CUTT GLASS
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First off - could you introduce yourselves? CUTT GLAS: Hi , my name is Bondina, I’m the bass in the group. I’m Shereen, and I’m the alto. Hi, I’m Anna, and I’m in the middle. I’m Jolette, I’m a mezzo-soprano. I’m Karen, and I sing very high. Listen to answer:

How was Cutt Glas formed? CUTT GLAS: There were a number of is singing in the production of “Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, and we were performing for about a nine month period and some of us started singing together. The group originally had eight members and then eventually some got married, and emigrated, and I hope not got locked up – so we’ve ended up having five. Listen to answer:

Could you name your previous recordings, as well as any notable awards you've won? CUTT GLAS: “Glass Only” is our fifth album. Our very first album we won an Artes award for. That was in 1994. After that we did “One Voice”, and after that we did “Not Only Angels, and we recently did a live album, recorded at several festivals called “Sny Kant/Cuts” and then obviously Slegs Glas/Glass Only” is our latest product. Oh, and the first album was called “Syncopation”. Listen to answer:

You seem to be quite close. Do your friendships interfere with your work? CUTT GLAS: They do – ‘cause we just want to have parties all the time (laughs). It interferes with our weight (laughs). Listen to answer:

Did you try to break new ground with your latest release, "Slegs Glas/Glass Only"? CUTT GLAS: We did a lot of collaboration with other people. We used a producer for the first time – Didi Kriel, and he helped us a lot with arrangements, but he never took away our own creativity, which was nice for us. Also the fact that we had the opportunity to work in a much bigger studio, which gave us the opportunity to use more tracks and things like loops that we were never able to use before. Listen to answer:

Do you like working in the studio environment? CUTT GLAS: It was wonderful working that way – it breaks a lot of new ground. There’s just so much more that one can do. There’s a difference between stage and albums, because people have to listen to eleven songs one after the other. Listen to answer:

What's the main difference between this album and your previous recordings? CUTT GLAS: The main difference between this album and the others is that we had arrangements that we hadn’t necessarily done ourselves. We did collaborate with those arrangers, but on the other albums we did all the arrangements ourselves. Listen to answer:

How do you arrange songs which were originally intended for instruments and vocals, for an a cappella vocal group? CUTT GLAS: With difficulty (laughs). We like to listen to the sounds they make. If they use guitars, or a drum, we like to imitate the sound, and then we try to make it different, so it’s not exactly the same arrangement as the original. And we also like the staggering process, where you have one person singing the tune, and then we add the base and then we add percussion or the counter harmonies. So eventually everything makes sense and if there’s something that’s clashing we try to sort that out. We do it in a workshop style. We sit around a table – we don’t work at the piano – unless we need to work out difficult chords, but otherwise we normally sit around a table and we listen to each other and we try to find new stuff. Listen to answer:

So a song like "Wanneer dit reen op Rietfontein", which was written out in staff notation, is completely different from what you normally do? CUTT GLAS: The funny thing is that at the end of the recording we listened to it again and then we went into the studio again and added stuff – we wanted to make the percussion sounds. So actually, at the end we also did some creative stuff as well. And also it’s a signature sound that we didn’t want to change too much. Listen to answer:

Tell us a little about your upcoming performances at the Ukkasie Festival. CUTT GLAS: It’s a festival specially designed for South African artists, and for South Africans in England. It started in a town called Epping, but the venues ended up being too small, there wasn’t enough accommodation for the artists… They’ve moved it to Wembley. Now it’s a much bigger event, and they’ve actually changed some of the venues to South African names, so we’ve got some of the poets represented – we’ve got Ingrid Jonker and we’ve got DJ Opperman, we are performing in the NP van Wyk ‘saal’. So it’s mostly designed for South African people who are in England at the moment. Of course we’re very excited about this – we’ve never actually performed in London – we’ve all been there, but we’ve never performed there, so it’s going to be a first time and obviously performing to South Africans. We’re not going to miss the food, ‘cause apparently it’s all South African food that they’re going to have there… Listen to answer:

At the "Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunste Fees" you performed with another a cappella group called Afrika Mama's. Was that an interesting experience? CUTT GLAS: That was a fantastic show. It was a wonderful experience for all of us, and especially working with other women in this country, it’s very interesting and I think it was a very worthwhile exercise – and also, for us, breaking new ground, once again. I was amazed that one lady could actually sing an octave lower than myself. Listen to answer:

Do you enjoy your relationship with your fans? CUTT GLAS: ‘Ja’, we have a total ‘jol’. On the way from gigs, normally, Bondina says she’s got something for us and then we start reading them. It’s lovely to get letters from people. It’s nice that they take the time to say that they enjoyed something. I especially enjoy the younger generation, because they always have something sweet to say (laughs). It’s wonderful that we have built up a loyal fan base over the passed eleven years. And they are very loyal – our fans come to all of our shows, we’ve started recognising people in the audience now. Listen to answer:

Do you enjoy the attention you get - especially at festivals? CUTT GLAS: I think that at festivals, because people come from very far, and they put a lot of effort in to come and see your shows, it’s wonderful to have them around, and to meet them, and to see them. We don’t really get tired of that, or irritated with it. The difference between us, and a solo artist, is that there’s five of us to absorb it. Listen to answer:

You have quite a hectic touring schedule. How do you fit all the shows in with your other careers? CUTT GLAS: We don’t know. It just kind of works out. I think if you’ve got a day-job or you do something else during the day, you’ve still got another eight hours during the evening, during which you can still do something else. We also priotise. With all of us, Cutt Glass is a very important part of everything that we do. So, you do tend to sort of move other things around to fit in the Cutt Glass shows as well. That’s also very important, if we weren’t able to that we would not have been together for eleven years. Listen to answer:

Cutt Glas have been together for ten years. Where do you see the group in the next ten years? CUTT GLAS: Wembley… (laughs). Constant sponsorship from various health spa’s so that we can go every six months or so, our own private make-up artist before every show, and a gym instructor… and a helicopter, and a psychologist… No really, I guess if you look at some of the famous groups, like The Flying Pickets and The King Singers, they’ve been going for years and years, and I guess that’s what we’ve got in mind for Cutt Glass as well. You get new members, and the older members I guess… at some point you’ve really got to think what you’re doing on stage (laughs). Listen to answer:

When are we going to hear Cutt Glass by Cutt Glas - original material? CUTT GLAS: I think that’s the very next step for us. That’s a very important decision we’ve made – that the next album needs to be an original one. We have done original material before in our earlier shows and we’ve sort of left that behind, somehow people have wanted to listen to other stuff. Listen to answer:

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