Sean Steinfeger w/ Hanakiv.
What is your first memory of listening to music? Do you maybe even remember the artist/track/album?
My first memories of listening to music are all with my grandmother, whether listening to her playing the piano, or her choir rehearsals. My uncle was in a rock band with his friends and had a rehearsal room in my grandmother’s basement so I have a few memories of hearing that as well. I can’t recall the first conscious memory of listening to recorded music but Regina Spektor’s ‘Soviet Kitsch’ was the first album that I really loved. I learnt to play ‘Us’ from it, and we used to sing it with my best friend.
When did you start making music and who pushed you in your early days (yourself/ family/friends/inspirational artists)?
Nobody pushed me, but I was curious about making music from an early age. I was very clear about not wanting to become a musician, and my mother was very supportive of that. But that changed in 2nd grade when we were given leaflets about a handbell choir at my primary school. I got home after school and told my mother that I could try that if that makes her happy. The same thing happened about half a year later when I found out that one of my friends was taking piano lessons from a piano student at the Music Academy. My first piano teacher was very inspiring – she was my teacher for about 10 years. She was working a lot on details and she never got angry or frustrated. We had long lessons and would sometimes work on one little detail like a trill or a note for a long time. I started making short songs around the same time as I started with those lessons. I was 9 at the time and just loved music but didn’t think about really pursuing it until I was around 13 or 14.
Have you ever been part in a band/collective or have you always made music on your own?
I have composed music only alone but I have been part of some collectives. I studied handbells and was part of handbell choir. That is very collective music making – we all had about 4-6 handbells which each represents different notes. You would have to play together for some time to really start playing in synchronisation. I played the middle octave’s A and B (with its flats and sharps), and I remember that Grieg’s ‘Morning’ was one of my favourites to play. I’ve also sang in a choir when I was little and for 3 years when I was in high school. I am currently playing in a band with singer-songwriter NyOh,
and am sometimes playing my own songs with friends. I love playing music in a collective, and am really appreciating creating and playing music with others. This is something I can see myself doing much more in the future.
When was the first moment that you decided to become a professional musician and how did your parents react to it?
It came gradually, but I decided to pursue music more professionally when I was 13 or 14. I wanted to study music in high school and this is when I decided to really practice and study theory to be ready for the entry exams which I had to take when I was 16. My mother is a musician herself and I believe it only made her happy – she taught me solfeggio intensively for about a year and a half so I could catch up. that. I also have an older sister and a twin brother who I grew up with, and classical music wasn’t something
cool amongst us, so I tried to fight it as long as I could.
More complex question: Within your bio it says that you draw inspiration from your own cultural Estonian heritage and from nature? Do you recreate feelings that you have when you are in the nature or how can we imagine this in more detail?
I would like to believe that the love for nature transfers to my music somehow. Being in the nature makes me feel connected on a different level and it is a similar space to the best moments of making music – time flows differently and mind is clear, feeling inspired, feeling unimportant in the best possible way, and feeling part of something bigger. I also just need to be in the nature to recharge and be able to create. ‘Meditation 2’ for example in my mind is just deep forests. Both ‘Home1’ and ‘Home 2’ are connected to the nature, and imagine sea when I think of ‘Home 1’.
Please tell us about your first connection with Gondwana Records and how it went down that you ended up on being on this amazing renowned label?
I sent them an email with all the tracks we had finalised with my sound engineer Fi Roberts. I had to build up courage for months to send that email, and I was very prepared for not getting a reply, especially as I had absolutely no history as an artist. Fi recorded and mixed this album so I was able to send professionally mixed versions, which played its part. I got a reply the next day, and I was of course extremely happy they wanted to release the album.
You have two songs called „Meditation“ on your debut album „Goodbyes“. Do you meditate yourself or is music your meditation?
I do meditate, and music is my meditation, too. I used to meditate much more, but I still find time for it when I feel the need to clear my head, or when I start to lose the connection to my intuition. I am also trying to find meditations in my every day life – like just walking.
What is the inspiration/background story to „And It Felt So Nice“? You have worked together with Alabaster dePlume on two songs of your album. How did that collaboration come across?
‘And it felt so nice’ was called ‘NoName2’ for a long time. I had these four chords for some time, and there is also a first version with singing, but I wasn’t ready to share that. We first recorded the piano, which is basically just an improvisation over the chords, and in the morning of the session before Alabaster joined us, I accidentally recorded myself and Fi speaking about how nice it is to be away from social media. From that I cut out Fi
saying ‘And it felt so nice’ and myself saying ‘And people are still the same’, and they fit in nicely. This all helped me to make sense of the song much more. I experimented the most with this track, and it took the longest for me to finish.
I heard Alabaster dePlume play a few times, and asked him to come to the studio to record something on ‘And it felt so nice’, and luckily he agreed. He just came in for a few hours and improvised. There was some time left after we were done with the first song, and he asked for more songs to improvise on, and that’s how ‘No Words Left’ sax part happened.
Who would be your three most favorite artists that you would like to work with on your music?
Tim Hecker, Little Simz, Colin Stetson
If you could pick 2-3 artists to remix a song of you, who would that be and why?
Floating Points, because his sound world is so rich, and he is home in different genres.
Agnes Obel, I love her productions, and her voice.
Lanark Atrefax, because I wonder how my songs would sound if they were sampled and with a beat.
When I first listened to your music I immediately had a picture on my mind of someone dancing to it. Later I saw your beautiful video „Goodbye“ and kinda felt confirmed of my intuition that your music is very connected to dance. Would you agree? Do you also see people moving while composing new music?
I do think about movement and dancing a lot, and I have imagined every track on my album with dance or movement! I have different ways of checking if I’m on the right track when I listen to the material I’m working on. It seems to be easier for me to do this in the dark, so I usually turn off the lights, or close my eyes. A lot of the time I do have images of people moving in my head when I do that, or when I play new music on piano.
What are your most favorite inspirations of your new home London and what was it exactly that this city gave to you to grow personally and musically?
I think it’s mostly just being away from where I grew up, and re-establishing myself. I have romanticised this city since I was here for the first time. It also happened to be lockdown shortly after I moved here, which seems to be a transitional time for a lot of people. Lockdown personally was one of the most difficult times, but it pushed me to honestly face myself, my core beliefs, and what my intentions are. Creating music at that time was very healing and easy, and I got out of it being more clear of who I am, and with an album. Now, the last years after lockdown I enjoy the access to lots of different music and art in general. The diversity is refreshing.
What can the audience expect from your upcoming concert at Gretchen on October 23?
I will be playing songs from my album and some unreleased ones. I hope to create a space that allows introspection if that’s needed, or to just be.