Druyd: Blog

The Storytelling Blog Presents :
"The Neverending Story From the Forest City"
There once was a man from a place which looked like a forest. But it was in fact a big city. Its inhabitants lived in the grass, or up in the trees, or lived under the ground, or some just kept gliding suspended in mid air. Most of them were old, but then again most of them were young too. And some were living, while the others were still happily unborn. Many cultures and ethnicities lived there, many races and species lived in harmony, and it was a model civilized and prosperous society in many ways. It was quite a lively forest city, not a dull moment in a busy day at all, that's for sure.
Anyway, there was this man we started talking about, and he was from this city. And he lived there most of his life. He went to work every day. He would take a tall bus which everyone called the big drivery-drivey. These buses were like centipedes, and in fact, do not be shocked now, they actually were centipedes, [...]

As you may or may not know, we recently completed recording our first ever Druyd CD.  Now, the boys have done several solo or group projects before, but this is the first ever CD that we've done as Druyd.  And to promote it, Danka took us hostage, blindfolded us, packed us into a car and released us into an unknown forest so that she could interview us about it.  She had to do this because of course we didn't want to go of our own free will.

However, there was one question that Danka asked during the interview that really made me stop and think - what is Dronas?  Besides being the name of our CD and meaning "drowning" in esperanto, what does Dronas really mean?  My answer for the interview was dribble (what else?) and got cut out (thank God!) but when I thought about it later, it all became a bit clearer.  Dronas is a person.  Let me explain it for you...
You see, to me, the process of making Dronas is like making a person.  Now, the [...]

Anyone who is familiar with the works of Eckhardt Tolle will know this phrase well.  And it's a phrase I find myself saying in countless situations.  But most especially of late as turbulance, tribulations and trials abound.  Anyone who knows me will, I am sure, not describe me as a fly-by-the-string-of-her-panties kind of gal.  Definitely not.  I'm a planner, a person who likes to know what's what where and when, from what's for dinner tomorrow to what I'm going to be doing in 20 years time.  Well, this has not been a week I had planned on...
For a start, even though it was planned, I officially quit my day job at the beginning of last week and would appreciate being handed an umbrella as the parachute I held on to is now well and truly gone.  I now know what Paul Weller meant when he sang the words:
Help me I’m sinking so fast into waters unplannedThat I once held onto but have got out of handNow the things that I loved are the things [...]

In Druyd, Sound is the master of all three elements! It made its way up very quickly. Since the first time Druyd made any sound at all, Sound was there, ready to captivate the unready Yr and me and our didgeridoo and guitar.It was since the beginning that we started using our acoustic microscopes to listen, and from the little parts things grew. Among many things we could notice, I would point out one. We searched for the moments when didgeridoo and guitar would tie themselves together. It was the only thing we could grasp at that time, and it was the clearest moment that made sense. Remember?You can notice that it is not difficult to play in unis, and that is true.  But I am referring more to the sound here, and sound of didgeridoo and guitar is rather different. I believe most people would agree... So this is what we would often naturally, consciously or unconsciously end up doing; guitar was leaning towards didgeridoo sounds more and more, and didgeridoo was approaching the guitar [...]

    But strangely enough, the aspect that has improved my singing more than anything has not been practicing (although, without it, there would be nothing. Edison said 10% inspiration, 90% persperation and I totally agree!) nor has it been the boys, Baldo and others boosting my confidence and making me believe. No, it has been being more in touch with nature, with the people and the world around me, being more humble, seeing more with the heart and not the eyes. Werbeck worked closely with Rudolf Steiner, so it is no wonder that being in touch with nature goes hand in hand with "better" singing.
    But the thing I can't point my finger on is this: has being in touch with nature improved my singing or has singing itself put me more in touch with nature and improved my singing as a result? I think it is the latter personally. Because singing, proper singing, opens you up, especially your heart. It is something natural, where we are a medium for the melody, that [...]