Interview with Manu Delago of Austrian duo ‘Living Room’. Manu will be performing at Womadelaide in March 2014 and touring Australia with Christoph Auer. He plays a newly invented instrument called the Hang, which blends both rhythm and melody in the same instrument and the band present an updated take on chamber music. Catch the video below, the duo has a beguiling and original sound, definitely one to check out.
JK: What is the inspiration for the music you create as the living room?
MD: At first it was the combination of Hang & Bass Clarinet, metal & wood, short notes & long notes, but soon we tried to push the limits. We started using various toys and non-instruments, arranging megahits of pop, tango, classical, soundtrack, rock music and I suppose ended up with a healthy amount of silliness between a lot of beautiful passages.
Living Room is bass clarinettist Christoph Pepe Auer (Austrian Jazz Newcomer of the Year) and Hang player Manu Delago (a percussionist for Bjork). While pushing the boundaries within a variety of musical styles, their unusual pairing of instruments (the Hang is a relatively new instrument, having only been invented in 2001 in Switzerland) creates a highly unique texture of sounds and presents the listener with a fresh take on chamber music. The design of the Hang enables the player to connect both rhythm and melody within the one instrument and makes the playing of it a must see.
JK: What other instruments do you play, and what has led you to playing the Hang?
MD: I got a drumkit when I was 2 years old and had a lot of fun with it as a child. For unknown reasons I switched to accordion when I was six years old, then piano when I was ten but found my way back to drum when I discovered rock music as a 13-year-old. I was interested in electric guitar as well, but the family of drums and percussion is just so big that I never got out of it again… although I've recently spent a lot of time with composition and electronics too…
JK: How did they come to be playing with Christop Auer?
MD: Back in the year 2000 Christoph Pepe Auer was drummer of Austrian rockband HotchPotch. When he decided to focus on jazz saxophone I took over as drummer in the band. A few years later we played together (sax / drums) in a 14-piece-hiphop-band. Out of that emerged a jazz/drumnbass quartet which played a few concerts in 2003/2004 and around that time we started playing the Hang and Bass Clarinet. We loved the combination of the 2 instruments and ended up being a duo…
JK: Best wishes for the tour
Living Room – AUSTRALIA TOUR
Mar 01 – Living Room – Music by the Sea Festival – Sandgate Town Hall – Sandgate, QLD (AUS) Start: 7.30pm
LINE UP: Christoph Pepe Auer (bass clarinet, pepephon) & Manu Delago (hang)
More info: www.musicbythesea.com.au
Mar 02 – Living Room – Camelot Lounge – Marrickville, NSW (AUS) Start: 7.30pm
LINE UP: Christoph Pepe Auer (bass clarinet, pepephon) & Manu Delago (hang)
More info: www.camelotlounge.wordpress.com
Mar 08 – Living Room – Womadelaide – Adelaide (AUS) Start: 5pm
LINE UP: Christoph Pepe Auer (bass clarinet, pepephon) & Manu Delago (hang)
More info: http://www.womadelaide.com
Mar 09 – Living Room – Womadelaide – Adelaide (AUS) Start: 4pm
LINE UP: Christoph Pepe Auer (bass clarinet, pepephon) & Manu Delago (hang)
More info: http://www.womadelaide.com
Mar 14 – Living Room – The Main Bar – Ballarat (AUS) Start: 8pm
LINE UP: Christoph Pepe Auer (bass clarinet, pepephon) & Manu Delago (hang)
More info: http://www.themainbar.com.au
Mar 16 – Living Room – Thornbury Theatre – Thornbury, VIC (AUS) Start: 8pm
LINE UP: Christoph Pepe Auer (bass clarinet, pepephon) & Manu Delago (hang)
More info: www.thethornburytheatre.com
