Asking Maja S. K. Ratkje

Maya Ratkje (MR) is a very interesting singer. She is always improvising, what is very difficult and special. We Cre@tive Media Jugend Camp Blogger (CMCB) interview her about her music career.

CMCB: Why did you choose to sing?
MR: The voice is a very direct instrument. It’s the closest instrument to the body and it’s natural. I started to use my voice to explore the possibilities. I thought it was fun and challenging, I wanted to do new stuff with the voice so I was just playing around. When I was a little child, I sang in choirs and in musicals.

CMCB: Which piece do you like to sing most?
MR: When I sing, I just improvise, but if I sing pieces I like to sing lullabies for my little daughters.

CMCB: How long do you practise for a concert?
MR: I have practised my whole life. I don’t practise particular for one concert. It’s the experience that I have from my whole carrier. When I go on stage, I don’t know where to start and what I’m going to do. It just happens.

CMCB: What is special about the “Lockenhaus Kammermusikfest”?
MR: It has very high quality of everything and the musicians are international. There’s also a very devoted audience. In the concerts, it’s quiet.

CMCB: Which music are you listening to, beside classic?
MR: I sing at very different festivals like rock, folk, jazz and also metal festivals. I do so many different things, so I listen to everything except the TOP 10 list.

CMCB: Where do you take your inspiration from?
MR: My inspiration comes mainly from the nature. I think our relationship to nature is very important. It’s not about making a piece about a tree, that can be really boring.

CMCB: About which musical mistake can you laugh today?
MR: There are a lot. Remember one time I played a concert in Oslo. I was sitting down, because I played with the jazz group. We were all sitting. I wore a skirt and suddenly it got stuck in the chair. We were going to take the applause and I couldn’t get of the chair. My friend, who sat next to me said: ”Maja, you have to take of your skirt” and I said: ”No, I’m not going to take of my skirt”. So I took the chair and I went off the stage with it. And backstage we basically destroyed the chair to get the skirt off.

CMCB: Have you got a special ritual before a concert?
MR: I need to be alone and I can’t talk to people. For me it’s a kind of meditation. I’m just much focused and I’m warming up a little bit. I’m just trying to open up for the possibilities to get as good as I can get. I have to be super sharp. I have to believe that I can do anything. If I don’t believe then I can’t do it. I can also do this by walking.

CMCB: If you wouldn’t be a musician, which job would you have?
MR: I’m very creative, so I would be something where I could use my creativity. I was not going to be a musician. I decided it when I was 19 years old. Before that I was going to be a scientist.

CMCB: What does the topic “creation” mean to you?
MR: It means everything. It’s the natural, how I perform. That you create your story with the audience. I also write music, but the music is not on the paper.

Text: Anna-Sophia Schlappal (13)
Fotocredits: Cre@tive Media Jugend Camp