It’s 6.30am and Els and I have cycled up the holy grail (aka the 5th path) of the swamp score to record the waking life of the marsh and river. Sun shining, birds and us a-grinning in reeds and on high. But hark and hell. There’s a loud long drone of noise that grows as we get further from the city. It’s the highway. We’ve been out here a lot and never heard this. Is it just gentle wind direction and dry air ?
Back at the Ledebirds HQ for balalaika workshop then story telling, puppet making and animation over cooking for dinner to share. Directed by the wonderful Mattias Laga it’s more than inspiring. People are really getting on with things together here. We are flemish, english, slovakian, somalian, turkish, french, dutch and congolese. I’m hear to gather material for the sonic garden that the swamp bicycles will later reveal and everyone notes the 1st public tests. June 9th and 11th 2012.
Departing wet London to timelab for next stage of “The swamp that was – a bicycle opera from the ground of Ganda.” There’s a technical delay so won’t be the cycling around GPS-ing of different sound files all over the city as anticipated. Disappointing but means more time for compositional space which could be a good thing.
Swamp bike no.2 on a final test ride at the end of a research week for “The swamp that was..” a bicycle opera for Ghent. We were assessing cycling distance from city centre out to this path beside the river Schelde also playing various pieces on the way. At the moment of stopping to head back, a flock of geese gathered and circled over us twice. “Les verres”, a remix of a Louis de Meester experiment by Matthews accompanies. Local historian Adrien Brysse’s talk about Ganda (the old name for Ghent) coming from the Engish name for geese, and that Ghent is built on a swamp, had also played at the start of their pedal.
We’ve come for a cuppa with Blanka Olahova who was singing with the Ledebirds on Monday night. She lives in Ledeberg and moved here from Slovakia 20 years ago. Belgium is friendly and easy and she experiences no racism here she says. Also there’s a big Romany community and she’s been able to get work singing and raise her 3 daughters. One of them now lives in London and she’s just arrived on the train so we have a 3 way English Slovakian Flemish thing going on. Blanka also writes songs so we plan where the one she says she could write for The swamp could go. I realise later that today is International Women’s Day.
The Brusselsepoortstraat, central leg of the score, has had folk and goods pass up and down from city centre to river and port and over to Ledeberg for centuries. Now a noisy road for trams and bikes there’s the Hollainhof modern social housing complex, a monk’s cloisters, timelab, Exotica Supermarket, a Nektar producing store and the production centre of Roomer – an elderflower based aperitif based on the grandmother’s recipe of brothers Jeroen & Maarten. M tells the tale including the essential harvesting of blooms at just the right moment and the reciting of the 8 worded mantra to soothe the spirit of the elder, oh she who sits at the border of life and death. Perfect. Plus these brewing vats chant the most delicious of tones with a high frequency purr of a fluctuation. If the sound stops, the brew loses its joojoo. Our ingredients gather.
The score grows. We’ve navigated a canalside strand (lhs) from the Candy Store at Vooruit, (bike HQ for the swamp once running) which was a map & cerebral choice after looking for a route to Ledeberg. In reality it couldn’t be more perfect. A quiet and easy pedal that flows away from Vooruit and city centre noise, revealing the unknown backsides of familiar facades and variations in time through architecture. Then a powerful viewpoint at a split in the Schelde river past the Muink park with the remains of the oldest tree and the 10 benches named after the final Zoo animals (closed 1914) and a bike pass under noise of the highway and bang into the quiet of historic neighbourhood Ledeberg. This area houses more people per sq m with than anywhere else in Belgium, and on the lowest incomes.
Hot off the Eurostar and pedalling through pouring rain into the welcoming arms of the World Choir rehearsing at the Peace Hall, Ghent. Franck, centre, lives in Lederberg, the area of the city that’s providing so much enthusiastic material and support for ‘The Swamp that was’, the bicycle opera I’m developing here. This is the start of research week two, to gather and map compositional material, so I’m recording, assisted by Els Viaene. The choir is directed by local Bolivian vocalist Anna, they practice South African, Nicaraguan and Greenham Common(!) protest songs. Then pack mics and a fast wet pedal to what has to be the social and musical antithesis. The Ledebirds, in their weekly rehearsal. Word is out that we’re here and the room is packed. Stirring gypsy tunes from Slovakia and more. Gut smiling stuff. And the only common language these neighbours share.
In residence at timelab, Ghent with developer Wolfgang Hauptfleisch to begin the design and build and compositional plan for ‘The swamp that was – a bicycle opera from the ground of Ganda.’ We had a meeting tonight with members of the local community to find out how much they might want to contribute. Amazing. 14 people came, all active locally in music, architecture, history, cooking, potent alcoholic brew making, the library, and city council. And yes, everyone keen to get involved. This is what I call collaboration.