The two musicians met musically for the first time at the opening concert of the European Capital of Culture Esch 2022 with Matthew Herbert and Frank Wiedemann.
Immediately it was clear that this encounter must be deepened in a duo.
Even though there are almost a thousand years between the creation of the two instruments, the sound worlds of analog synthesizer and the hurdy-gurdy are surprisingly similar and blend together perfectly.
Ela & Fred work on wide soundfields that create a hypnotizing maelstrom. The use of extended playing techniques on the hurdy gurdy repositions this instrument often reduced to folk music.