lot of passion.
GP – With
travels too. For example I love Indian music and we made a song that is a
tribute to Shiva, the dancing God of chaos and destruction. We have songs with
influences from India, Afro-Cuba, etc. But for me is not only mixing different
cultures, it’s important to have a transversely idea. It’s important to find
something that cross the cultures, a human meaning that can unify all together.
I want to transmit something that everyone can understand despite their
culture.
In the
sound?
GP – Not
totally the sound but more in the idea behind the project.
MF – Also
the name of the project, Ab Origine…
GP – Yes,
our name it’s not from the aboriginal culture. It’s Latin and it means “from
the beginning”. The beginning from all
of us.
What are
you thinking about this festival?
MF – It’s a
really nice festival, smaller than usual but really really nice. I’m very
relaxed.
GP – It’s
very friendly. And well organized to.
What can we
expect from your show?
GP – That
people dance and enjoy!
Dubravko
Lapaine
For our
readers that don’t know you, what can you explain about your project?
I come from
Croatia and I devote my life to explore the possibilities of didgeridoo. I
pretty much left everything in life; I was a mathematician before and I worked
in a University. Eight or nine years ago I left everything, I started to play
many hours a day, I was very disciplined and that led me deeper and deeper in
the vastness of didgeridoo sound and I realize there are so many possibilities
that I never considered.
How did you
get in touch with didgeridoo and that culture?
I
discovered the “tube” in a shop in Zagreb, where I lived. I don’t know why but
I was always returning to that tube even I didn’t know what was used for.
Almost every day I returned to the shop and something pulled me very strongly.
It was before internet so the information was spread in a different way. I
never thought at that time that I would become a professional musician one day.
The
didgeridoo culture in your country is common or is it more alternative?
No, it’s
not common anywhere. The didgeridoo culture is very ancient and it is now
becoming a very fresh instrument. It’s an instrument that brings you freedom
but in the 80’s and 90’s it was attached to a more hippie culture, so it was
not very well advertised. So it isn’t mainstream anywhere and in order to
become more popular the whole consciousness need to change.
What
inspires you?
The endless
possibilities. When I was in the mathematics I never felt that I could have an
impact on the world but with the didgeridoo I already feel my impact in the
world. My inside inspiration is more like meditation, but when we give it a
name it lost meaning. It’s a way to find home within. The instrument guides me
so I don’t need to read books in how to do it, the only thing I need to do is
to do it.
What are
you thinking about FATT Festival?
I feel at
this moment is the right place to be, the energy is rising. The energy of the
didgeridoo world entered in different countries at different times and in
waves. First you have a rising wave and then it drops, and so on. In Portugal
didgeridoo story started relatively late so now the wave is still rising. The
place is beautiful and people are beautiful.
Kabeção
I would
like to know when did you started to have contact with didgeridoo.
It was in
2007 at MEO SW Festival. There was a shop with musical instruments and there
was a didgeridoo. In the night before Blasted Mechanism had performed and they
use didgeridoo. I really liked it and in that shop I ended up buying one.
What
inspires you?
Life. Each
moment inspires me.
What do you
think about FATT and what it brings for didgeridoo culture in Portugal?
FATT for me
is one of the best festivals in Portugal. First because is very familiar,
people come for the same purpose, it’s all about didgeridoo and it brings
people together with the same ideas. It’s also a festival very interesting at a
musical level. I started to come seven years ago and never missed one edition
and I’ve been playing the last six editions.
What is the
message behind your music?
I try to
pass my essence, share a little bit of me. The message also depend of the
moment, my shows are really spontaneous. It depends on the energy of the crowd,
the people that I’m playing with, … The message is always different.
Tonight you
will play alongside with another artist. What can we expect from that concert?
You can
expect a beautiful moment. Actually the last time that I played with him was
seven months ago, let’s wait and see…
Are you
going to improvise a lot or it’s everything more or less arranged?
We arranged
to have nothing arranged. But it will flow.
How was the
experience of the television program that you were in (Got Talent)?
It opened a
lot of doors for me. People today recognize, I’m a street artist and I play in
other festivals abroad. But after the show people started to acknowledge my
work and I have been receiving lots of invitations and lot of love.
João Jardim
How did you
start to have contact with the aboriginal culture and the didgeridoo?
Well, my first
contact with the aboriginal culture was through documentaries from National
Geographic in Odisseia channel. But it was only in 2007 that I heard and saw a
didgeridoo for the first time, it was in a Blasted Mechanism concert in Madeira
Island, where I was marveled and very curious about the sound that came from
the “magical tube” (the way I called it back then). Only five months after, an
ex-girlfriend gave me one made of teak, like the ones you can find in fairs with
instruments from all around the world.
How do you
think is the status of that culture in Portugal? Is it growing?
In my
opinion, didgeridoo in Portugal is gaining more and more fans. If we see the
growth in the audience of FATT in last editions, the number of bands playing it
and all the players that are emerging, certainly is a synonymous of growth. And
FATT Festival is attracting more and more foreigners being even considered by
many as the second best didgeridoo festival in Europe.
What do you
think about FATT and the roll that it has in that growth?
FATT is a
big vehicle for this culture to last. It’s here that many people come seeking
for inspiration due to the awesome line up and all the share that exists and of
course the three days of relaxation. I owe much to this festival; it was here
that I met a lot of people who helped me grow with this instrument and it was
here that Khayalan-trio (a music group that I’m part of) was born.
What
inspires you?
People in
general, there are many reference artists in my life, but I’m really stimulated
when I see the joy of people earring me. I also love being surrounded by
musicians, especially ones that don’t play didgeridoo and find different ways
of using it seeking for new sounds and textures.
We really
liked your show in the first night of FATT. Did you felt the energy of the
crowd in the same way that we felt yours?
Definitely,
in fact it was incredible the way they made me feel. The audience had a lot of
impact in the choice and performance of songs, I tried to be loyal to my
compositions but I extended some parts and improvised according to the
vibrations that where been created.
Being a
part of this kind of festivals and traveling are important for your
compositions?
Totally,
the travels that I’m doing with and for the instrument are helping me a lot
improving my skills and helping me to learn more. Being a part of this kind of
festivals it’s really important for me because it’s where I learn to be more
confident with myself and improving my compositions and performance on stage.
SouMúsica.pt
would like to thank FATT Festival organization, especially Susana, for the
fantastic way they received us and all the artists for spending time with us to
do these interviews.
Text: Sofia Robert
Photography: Luís Carvalho
Find more photos at: https://www.facebook.com/soumusica.pt
Instagram e Twitter: @soumusicapt
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