Name: Ronny Graupe
Nationality: German
Occupation: Guitarist, composer, improviser
Current release: Ronny Graupe's new album Newfoundland Tristesse, recorded with Szelest, his trio with Lucia Cadotsch and Kit Downes, is out via BMC.

If you enjoyed this Ronny Graupe interview and would like to know more about his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, and Facebook.



For Newfoundland Tristesse, what did you start with?

Some of the pieces for the last record were written long before the last release with Szelest.

During the Corona period, I organized an online concert series “Into The Shed” with about 80 concerts at the end. I invited musicians living in Berlin to improvise a set as a duo, or later in larger ensembles. On this occasion, I also invited Lucia Cadotsch to play a set of jazz standards with me. I discussed with her which pieces would be suitable and arranged them without referring to old recordings.

Later, after the corona pandemic, the desire arose to expand the duo into a trio with Kit Downes and I wrote a few of my own pieces especially for this. This mixture forms the repertoire of our first record.

Tell me a bit about the way the new material developed and gradually took its final form, please.

When a piece is written at home and brought to rehearsal, I already have my ideas about how I would like it to sound.

At the same time, I am open to the suggestions of my fellow musicians. I want to play together with them and that also means that I really want to hear what I've brought with me from their perspective.

In the end, there is always something in it from the others. It can be more or less different from the original idea.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece?

Once a piece has been written, that's clear. Then it has to be played and mature.

If I have the feeling that it's not quite there yet, then I put it away and look at it later. It can happen that it is then finished, or not, if the ideas don't lead to the goal after all.

In terms of what they contribute to a song, what is the balance between the composition and the arrangement (including production, mixing and mastering)?

The composition often only comes to life with the right instrumentation, with a certain phrasing, dynamics, intensity, etc. These things are best discovered in the rehearsal process and are very personal. This means that these elements are not generally presented in one way, but that they depend on the person playing them.

For example, if you want to have a part in the piece that is very dense, this density would always take on a different color when you play the piece with others.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

I can't confirm this feeling. It is often the case that the recordings were made a long time ago and that people are now working on a newer version.

Emptiness is more likely to occur in the course of digital release, when a long-developed, cost-intensive product is released worldwide, and is then listened to, but without covering even a fraction of the costs.

At the same time, you are well supplied with information from the “digital side”, i.e. from the streaming companies, on how you can supposedly be successful in marketing your product in the digital world. This can sometimes give the impression that there is an attempt to tie people as tightly as possible to this digital world in terms of time and thought.

I would love to know a little about the feedback you've received from listeners or critics about what they thought some of your songs are about or the impact it had on them – have there been “misunderstandings” or did you perhaps even gain new “insights?”

Many years ago, we had a concert in Palermo with the avant-garde band Hyperactive Kid, with Phillip Gropper and Christian Lillinger. This music is very intense and existential and the concert was a great success.

Then an old woman came to us. It was her first “jazz” concert and she was blown away. She said, still in a daze from the concert, that the music had completely shaken her insides. She was totally thrilled and went home feeling very inspired.

Feedback generally comes in all shapes and sizes. Often, someone will want to know what low strings I have on my guitar. Since I also play an 8-string, this question has been asked more often.