Since 2018, Vóden has brought together Marguerite Lersteau on the nyckelharpa and singing David Sévérac on the hurdy-gurdy and kaval flutes from Bulgaria and Anatolia.
They have named their first album Polskanitsa, a well-chosen neologism to express a musical universe nourished by traditional music ranging from Swedish polska to Bulgarian kopanitsa, from scandinavian music to balkan music.
Sugar Bulgar
Polyphonic voices, skins, wood, strings, machines, drums and distorted sounds... Sugar Bulgar revisits the songs and traditional music of Bulgaria with a sound palette that blends the raw sound of traditional voices and instruments with a very contemporary energy. The project brings together five musicians whose backgrounds are firmly rooted in Balkan music, and who are keen to showcase a new facet of it.
In their sugar bowl: a generous spoonful of folk-fusion, a dash of progressive rock and a cloud of funk for a tasty and deliciously original aural treat! The five musicians explore a space of unrestricted expression, where the drone is the ingredient of choice.
The musical content of Sugar Bulgar is drawn from the various regions of Bulgaria, with a particular focus on the modal repertoire of the Rhodopes. The musicians choose to mix traditional instruments from this region with more unexpected ones. In this way, they create a space for expression in which ancestral melodies can be deconstructed and reshaped in original arrangements. Kaval flute, gaïda (Bulgarian bagpipes), hurdy-gurdy, accordion, harp, nyckelharpa and synthesizers lead the melodies and respond to the two voices. The latter resonate or dissonate as one to the rhythm of a hybrid percussion set combining tapan, tamburello, bells, castanets and other sound objects, with very contemporary drums.
Maëlle Duchemin: vocals, lever harp
Marguerite Lersteau: vocals, nyckelharpa, effects
David Sévérac: gaïda, kaval flutes, acoustic and electro-acoustic hurdy-gurdies, effects, backing vocals
Adrien Séguy: accordion, synthesiser keyboards, backing vocals
Yula S: drums, tapan, all kinds of percussion, backing vocals
Lucile Borg ou Anza Le Gac: sound system
Produced by Artitelo
Day breaks, the swallows swoop over the souk alleys filled with spices and oriental treasures. We are in Constantinople in 1353!
Five richly dressed young men are preparing for a long journey... Sigrid and her nyckelharpa, Asterios the hurdy-gurdy player, Bilal the drummer, Tancred of Malorti - the oboe player - and Mansueto Montaldo - the bagpipe player - have been commissioned by the emperor to go and collect the sounds of the peoples. They form a proud band ready for adventure!
Telling the story of their travels to curious ears, they offer their spellbinding music and invite you to dance.
Soon joined by the crowd, there were ten of them, then a hundred, laughing, dancing and clapping to the beat.
That's why they live! So that bodies can mingle and feet can kick up dust!
Alan Letenneur: Catalan oboe
David Sévérac: Alto hurdy-gurdy
Clément Le Goff: Veuze bagpipe
Gaël Martineau: Davul
Marguerite Lersteau: Nyckelharpa
Directed by Gildas Puget
Costumes by Anaé Barthélémy
Produced by La Forge Spectacle
