How did you find each other? Did you meet during masterclasses or at the conservatory, were you friends beforehand, or did you look for a specific instrument to make music together with?
We found each other at the conservatory in Gent where we both studied a few years ago. For her master's thesis, Esther was looking for a percussionist and happened to come across Wim. This first collaboration on Dialogues by Lior Navok (°1971) went very smoothly and we both felt a musical connection. Rehearsals were then - and remain to this day - very ambitious in their approach to the score. Every note, every marking on the score is examined and analysed under a magnifying glass.
Besides that, we were also very fascinated back then by exploring the possibilities of interpretation. How can that one accent be best expressed? Could the composer have had an underlying message with that staccato at that particular place? In addition to our shared love for this search, our rehearsals always go optimally. We are very different but highly complementary. We can try the craziest things together, endlessly discuss certain musical choices, feel free to experiment infinitely, and can also just have a good laugh. Laughing takes up a large part of our rehearsal!
How long have you been playing together? And in which part of Belgium is your ensemble's home base?
After the first collaboration on Esther's master's thesis, we both had other priorities for a while. We would see each other at the rehearsals and concerts of the Nemø ensemble where we are both active. Meanwhile, the idea of a duo for percussion and voice slowly began to grow and eventually we founded Goggles in January 2020. A first residency took place at the HERMES studio in Wijnegem. We began working on our first full-length production.
Although Brussels (Esther) and Gent (Wim) have always been important bases, we have spent most of our rehearsal time lately at the academy KADE podiumkunsten in Deinze, where we both teach.
What was your motivation to participate in this competition?
The goal of Goggles is to make contemporary classical music more accessible to a broader audience. We try to adopt a theatrical, often humorous, approach so that we can offer the audience an experience and take them into our special sonic world.
Winning the competition means for us that we can get a step closer to this goal. It gives our current position in the landscape a big boost and in that way we expand our reach. Moreover, Supernova is a competition that mainly focuses on cultural centers. We are convinced that there is also an audience for us there. It is our goal to pull contemporary classical music out of its elitist niche jacket. We are reaching out to the cultural center visitor and hope to offer them a unique and innovative experience! We are convinced that the playful and theatrical character of our music can resonate with a very broad audience.
How did you determine the repertoire? And how does this competition repertoire reflect or differ from your usual repertoire?
We choose the repertoire we play based on the content of the piece. What is the piece telling us? How does it reflect on certain topics that we find important? Because our repertoire is often technically and musically challenging, we can spend months rehearsing a single piece. These frequent rehearsals ensure that a piece can really mature and that we are encouraged to make concert scores visual. We always try to interpret and present a musical piece in our own way. We find it important to think theatrically and take the freedom to approach a piece scenically and visually.
For Supernova, we wanted to remain true to ourselves and to our duo, so we did not immediately adapt our repertoire. In the semi-final we played a piece for isomo, kitchen beater and bow ourselves! That the jury appreciated that was very special for us! Towards the final, we decided to compromise a bit and chose to arrange a German song (Auch kleine Dinge - Hugo Wolff). We wanted to convince the jury that we are not just the big theatrical noise, but that we could also bring intimate, small things. We completely made the Wolff song our own and there too we looked for its theatrical character. It was an exciting moment for us in our final, because it was our own arrangement. Fortunately, we later heard that the song was very well received.
Looking towards the future, an exciting score awaits us. Lior Navok, see above, wrote a mini-opera especially for our duo, Lollipop Lotta. We therefore hope that the visibility this competition gives us can help us bring this piece to the stage. It is an opera for teenagers and with the theme 'influencers' certainly provides a point of connection with this target group. For this project we would like to collaborate with real influencers and in this way let contemporary classical music coincide with what is happening in the life world of teenagers and the realm of social media.
Finally, we are also getting creative ourselves. The theatrical world of Alexander Schubert appeals to us very much. During the lockdown we drew inspiration from him and during a residency period we put together a music theatre performance, NO EXIT. Schubert's theatrical electronic world appeals to us very much and gives us a completely different approach to opening contemporary classical music to a broader audience.
Lots of ideas, endless dreams, that's what Goggles is good at!
Which prize are you most looking forward to and why? The tour, the Klarafestival stage with the live radio broadcast or the cd recording?
Since Goggles was founded in January 2020, a few months before cultural life was shut down, we are honestly most looking forward to the tour. We want to take the stage! Show ourselves and be seen!
We dream of surprising our audience and taking them along in all the stories we have to tell them. That's what we're looking forward to. That we get to start the tour at Bozar during Klarafestival, we could never have imagined! It is a given that still feels surreal but our hearts are overflowing with it!