Ehrika Houdini

Ehrika: 2011 for me was a kind of cleaning up year: I put in order my mind, my soul, my ideas, my wardrobe. Sometimes I need to revise my life, or to throw away things I don’t need or I don’t like anymore, just to have more space around me and to breath. Objects choke me. And finally I start new works and new projects. And I was travelling a lot.

Ehrika: My musical background is mainly about electronic music. I started going clubbing when I was 15 and I fell in love with the atmosphere of the clubs: loud music, dancing bodies, weird dressing, people smiling and having fun, the magic of the night, the sense of euphoria. I thought that it was a funny contemporary way of entertainment, something like an electro-circus. I like artists like the guys of the Underground Resistance, Kollektiv Turmstrasse, Einstürzende Neubauten, Björk, Estroe, Aérea Negrot, Fever Ray, Clara Moto, Chloè, CocoRosie…wow too many to mention, the electronic music world is always at work! I also pay high attention to movie soundtracks: Michael Nyman and Clint Mansell are my favourites. And I love opera: I am studing theatre and musical drama, so I am focused on it. I am addicted to ‘L’Enfant et les sortilèges’ by Ravel, ‘Die Zauberflöte’ by Mozart, and ‘Orphée et Eurydice’ by Gluck. And I am fascinated with eastern folk music, especially Rumanian, Russian and Jewish. This music contains the real magic of the human spirit, its dreams, its illusions, its superstitions… it is so poetic and melancholic, even if it seems happy. As Horace Walpole said ‘I almost think there is no wisdom comparable to that of exchanging the realities of life for dreams’.

Ehrika: I am actually finishing my studies in Florence, but Prague is always in my heart and I return there every winter. Prague’s spirit is the spirit that raised me, and there I feel very close to everything: the beauty of gothic architecture, little windows lighted up in damp and dark nights, Kafka’s books, the smoke-foggy pubs. I can say that this city is one of the biggest source of inspiration to me, it is the only place on earth where I find those rare and precious moments of peace where everything seems to be in the right place. Mitteleuropean and eastern cities have a strong energy, because of their history. After many years of communism the grey curtain was defeated and now Prague breaths. People want to enjoy life, to feel the freedom, to experiment with new things, so it is a nice place for artists. Concerning electronic music Prague is not ready yet, there is not a big clubbing movement, but probably this is a good thing: we are having a boom about this music everywhere, it is becoming commercial. In Prague it is still underground, so I suppose you have more choices to explore new ways of creation and of experimentation. Czech are dreamers and the city is a beautiful mix of cultures, foreigners, fresh minds…something wonderful will jump out.

Ehrika: I really like Antye Greie. Her style is clear and evocative and her voice is so sensual. The latest album ‘Gedichterbe’ is amazing and very interesting: a research on german poetry and on german language mixed with electronic music. That is what I call a cultural crossbreeding.

Ehrika: Sure I do. I need to capture and to show the essence of the world and I realized that I am good at expressing in words what I feel and what I see. I work with images and sensations, I can create a story, a painting, a song or an entire show from a detail: a coloured light, a smell, a table setting, a word. Inspiration is all around me. The problem is that today people are blind, they do not see the beauty of our world. There are no dreams, no poetry in people’s soul. I often think that if aliens come to our planet they would be enchanted by it. Let’s take for example a sunset: every evening I watch the sky at sunset because it is a magic event…the multicoloured vault of heaven: purple, orange, pink, red, light blue, white all in one, a perfect and odd piece of art. But for most people it is only a sunset, this is so sad. Our world is rich of weird and cool things, I am very excited about life and about human’s works. I get excited just for a walk. To know is to love. A friend of mine tease me saying I am always having a Stendhal Syndrome for everything.

Ehrika: I was working on some video installations, so I took two old videos I made and I decided to create a ‘soundtrack’. The idea was the power of the tree, the tree as a legendary and mystical figure, something bright and dark at the same time, dazing and pernicious. It is a very common concept in fables and fairytales. I was thinking of Lothlorien firstly, then I remembered the stories my grandmother used to told me and my russian fairytales books, full of woods, magic birds, gold jewels, missing maidens. For the music I collaborated with Leonardo Barilaro, a young very talented musician. I like fresh minds. He is also an aerospace engineer, so we could put together fantasy, excellent composition techniques and high quality sound.

Ehrika: My live shows are about visuals, mainly in clubs. I like to work with 3D surfaces and to build kaleidoscopic architectures, to create the illusion of an alien electro enchanted parallel reality during the night, because this is what a night in a club means:   estrangement from the world. Visuals and techno music are a perfect match: techno is a kind of abstract / dreamy music, it allows you to create what you want.

Ehrika: I am actually working on new music, new artworks for some albums / EPs covers, writing a novel and designing a theatrical project with Obtane, the head of the Zooloft Records. We are trying to mix ballet, symphonic poem, techno music and electronic scenography, to melt together club culture with theatre. And I will keep on travelling and interviewing the techno world. Creativity never stops!

Ehrika: I am a travel addict, I need to explore the world, the lights and the people. And I am also addicted to dreams and aliens.

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