bentenlaughing

Jan.s: Jessica, I've known you since you were a young girl; wise and witty beyond your years! Your family is steeped in Opera/Theatre and you've not surprisingly taken to the boards. Tell me what you're up to? Jessica: Since the time when we lived together in that beautiful house in Chatswood much has happened. My path into the theatre world was fairly inevitable. As much as I tried in my youth to persuade myself and my family that I’d be happy collecting the toll on the Harbour Bridge, or becoming an accountant, or a beach bum, the theatre lured me back in. It took until I was 23, after a few years of trying unsuccessfully to get into Australian drama schools and generally wasting time, to make the decision to travel to London and audition for the numerous quality schools over here. This was initiated by my Mother Beverly who was in London at the time and sent me the application packets. I was loathe to leave Australia, after only having made it back there after complet...

Jan.s: Your partner, accomplished pianist/composer Egil Kapstad provides a solid and seamless basis for your vocals. His arrangements/orchestrations support the nuances of your voice.  Tell me about the process you both might enter into preceding a recording or occasion, for example the Prague recordings. Hilde: Egil is a word freak himself and he never writes a music arrangement until he’s read the lyrics. And after he has read it he’s focusing on telling the same story as the singer; both in the arrangement, his own fills etc. About the Prague-recording: First I had to find the songs, and then the right keys. The key is not only the key I feel is right for my voice, but it’s a question about color. Every key has its own color and I always have to find the right one for the story I want to tell from the lyrics. When that is done Egil starts to work with the arrangement, instrumentation and orchestration. He’s not afraid of telling a plain, a complex or a straight...