Bryce Dessner Interview

Curated by The National guitarist Bryce Dessner, the Sounds From A Safe Harbour festival takes place in Cork this September and promises a hugely enjoyable few days of music, visual art, cinema and food. Two years in the making, the event was born out of an idea dreamed up by Dessner and Mary Hickson of Cork Opera House who together refined the concept and line-up.
“Harbour is such an interesting word,” muses the softly spoken Dessner. “There’s stuff like the Titanic and the Lusitania that Cork has a historical relationship to, but more than that, it’s an opening into a greater world. It’s a small city with an almost village-like feel, and with this festival, the idea is that you can come and experience these things, and artists can take risks. With smaller events like this, participating and hearing new music is as important for the artists themselves as it is for the public.
“There’s no Irish lineage in The National – there is some Scottish – but coming from the midwest, there’s some affinity with the warmth and down- to-earth nature of Irish people. In Europe, anyway, it’s the closest place to what we know from home.”
One of the most exciting events on the bill is a collaboration between Dessner and his fellow contemporary classical aficionado, Arcade Fire member Richard Reed Parry.
“Richard’s one of my closest friends and he’s a really close collaborator,” explains Dessner. “He’s played on most of the National records and we’ve toured together for many years. We spend tonnes of time together and we share a background in contemporary music. I have a big interest in classical and Richard studied conceptual art. For years we’ve worked on projects together and for Cork, we decided that we’d compose a piece together.
“It’s called ‘Wave Movement’, and it’s for string orchestra, voice and percussion. It’s inspired by the ocean – the rhythm of the waves influence the rhythm of the music. The interesting thing as well is that it’s done with a third collaborator, a visual artist called Hiroshi Sugimoto. He’s one of Japan’s most famous living artists, and he’s made a film for the piece.
“You can look up his seascape pictures online and that’s what it looks like. U2 used one of his pieces for the No Line On The Horizon cover.”
Among the other events taking place at Songs From A Safe Harbour will be a collaboration between Lisa Hannigan and Bryce’s brother, Aaron (who will also performing with the RTE Symphony Orchestra), and a show by ex-Sigur Ros member Kjartan Sveinsson and composer Skuli Sverisson. Irish artists will be well represented throughout, with trad combo The Gloaming among those taking part.
“It’s interesting when a country has such amazing traditional music,” enthuses Dessner. “It’s such a point of departure for everything, in a way, so I like connecting all the music back to that. Whether it be really experimental contemporary music or more bands playing, you can draw through all of it, back towards a more traditional form of music.
“Obviously, Irish music is essential to American folk music as well – we kind of adapted it into our own form of mountain music and all that. That is a theme throughout the festival. In school, our biology teacher played the fiddle, and so we would play Irish jigs. My early acoustic guitar playing was learning Irish strumming patterns.”