Promo Pack

Arhai
Promo Pack
…. ‘the band should be on the way to conquer
the European world music market …..it really is
a Balkan Mantra!’
FolkWorld Magazine
‘Jovana Backovic’s vocals are superb, and both
her and Adrian Lever’s musicianship are outstanding’.
Rainlore World
Arhai
Biography
The Arhai story began in 1998 in Belgrade, Serbia,
and was founded by composer and vocalist Jovana
Backovic. The debut album ‘Mysterion’ was released
on major Serbian label PGP, and drew together musicians from traditional, jazz and classical backgrounds
to create a sound that fused all these elements into
more than the sum of their parts and provided a
platform for Backovic’s developing compostional
sound-world. As a ten-piece elecro-folk orchestra
Arhai per­formed at major festivals in the Balkan region, winning over fans and two first prizes at competitions (Balkan Youth Festival 2003 in Greece, and
Festival Terminal 2005, Slovenia) until the line-up
disbanded in 2008, when Jova­na moved to the UK to
complete her studies in electroacoustic composition.
Now a UK-based project, Arhai has sought out a new
path.Starting from deep, first-hand roots and reaching
out in geography and time, their second album Eastern Roads comes as a pared down, thought-through
offering that promises a wide crossover audience.
The serendipitous moment came when Jovana
met Adrian Lever, a talented and sensitive musician who had found award-winning folk acclaim
playing guitar for 8 years in British duo Horses
Brawl, a man who happened to be keen to play
Bulgarian tambura. This meeting of minds was
the spur for Arhai to find a new path, fronting the
delicate, enigmatic sounds of the long-necked
tambura lute alongside the medieaval dulcimer.
Rooted deep in traditional song, originally
probably sung raw and rough by village women
at work, Arhai’s skill is to bring this music to a
contemporary audience, slipped in unawares.
If the term Balkan Folktronica doesn’t capture
the breadth of their sound, which absorbs influences from as far as India and Turkey, Sephardic Ladino, Renaissance and Irish music,
it’s probably one that’ll stick. But far from being a ‘copy n’ paste’ affair, Arhai make organic,
carefully crafted real music, where selective
sampling and electronic effects drawn from the
toolbox of skills that Jovana has built up in the
course of her studies in sonic arts, find a natural
place alongside the traditions they draw from.
Unlike the minimal field-recording-meets-studio-engineer approach, in Arhai there is always
Adrian’s achingly beautiful tambura and the
haunting voice-that-is-a-real-person of Jovana
to ground them as a real band - proved in their live
performances as a duo with laptopped tracking
and real-time manipulation, complimented by
visuals created by Italian VJ Massimo Macchuit for a multimedia, all-enveloping experience.
Arhai also performs as a live trio with drummer
Goran Savic.
The word ‘Arhai’ (pronounced with H) has a Greek
root, and can be interpreted as ‘begin­ning’, ‘ancient’ or ‘principle’. It sums up in one word all that
the band’s music is: rethinking tradition through
technology and the eyes of a modern world.
Jovana Backovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia
where she graduated composition from the Faculty of Music Art in 2006. She founded, composed
for, organized and led the band ‘Arhai’ in Belgrade
from 1998 and their debut album ‘Mysterion’
was released in 2006 on the national label PGP .
In its Belgrade incarnation Arhai was a ten-piece
electro-folk orchestra that developed a fusion of
traditional music from the Balkan region with ambient sounds and jazz-influenced improvisation,
using classical flute, ‘cello, piano, electric guitar,
bass and percussion, along with a quartet of female singers. As a UK resident Jovana continued
to create music under the name Arhai, moving
toward solo performance using live electronics. When she moved in UK to complete her PhD
thesis, she began her collaboration with British
folk guitarist and tambura-player Adrian Lever
and developed the current format of live multilayered vocals combined with tambura, tarabuka and electronics. This collaborative work was
generously supported by Arts Council of England.
Her academic works include Silence’ (Lorca’s
lyrics) for a choir (2000) / Piano suite (2000) / ‘Is
it really me’ (Juan Ramon Jimenez lyrics) song
for a voice and piano (2000) / String trio (2001)
/ ‘Four haiku lyrics’ for voice, flute and marimba (2002) / ‘Crazy woman’ for female choir and
two pianos (2004) / ‘Trilok Trio’ for clarinet, violoncello and marimba (2004) / ‘Inqualieren’ for
two guitars (2004) / ‘Basic moods’ string quintet
(2005) ‘Concertino’ for piano and orchestra (2006)
Jovana also composes music for feature and documentary movies and her current interest lies within
the field of electro-acoustic music and live improvisational performance – exploring the process of
the creation and development of individual music
identity through improvisation and the use of technology, which is the main subject of her PhD thesis.
Jovana Backovic
Biography
Adrian Lever
Biography
Currently based in London, Adrian Lever was guitarist with award winning folk and early music experimentalists Horses Brawl for 8 years, co-writing and releasing three albums and touring all
over the UK at festivals and arts centres and performing live on BBC Radio3. He has also been a
member of Appalachian roots band ‘Acaysha‘ for
17 years, recording and releasing two albums with
the legendary British pedal steel player B.J. Cole
wearing the combined caps of producer and performer. Acaysha have performed all over the UK
at major folk festivals and arts centres and are featured on the compilation CD ‘Evolving Tradition’.
Recent collaborations have included working
alongside internationallly renowned Saxophonist
Andy Shepard and Trumpet player Arve Hendriksson with the Norwich- based ‘Wintersongs’ project in the inspiring acoustics of both Anglican and
Catholic Catherdrals in Norwich – and performing
with the Radio 2 folk-award winning singer Bella Hardy at Norwich’s Maddermarket Theatre.
Adrian has also delved into the world of flamenco, playing 12-string guitar and tambura
alongside leading British flamenco guitarist and
composer Steve Homes. Performance highlights include Lewes Guitar Festival the London
Pena and FolkEast festival. He is also a regular on the London Irish music scene providing
guitar back-up at traditional sessions and gigs.
Over the last few years Adrian’s obsession with
the wonky rhythms of east has taken him on
bus trips to Bulgaria to learn tambura (8-string
long-necked lute). He studies there with tambura-playing phenomenon Vladimir Vladimirov who
has been teaching him the in’s and out’s of traditional ornamentation and improvisation. Since
then Adrian has been busy writing Horos (dance
tunes) and performing on tambura – the highlight
of which has been meeting and collaborating with
UK–based Serbian singer and composer Jovana
Backovic and becoming part of the ArHai project.
This project has also led to a recent collaboration with London-based Macedonian singer Tanja
Tzarovska. Performance highlights including The
Barbican Concert Hall (supporting Yasmin Levy)
and RichMix, London as part of the ‘East meets
East’ festival 2012. More on his solo work can
be found on his website www.adrianlever.co.uk
Goran Savic
Biography
Goran Savic is a fusion drummer and percussionist based in Belgrade, Serbia. He
started playing drums as a recommended therapy after the bad injury of the hand.
His interests and performance experience cover a wide range of music genres; in the last decade alone he performed and recorded with:
• Kal (2008-2010 tour with the release ‘RadioRomanista’ Asphalt Tango Records )
• Arhai ( Album and tour ‘Mysterion’ )
• Serbian bands:
• ‘Svi Na Pod’ ( release and tour )
• MVP (album and tour “Za bolje znam al’ mi
bolje ne treba”, MTV ).
He performed with some of the biggest names
in Balkan pop/rock and folk scene, including
Zemlja Gruva (Gruvlend), Vlada Divljan, Tanja
Jovicević,
Marko Kon, Ceca Ražnatović,
Muharem Serbezovski, Šaban Šaulic, Nazif Gljiva,
Selma Bajrami, Merima Njegomir, Svetlana
Arsić, Stoja, Dzej Ramadanovski,Flamingosi
(
Band
),
Rambo
Amadeus...
With the group AbRe he writes music for the
theatre.
This quite bizarre list of music experiences he
draws upon brought in the openminded approach
to the music and to the region whose predominant
characteristic has always been cultural diversity.
Quotes
+reviews
“If contemporary folk music is
what you are after,
then ArHai serves it up
deliciously.”
(Inside World Music).
“ethereal,
almost otherworldly
attraction….
simply irresistible.”
(Rainlore’s World of Music)
“…the most remarkable is the
voice of Backovic,which gives
the music its natural warmth
and colour”
(Musicframes)
“a finely-crafted work of great
sophistication.”
(Secret Archives Of The Vatican,
from a review of the ‘Eastern Roads’ Album)
Discography
2006 : Mysterion
PGP RTS
LP 10 pesama / SoundCloud
Arhai | Mysterion | https://soundcloud.com/arhai/sets/mysterion-2006
2013: Eastern Roads
Balkan Worlds
LP 11 pesama / SoundCloud / iTunes
Arhai | Eastern Roads | https://soundcloud.com/arhai/sets/eastern-roads
Technical Rider
[Duo]
+stage plan
Arhai technical requirements:
3 vocal microphones
2 microphones for dulcimer
1 percussion microphone
4 heavy duty music stands ( made of heavy
metal or wood, they are each supposed to
be able to hold a computer, dulcimer, 2 octave keyboard and midi controller-please see
www.arhai.com for photos ).
4 D.I boxes
1 DVD player connected to projector for live
visuals
Technical Rider
[Trio]
+stage plan
Arhai technical requirements:
3 vocal microphones
2 microphones for dulcimer
1 percussion microphone
4 heavy duty music stands ( made of heavy
metal or wood, they are each supposed to
be able to hold a computer, dulcimer, 2 octave keyboard and midi controller-please see
www.arhai.com for photos ).
4 D.I boxes
1 DVD player connected to projector for live
visuals
Yamaha maple custom set or similar
Bass drum 20”
Tom 10”
Tom 14”
Hi Hat stand
3 cymbal stands