Their paths regularly crossed in the improvised music scene of Amsterdam: Terrie Ex, guitarist of the elusive Dutch band The Ex for over 40 years, and Slovenian pianist Kaja Draksler, who currently lives in Copenhagen. The self-taught perfromer versus the schooled musician: on paper it might hardly make sense, but on stage they sound perfectly compatible. Together they explore all kinds of timbres through extended techniques on electric guitar and piano, and through the use of tools and toys, as can be heard on their first album Swim, which was recorded at Café Oto in Londen.
‘A celebration of textural possibilities, with instruments as sound generators, used to create manically rotating movements, imitate clattering pots and pans, creaking floors, buzzing radio static and exotic animals. If you thought that the formally schooled Draksler would have a hard time to keep up with a musical anarchist like her partner: think again’ (Guy Peters on Swim).
Kaja Draksler piano, Terrie Ex guitar