Do you have a stage name?

I don’t know, since we performed as Sophia and the Suspicious Triangles last time, I guess that makes me the Suspicious Triangles. (jokingly) I would say that my real passion in making music is not the making of music itself but the coming up with band names. I’ve been coming up with band names ever since I knew there were band names.

Like I would come together with friends and we would never do any music together but we would have a band name.

What or who inspired you to make music?

Well, I’ve been a consumer of music for a very long time. And my reaction to hearing music that I like is to join in. So if you’re ever doing music and I’m there and I sing along loudly then that means I like you. So it sort of happens simultaneously – I hear the music and I join in. Whenever I like something I want to be part of it. So I’ve been singing along and singing songs since forever.

I trained to play the clarinette for over ten years now, so apart from the recorder that was my first instrument. Problem was, I also wanted to sing, and it’s kind of hard to play the clarinette and sing at the same time. So I decided to learn how to play the guitar as well, and I taught myself how to do it so that I could sing along with it and so that I could also come up with chords to the songs that I’d written before.

How many instruments can you play?

Well, I tried my hands at many, I’m fairly good at playing the clarinette I’d say, although since I’m no longer part of my big band I don’t play it that much anymore, also all types of recorders and the guitar, of course. I used to have a ukulele but I didn’t play it too much and then I lost it, also I can do percussion-y stuff, I got my home-made rice shaker and I also got a set of harmonicas, and I really like them.

Yeah, so that’s why I really don’t like playing on my own that much, because there are so many little things that could be done to enhance a performance and on my own, playing the guitar, singing, playing harmonicas and using the rice shaker kind of doesn’t work.

What does making music and singing mean to you?

To me making music is something that generally happens, but really performing doesn’t feel that natural to me. I’d hum along and sing along at concerts, but playing an instrument and also singing – I recognized that when I learned how to sing harmonies – is something that takes practice and you need to be invested in it. You can be more or less invested but you need an interest.

To me, listening to music can sometimes be a more spiritual experience than actually making music myself, I have these moments when I’m just listening to a song and there is this one line and suddenly I feel like: Wow, what has my life been before that?

So I wish I could recreate, or maybe not recreate but simply do something like that with my own music. Music is coding so much, of course it’s got the lyrics and all that, and in that it’s not only the meaning of the words but also what words you choose and how you arrange them and the rythmn and all that so there is a lot coming together already there, like poetry.

But then you’ve got the actual music and in that there is so much potential for emotion, and all this coming together in a way that speaks directly to you that’s an amazing experience, and that is something that always made music so important for me.

Like sometimes I listen to a song and it expresses exactly how I feel and that is what good music is for me.

Tamara is going to perform tonight @CascadasBar, Ferdinandstraße 12 Hamburg.

Doors are open at 7pm, the program starts at 7.30 pm and entry is 5€.

She is also currently looking for potential bandmates, so if you’re interested, feel free to contact us at tbajournal@live.com for more information.

Sara was listening to the recording of this interview while writing this interview.