Folk harper and film composer Fraya Thomsen delves into the workings of her brand new material, which will be premiered at our next Under Canvas Saturday Spotlight.
I am vigorously developing some new music which is based on melodic themes collected by Patrick McDonald, one of the key early collectors of Scottish folk music. I've been aware of the collection from 1784 being re-published for many years, but it wasn't until I returned home from London that I started to feel the need to delve into something that connected me to the Highlands and my instrument, the clàrsach, in a deeper way.
I've been really enjoying weaving threads of Scottish history, place and self expression together, and bringing the poetry of Norman MacCaig into the music has added a visceral quality to the sound.
I am aiming to make something that offers a sense of connection to the Highlands, something that represents how I have felt since coming home in 2021.
I'm still experimenting with technology. I was really lucky to study a masters in Composing for Film and Television at the National Film and Television School, and then live and work in London as a media composer. In London I had the opportunity to work with an incredible range of creatives on a wide spread of projects. I love sharing creative ideas with people and growing together throughout. It was a busy and fruitful time creatively!
Now I am working to bring the sound world of the clàrsach together with the textures offered by technology, and as this is the first time I have dove into this arena in a live setting, I am pretty exhilarated to discover how it will all turn out!
I have the Tasgadh fund from Creative Scotland to thank for the financial boost needed to give space and momentum to this exploration. Tasgadh has made so many interesting projects possible in the last couple of decades and I am hugely grateful to be amongst the storytellers, dancers and musicians chosen for this support.
I'm hoping that even though my gig is at the same time as Belladrum, maybe I will see some old faces who used to come out to hear bands I used to play in locally such as Abigail Grey and The Duplets. I'd love to see new folk too who enjoy taking a punt on something a bit different and fresh out of the oven. Don't be afraid though, it's not all piping hot - I'll also feature some tunes from past CDs Phrenetikos and Release.
This blog was written by Fraya Thomsen.