Kety Fusco (27) plays electric harp and composes her own songs. She began playing the harp as early as at the age of six. But the classical harp became too boring for her at some point and so she discovered the electronic harp for herself. Kety Fusco is also part of the collective “Peter Kernel and their wicked orchestra” by the duo Barbara Lehnhoff (Camilla Sparksss) and Aris Bassetti, who are also members of SUISA. In 2018, Kety Fusco was allowed to perform in the presence of Federal Councillor Alain Berset at the Locarno Film Festival. On 8 May their debut album “Dazed” will be released on the Sugar Music label. Kety Fusco is based in Arbedo (TI) and has been a member of SUISA since 2018.
For the project “Music for tomorrow”, Kety Fusco performed the previously unreleased song “Saceba”. She says this about the song: “ʻSacebaʼ was born in a former cement factory at the bottom of Switzerland’s southernmost valley. I was in this place, enchanting and sombre at the same time, to breathe life into a dance and music performance.
On the first day already, when I entered the main building, I gradually became aware that a treasure of sound was hidden there. The next day I went back with various objects (stones, tools, instruments) and my recording equipment to record the entire Saceba (that was the name of the factory) from the first floor to the top floor: the rubbing of the concrete and the sound of the big echoes of this wonderful industrial archaeology.
Once home, I downloaded all the sounds to my computer and built the piece by mentally retracing my steps and imagining a story that took place within the walls of the factory. Then I added real music with my harp and considered it the soundtrack I would have liked to hear when I first entered the Saceba: the soundtrack of the cement factory.”
Kety Fusco, how does your working day as a composer/lyricist look like during the corona pandemic?
Kety Fusco: I play classical harp for four hours every day, working two hours on the technique of the instrument and the other two hours playing pieces I want to record. I play for about two more hours or so with my electric harp and prepare my new live set.
What does this crisis mean for you personally?
I never keep up with the world because everything happens too fast for me. When I am not on tour, I like to stay at home, take a lot of time to play, study and devote myself to my harps. My debut album “Dazed” will be released on 8 May on Sugar Music and I’m working on my new live set. I am very inspired when nothing happens around me and I live everything in my head. The virus has not changed the way I do things – it has improved the way I am. When I walk around in the street and don’t hear the noise of the cars, I feel good. Knowing that nobody is outside my home and living the daily life but experiencing a “daily surprise” inspires me to imagine stories in my head. I think that everyone will forget what we’ve been through. It must have been like a bad dream for some and a difficult memory for others.
How can the audience support you at the moment?
I would really like the audience to hear my debut album and thus contribute to the streaming music market on which part of my income depends.
Would it help if people on Spotify and Co. streamed more of your music?
Yes, absolutely. With the crisis, streams fell by 33%, and the entire music industry was hit hard.
What do you think the current situation could bring with it?
In my opinion there is nothing positive for musicians, even if I think about creativity: For me, it doesn’t necessarily come when I quit, like Covid-19 … in fact, I usually feel more creative when I don’t have time for it. This situation will put everyone – musicians, technicians, insiders – to the test. The music market has never been fully understood, and I think there are very few people who understand what it means to have lost a whole year’s worth of concerts.
What do you want to give your fans to take away from this interview?
I want all my fans to know that I want to hug them all.
| “Music for Tomorrow” The Covid-19 crisis has hit SUISA’s members particularly hard. The main source of income for many composers and publishers has completely been lost: Performances of any kind have been prohibited by the Federal Government until further notice. In the coming weeks, we will be posting portraits of some of our members on the SUISAblog. They will tell us what moves them during the Covid-19 crisis, what their challenges are and what their working day currently looks like. The musicians also performed and filmed their own composition for the SUISAblog at home or in their studio. SUISA pays the musicians a fee for this campaign. |
Liebe Kety, ich habe dich gestern in Chur in der Postremise gehört und gesehen, ein Ohr- und Augenschmaus! Ganz herzlichen Dank für das wunderschöne, unvergessliche Konzert zusammen mit Astrid und Billie (Elodie). Da ich in Chur keine Möglichkeit habe einen Tonträger von dir zu kaufen, mache ich mich demnächst auf nach Zürich. Deine Musik hat mich in eine andere Welt versetzt, ich möchte sie immer wieder hören können! Danke, danke, danke und bleib gesund. Hoffentlich auf ein baldiges Wiedersehen im Jazz-Club Chur und alles Gute. Herzlich grüsst dich Therese aus Chur