Wende on embracing diversity in her music and David Bowie
Interview: 2016
Text: 2016 and 2022 (extended version)
“I then sit like a farmer looking at the land, looking at how the earth is, whether it is fertile.” When you interview Wende, it doesn't become a dime a dozen. To fully understand within fifteen minutes is an illusion, but nevertheless Wende can take you completely into her world and thoughts in a short interview thanks to her beautiful way of telling.
You have just completed another concert series with Amsterdam Sinfonietta (string orchestra). In May there is another sold-out concert in Paradiso. What makes you as an artist a good fit for Amsterdam Sinfonietta?
“Sinfonietta is willing to look beyond the boundaries of their genre. That's exactly what I always try. I try to bring different music movements together, and add theatrical means to that. That is unusual for an orchestra. Sinfonietta is an orchestra that immediately understands that.”
Could you say: an orchestra that dares to color outside the lines?
[Thinks] “Yes. Their DNA already contains 'coloring outside the lines'. They are also looking for their own programming. They don't just play Mozart and Bach; they are also looking for new composers. They combine this with the more familiar classical repertoire.
In addition, they are also open to theatricality, which is very special.
How's your new album going?
“If I were to paint a picture: you are standing in an empty space, in front of a very empty landscape. And then I sit and look at the land like a farmer. See how the earth is, whether it is fertile.
What's in the air? Which language is that? In 2009 I would have really closed the door to the chansons…”
I feel a "but" coming on...
"Yes. Then I thought: fuck how am I going to do this, because I had closed the door. Someone said to me: why do you think you have to choose? So for the next album I'm looking for embracing diversity. Don't shy away from doing chansons again. I am currently writing with Dimitri Verhulst and Adriaan van Dis, among others. I am also writing myself, for this I go to Berlin four days a month. I try classical music, pop music, singer-songwriter, chansons and electronics.
Will that be on one album?
“Well, maybe it will be five albums. I am always someone who floats between club and theater. I think it's also a nice metaphor for this time; embracing diversity. Instead of being busy with 'oh it must be pop now or 'oh it must be this or that now'.
You previously wrote about your fears; in 2009 'rest' was your biggest fear. How is it now, 7 years later?
[Laughs] “Am I healed? Haha… Am I calm now? no…. Do I sound calm? nooo…
I think the answer to this question is time bound. I also think death was my greatest fear. I think fear of tranquility has everything to do with fear that things are impermanent. In fact, I'm still alive, and like you still have the problem that you may still have many questions, and a relatively short time here on Earth.
I like to be tempted by everything. That's why I'm looking for peace. But I think life is too beautiful not to get carried away sometimes. It's not a big fear now, but it's more that I accept that it won't calm down anytime soon. I'm happy about that, I think."
You come across as an sensitive person and as someone who thinks, philosophizes and analyzes a lot. How do you hold your own in the business music world?
“I can hold my own, quite a long time. I find it quite difficult at times, but I've found ways to focus on 'why I'm in it'. I don't do it for between the sliding doors. I don't do it as a hobby, and I don't do it for myself either."
Do you see it partly as something businesslike?
“No, I have accepted that if I want to be on stage with it, it will become something businesslike. So I sometimes have to split myself in two. I then look for a place where I can express my sensitivity and creativity. In addition, I am fortunate that in one way or another I also have a talent for the other side: vision, strategy, positioning, PR and all those things. And the right people around me. So I'm holding up really well because that's the game you have to play if you want to compete in the professional world."
So are you able to play that game?
“Yes, and I also notice when it doesn't work out. Then I am overworked or overstimulated and then I have to get out for a while.”
What do you think when you see this? [I give a photo, taken in New York, December 7, 2015. We see David Bowie -2nd from right-, after his performance Lazarus. David Bowie died not much later, on January 10, 2016 ]
[Wende beams] “Yes, I was here at the premiere! My sweetheart took this picture. Gosh, I was really… I was going to sing at the opening of the David Bowie exhibition in the Groninger Museum on December 10. So I went to that premiere on December 7th and all at once….” [Silence]
He already knew then…. [that he was sick]
“Yes, he knew it for a long time.”
How does that make you feel now?
“I have tremendous admiration for David Bowie as an artist, music maker, performer and style icon. I also think it's so chic… He really understands what it's like to be a star. He knows what belongs in the public domain -that can be personal-, and what belongs in the private domain. The fact that he didn't say anything about his illness during the release of Blackstar…. And everything in Lazarus is about death…[thinks]…I just respect him immensely as a craftsman, and as a human being too.
You're talking about the person behind the musician: I like that he [David Bowie] has kept it very separate. I think it's bad for managers who think you should give that kind of information as change.
When you talk about how you keep going, I think: yes, this is the way.”
Thanks to: Wende Snijders, pop stage Ekko
Interview and text: Lotte Juliette