NORD

Their Story

Maja & David is a duo project based in two places on each side of the planet: Denmark (Scandinavia) and Québec (Canada). Maja Kjær Jacobsen and David Boulanger are folk musicians, each a specialist in the traditional music and singing the songs of their respectable cultures. They combine the traditions, only with Maja on the fiddles, Hardanger Fiddle and voice, and David’s fiddles, voice and feet on the tapping board to make the sound-scape. Strangely enough the two traditions, which have grown and developed in different directions with 6,000 km in between, still have a remarkably strong line of things in common. Similarities and differences are put together in an unheard-of mix, creating an exiting, rare and intense hybrid of traditional music.

 Maja Kjær Jacobsen was born in Silkeborg in the middle of Jutland in Denmark in 1985, and as the daughter of a singer and guitarist, the path to become a musician herself lay very close. She is a traditional fiddler as well as a modern folk composer and arranger, and a traditional dancer. Apart from the regular fiddle she also plays the Norwegian instrument, the Hardanger Fiddle, which she learned while living in Norway in 2009, and she has incorporated it in the duo’s music, playing both new compositions and the traditional tunes in the style of Québec and Denmark. The singing tradition that Maja knows and performs in the Mid-Jutland dialect is one that she rediscovered, and so other than Maja very few people know it. She performs, teaches and does research, and she is a soon-to-be published author of a new book about the music tradition of her home area around Silkeborg. She graduated from the Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts of Southern Denmark (Odense) in June 2012, as a Master in Folk Music with the fiddle as her main instrument.

 David is a highly respected fiddler, foot-tapper, singer, composer and arranger from Montréal. He was born in 1983 in Saint-Hubert on the south shore of Montréal, where he started to play the fiddle at 8. At 16 he started his first trad. music band where he played the guitar, and in Cegep (pre-university) and university he studied jazz composition, arrangement and violin. In 2007 he won the award for “album of the year” with his band “La Part du Quêteux” in the Canadian Folk Music Awards. In 2010 David was also nominated with his “Duo Duval Boulanger” for “instrumental group of the year” for the album “Pièces sur Pièces” in the Canadian Folk Music awards. July 2011, he composed and arranged music for the circus, “Cirque Alfonse” for their show “Timber”. Currently, he has been performing with La Bottine Souriante – the epic grand trad band of Québec presenting music from Québec with horn arrangements – for 5 years, including releasing the much praised album, “Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée”, which was nominated in the category “group of the year” in the Canadian Folk Music Awards 2012. He travels the world performing and teaching traditional music of Québec. He plays with a depth and intensity as the old fiddlers from the province, and has musical past like very few fiddlers at his age.

In their own words…

 There is something intimate and true about music that is played solely on the amount of instruments that can be carried by two people into a train and out. In our music, extra accessories are not needed, and though the project is built on great distances no borders set the boundaries. It took us countless experiments to get here, and it has brought us amazing experiences as a result.

 As the duo Maja & David, we had the honour of playing our first concert at the biggest folk and trad music festival in the province of Québec, Festival Mémoire et Racine in July 2012.

 Touring in Europe and North America, everywhere we have played our music has made people think and wonder. A little crooked smile or a twinkle in the corner of their eyes has made us very happy and has helped us to believe that the music we bring to the world is something special. The next step is to make our first cd so that more people will be able to enjoy the music. Also, it will create more possibilities for us to share our music and traditions with others, and bring us to corners of the world where we can experience and learn from other musicians and their cultures. This is the essence of why we play music at all.

What We Need

So far we have chosen the repertoire we want to record, made the arrangements and played the tunes live for some time now. We are ready to get in the studio and start the whole « official » project of recording our first CD.

In the past, record labels paid for most of the fees for a project like this. There was never a lot of record labels that signed folk artist, and nowadays it has become even harder to be signed since the audience tend to buy less and less CD’s and instead buy mp3 versions of the record online. In the folk music genre, however, the music most people buy is still the physical CD’s as well as mp3’s online. A CD is also a musician’s business card and it is necessary to be able to get hired for festivals and concert venues, and also to apply for grants for travelling costs when we play the concerts. Festivals, venues and grants all ask for a physical CD when we contact them. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense for us to make this fund raising campaign for making a CD.

Sometimes record labels change things which they and their signed artists have agreed upon. While it is very exciting to feel that, in the absence of a record label, we have total control over the creative aspect of our music, only you can help us make our dream of making a record come true.

The album “NORD” will include 10 tracks which will consist of the traditional music and songs from Denmark and Québec as well as some original compositions made in the traditional style that we love. We’ve put our hearts into this music. We truly believe that it can touch people with its sometimes smooth and yet intense mood, and with all the energy and excitement that you will also find in both our musical cultures.

The money that we will raise here is going to pay for the recording process of our album. It can be divided like this:

Recording : 1,600$

Mixing : 1,120$

Mastering : 600$

Total : 3,220$

We’ve set the total amount that we need to 3,220$, but of course we can always use more. As a matter of fact, if we can raise more than what we set here, we will use the funds to help us pay for the photographs, artwork and printing fees which amount to 3,000$ more than the goal we’ve set here. The 3,220$ should be seen as the amount that will enable us to begin the process of making a CD.

What you get

Listed below are the great perks that we made especially for you:

Special thanks on our website - Pre-release digital download - Signed hard copy of the CD « NORD » - One Top Ten Cook Book of Maja and David’s favorite recipes -  2 lessons with either Maja or David or one of each - Your name in the liner notes - A tune made especially for you  - A concert where ever you want.

Something to keep in mind

If we do not reach our goal  of 3,220$ we will not get any of the funding for our project from Indiegogo, which means that you will not receive your personal gifts either. We want you to get your gifts, so please help us reach our goal!

Other ways you can help

You can’t help monetarily? No problem. We understand that. You can still help us by spreading the word about us and our campaign to the people you know. The best way for us to get maximum exposure is for you to use the «Indiegogo Share Tools» above – it’s free.

Just the fact that you took the time to read about our project makes us very grateful and we appreciate any help you can provide. Together we can make this happen.

To all of you

Thanks, Tak & Merci,

Maja & David