Ingrid Jonker is one of South Africa's most celebrated (and tragic) poets.
With the 50th commemoration of her untimely death in 1965 (committing suicide by drowning), her daughter is spearheading an exciting music project to not only reinvigorate Ingrid's timeless words, but also preserving it via a wide range of artists and their brand new song recordings exclusive to this collection.
Read more about the project: www.flamedrop.com/ingridjonker.
Read an interview with Anne van Schothorst.
Read an interview with Simone Garcia Marques.
Read an interview with Terminatryx.
Jim Neversink (photo provided)
Below, Naomi Meyer chats to Jim Neversink.
Jim, you composed the melody to Ingrid Jonker's "Bitterbessie Dagbreek", a poem known to most Afrikaans-speaking South Africans. Did you understand the words while wrting the melody - and what was your interpretation of the poem?
I knew the poem and had a vague understanding of the theme but I used the Antjie Krog and André Brink translation from 2007 as my guide.
I hear an innocent, helpless woman in despair and in much the same way as someone may use their displaced anger monstrously by kicking a dog, or screeching at their kids, I thought the innocence of daybreak could become a target of anger too.
How would you describe your music’s sounds for this particular song?
Ingrid Jonker's work is so beautifully constructed and angular, I wanted to try match the tension, bitterness and anger of her words. The riffy guitar, pretty much throughout is an attempt to illustrate that she's being pursued and there's no immediate exit from her nightmare. She's looking for answers, there's nothing just this duel-type juggernaut chasing her down.
Then some lap steel guitar - I usually play in open E but I thought she deserved something prettier so I toyed with C6, which is an Hawaiian tuning; that's the tropical island daybreak sound I was going for.
What do you see when you sing this song or play the guitar?
I really felt her despair and wanted to fight alongside her - that's why when I introduce her voice.
I alter the EQ to make it sound from a different era (which of course it was) but near the end I use the same treatment on my voice to show her she's not alone.
Haaa ... I know this sounds ridiculous but I honestly felt like I needed to go be with her.
Kommentaar
So beautiful Mr Neversink.