Interview: Kesang Marstrand

Born to a Danish mother and Tibetan father, Kesang (pronounced kay-song) Marstrand is not your ordinary mixed-origin singer-songwriter. Now out with her debut album Bodega Rose, Marstrand’s music is soulful acoustic that’s at once gripping and memorable. We speak to her about her new record, Tibet and convenience stores

Tell us a little about yourself. How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard it before?

I’ve been playing guitar and writing songs for about ten years now, and just released my first album.

In my songwriting I usually try to explore an idea or an image and create space and texture around it, lyrically as well as musically.  In terms of the genre, I’ll sometimes call it folk, but there’s also a jazz influence.  My songs tend to be calmer than a lot of music out there, so I think it has an intimate feel as well.

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You come from a varied cultural background. How do you think that has affected your sound?

For the song ‘Real Boy,’ I had written an accompanying part that Karl Berger played on piano, and after he’d written out the music, he said, “this is a Tibetan melody.”  It was interesting to me because I hadn’t noticed it until he said something.  I guess that’s an example of my background showing up in my music, but on a deeper level I think that it’s too hard to really place.

What is a Bodega Rose? Any chance it’s a reference to California? Tell us a little about your debut album.

In New York City, which is where I live mostly, ‘bodega’ is just a word for a convenience store.  The title song is about the roses you can buy outside most bodegas.  The sentiment of the song has to do with the choices we make, and the inevitable sacrifice of choosing something like living in the city as opposed to living in a more natural environment.  It’s about reconciling a choice and recognizing that there’s a sacrifice in everything, but that there’s also a beauty in that.  I think the entire album is about reconciliation, in different ways.

I recorded ‘Bodega Rose’ in Woodstock, at Sertso Studio, which is owned by Karl Berger whom I mentioned above.  Karl co-founded the Creative Music Studio with Ornette Coleman in the 70′s, and he’s an incredible musical mind on so many levels… it was a big deal to be able to have him play on the album.  Everyone I worked with on this album brought something special to it, and I feel lucky to have had such a great experience for my first project.

You released a song ‘Tibet Will Be Free’ as a free download. Is a cause like that a major part of your music?

Creatively I tend toward the abstract and the conceptual, so, ‘Tibet Will Be Free,’ was a different sort of song for me to write.  I wrote it in March of last year when a lot of peaceful protests were taking place inside of Tibet.  I basically wanted to write a song that expressed very simply, the real possibility of a free Tibet.  I don’t know if I would say that the cause is a big part of my music, but it’s definitely something that I hold dear in my beliefs.

Top 5 songs on your iPod right now.

‘Le Notti’ – Ezio Bosso
‘In Your Eyes’ – Béla Fleck
‘Elli’ – Avishai Cohen
‘Raoui’ – Souad Massie
‘For Sascha’ – Béla Fleck

Kesang Marstrand on MySpace