When not providing strings for Arcade Fire live, Sarah Neufeld is busy making her own tunes. Ahead of her show at the Royal Albert Hall next week (4 May) she answers five questions for Q.
WHO would play you in the film of your life?
Emily Blunt, but not because I think that would be appropriate, but because she’s a total badass.
WHAT are you currently working on?
I’m currently touring in support of my new record, The Ridge. I just finished a month of shows in North America. It’s been a long time since I’ve driven a van across continent. It was fun, rewarding, and exhausting. The show has been very satisfying and energising. I’m also part of Colin Stetson’s newest release Sorrow – a reimagining of Gorecki’s 3rd Symphony. We just had our record release in NYC and have a few more in the pipeline. Performing that piece an incredible experience; epic and heartbreaking and beautiful. As well as playing festivals this summer for The Ridge, a handful of Arcade Fire shows, Colin and I will also be performing as a duo in several festivals in Europe in the coming months.
WHY do you do that thing you do?
Making music makes me feel alive. There are few activities in life that I become so immersed in, where thoughts cease to incessantly arrive and depart, where my whole being is completely involved with sound and the action my body uses to produce those sounds. I’ve often felt that it’s the purest form of communication; without the bias of words.
WHERE do you see yourself in ten years?
I hope to be continuing the journey that I’ve started. Somewhere higher up the mountain, with longer periods of taking things in. These past few years are blurry with motion. I’d like to continue working with amazing artists and creating work I’m excited and surprised by.
WHEN will there be a harvest for the world?
There’s a great need to shift our energies away from consuming and toward conservation, sustainability and alternative modes of being. Incredible things could happen for our planet and our species if we all focussed on the long game, and not just our immediate desires. A tall order, but one that’s necessary and possible!
For more head to Sarahneufeldmusic.com.
