Jarboe: Today being a musician means being free.

Renowned American singer Jarboe (ex-Swans) and Italian occult duo Father Murphy are touring together Europe. They return to Prague this April. See them at the Potrvá café and take a look at our interview.
 
 
How did your collaboration with Father Murphy happen?
jarboe:
Regarding performing together, it is a result of seeing a performance from Father Murphy and being completely blown away. I sat in the audience during Father Murphy and thought to myself , “ I haven’t been this impressed since seeing Swans live in 1984.”
 
Father Murphy are sort of an epitome for occult/music. Are you interested on these things, or did you just collaborate for mostly musical reasons?
jarboe: It is because their performance is ritualistic and disciplined and impressive and I knew both Federico and Chiara to be respected both as people and artists.

You played in “Soulkostel” which is a small church, how was it? And do you like Czech Republic/Prague?
jarboe: Every performance is transcendent to me. I actually don’t favor one place over another as I deeply value every audience.

How does your live collaboration look/sound like?
jarboe: To me, when the three of us are on stage together, the show looks like an active view into the collaborative process for the audience witnessing it - as the three of us on stage  are attuned to each other’s every move. I deliberately face them and do not stand with them behind me on stage as I attenuate to what they are both doing. I frequently watch the hands of Chiara to see as well as hear what she is playing, for example. It is a living performance between me and two artists that I respect.

What can we expect in April in Prague?
jarboe: I would say to expect a journey from the ritualistic intense ceremonial work of Father Murphy shifting into the segment with me which reflects spirituality from the perspective of Gospel vernacular/ references to Southern United States literature loosely in the vein of say Flannery O’Connor or William Faulkner.
 
What is the life of musician like these days? Is it difficult to make a living?
jarboe: 
In my opinion, it is better now than ever to be a musician.
A musician no longer needs a record label to get their music out into the world.
A musician can now have a home studio to create their work.
A musician can bring their music directly to the people now without a record label.
I use Distrokid to get my work on online stores and I also offer high quality audio for download on my own website. I occasionally work with labels for special projects yet it is my option not a necessity.
Today being a musician means being free. 
 
Do you have other musical outputs now, or do you concentrate only on this project?
jarboe:
I did a major solo album in 2017 based on the political atmosphere in the U.S. contrasted with the love poems of Rumi. ON this album I played all the instruments as well as wrote, recorded, mixed , and mastered the entire project. It is called ‘ As Mind Dissolves As Song Begins’ and its has two rather aggressive rock songs on it as well as avant grade material notably one where I used field recordings made at a political rally. The album is steaming and download worldwide and is also part of Art Box - a 4 cd box set of my work.
I am about to do a new special solo e.p. for a label called Translation Loss in the U.S. - as well as another  project for a different company with the British pianist/composer Anni Hogan later this year.
 
What do you plan for 2018?
jarboe:  In addition to the recordings listed above, there are shows planned in both April and June of this year with Father Murphy. The Swans authorized documentary film and Swans authorized book are also slated to be available in 2018 and I heavily participated in both.
 

Jarboe, Father Murphy
Potrvá, Prague
April 18, 2018
tickets here