Folk Friends
Biographie Folk Friends
Folk Friends
Hannes, Guy, Derroll, Alex, Wizz, Finbar, Davey and Werner had met rather by chance in recent years when their paths crossed on tours or at festivals. Sometimes, on the sidelines or backstage, they would unpack their instruments and play songs and tunes they liked. From time to time they also played together in sessions and noticed that they got along well not only musically but also personally.
Because they had become friends, they had now — regardless of their "market value" or exclusive ties to agencies and record companies — met at the mill and started making music together. Much of that friendly, laid-back vibe echoes in the music and songs on this album. The enthusiasm to sing and play together in different groups and to be able to try out new musical possibilities can be heard atmospherically and as a feeling in every track on this album. All songs and instrumentals are disc premieres in the changing combinations of the "Folkfriends".
The musicians and singers involved chose the titles they wanted to record themselves in consultation with one another. They arranged their music and songs together. Without any pressure to record their music as a usable product in a certain time, they held their sessions in the garden and in the large room of the mill right in front of the microphones.
A living room — even if it's surrounded by the 'solitude' of rural life — is not a soundproof recording studio with noise-absorbing flooring and the threatening red light of 'Recording!' The farmers' tractors drove past Hannes Mühle, and the neighborhood dogs fought in front of her. Occasionally these noises penetrated through the closed doors and windows and could then be heard on the tape. We deliberately understood this atmospheric noise as secondary if a recording seemed unrepeatable and unique in its feel (e.g. with Derroll's "Pay Day At Coal Creek").
It was not intended to make recordings as they are possible 'clean' in expensive recording studios — albeit in a sterile environment, mostly in forced isolation of the musicians and only with the help of playback methods. These recordings are true "live" recordings.
They were created in the joint work of all those involved, with the exception of a few recordings without playback. Because musicians are people whose feet tap along to the rhythm of their music, whose fingers sweat and then produce overtones when running fast on the guitar strings and because their breath can be heard blowing flutes and flutes, we deliberately recorded these noises. We have not attempted to suppress them through technical means, as is usually done.
Musicians are not machines whose products can be seen in a predetermined, perfectly controllable end result, but sensitive people who express their sensations and feelings as essential creative moments in their songs and melodies. Seen in this way, the recordings of the "Folkfriends" reflect a relaxed, human atmosphere with the exclusion of technical refinements. Seen in this way, folk music is direct and simple and, by doing without too much technology, is understandable for everyone and can be done by everyone. (Carsten Linde)
