Here we talk more about film and cultural histories in this second part of our interview:

Mariana:Moving image on film gives you a very wide range of possibilities. You can experiment with any kind of connection or even disconnection between music and moving images. But I have to mention that I find similarities in terms of dynamics and energy. In my point of view music and dance for film have to be related, connected, “moving” in the same direction, as they do it in the studio. There has to be a dialogue between them, even if the dialogue is abstract or wants to create disconnections or distortion. There has to be something in common between moving images and music that makes them to stay together, and creating a symbiosis.

Karen: Yes! I call that Universal Truth. The dimension and proportion of all Art can be Mathematical (that’s why I use Vetruvian Man as my logo) but most importantly it contains an emotional truth.

Karen: On another subject,I find musicians who come from the north (perhaps Scandinavian as opposed to Mediterranean )  have a unique sensibility of sound and music. Is there a cultural connection with folk music and nature that you bring into your compositions/improvisations? Or is it something else that you are maybe not aware of? I know you have experience of both!

Mariana: Yes?! You do too?

I’d say that I have found musicians that come from the south with also a unique sensibility of sound and music. And actually, I’m not sure what to answer to this question because I’m from Spain and I’ve been living 10 years in Sweden, haha! I think all of us we have different sensibilities and ways to approach to music and sound. Maybe I have found some differences between some music styles between the south and the north. For example, the soft, air, spacious, melancholic jazz from Scandinavia. I haven’t heard this style almost never in south musicians… Also, choir music is pretty special in the north, or I should say in Scandinavia. Folk music is amazing in Sweden, so many  beautiful melodies and harmonies. Maybe the fact that singing is more in the culture here gives more sound sensibility to musicians.

Karen: Yes. I spent a summer in Riga and Tallin and was astonished at the a cappella singing history and performance here. The ability to harness the inner ear so precisely. A great road to improvisation!