Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
What has Karin Schaupp been up to lately? OR From Beethoven, to Taylor Swift to Ocean Waves and Beyond
Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians.
Discover the magic of musical collaboration with Karin Schaupp, one half of the brilliant duo Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp, as we celebrate two decades of their inspiring partnership. Karin takes us back to where it all began at the Huntington Festival in Mudgee, New South Wales, where a serendipitous meeting led to a harmonious journey through four collaborative albums. She opens up about their unique working relationship, balancing their shared musical dreams with individual pursuits.
We also explore the influence of their mothers, both music teachers, and how Karin's move from Germany to Australia at eight years old shaped her artistic path.
Explore the rich tapestry of musical tastes within families, from the edgy beats of Melanie Martinez to the timeless classics of Beethoven. Karin will also share her appreciation for the soothing power of ocean sounds and classical music.
Dive into the world of custom guitars with a spotlight on Jim Redgate's masterful craftsmanship that produces instruments boasting resilience and a rich sound palette. Hear about her commitment to a single, versatile guitar on stage, capable of producing an array of tones and effects.
As we wrap up, there's palpable excitement for upcoming performances and the sheer joy of connecting with audiences in South Australia.
What have Karin Schaupp and Katie Noonan been up to lately? Let's find out!!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
Visit: ThatRadioChick.com.au
That Radio Chick Cheryl Lee here. Welcome to the Still Rockin' it podcast where we'll have music news, reviews and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians and artists. Today we're chatting to the extremely talented Karin Schaupp, half of the duo Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp, who have a unique collaboration. Their new release marks 20 years of working harmoniously together. The Australian says Katie Noonan has a voice like warm honey being decanted into melting snow. It is such a thing of beauty that finding a vessel to hold it can be difficult. Happily, in the music of acclaimed German-born classical guitarist Karin Schaupp, Noonan has found the perfect companion.
Cheryl Lee:Have to say I agree with that wrap up. Let us get to know Karin Schaupp a little bit better and what these two talented ladies are up to. To catch up on podcasts from other favourite artists, simply go to that radiochickcomau. I'd like to welcome into the Zoom room today Karin Schaupp. How are you Good, thank you. Thank you so much for taking time out of your holiday to have a chat with us today, because you've got a new release and it celebrates 20 years of your unique collaboration with Katie Noonan. Well done, ladies.
Karin Schaupp:Yeah, oh, look, it's very special that we've worked together for so long, and it was indeed exactly 20 years ago that we were first put together in a festival. We had met before, but we hadn't worked together. And we were put together in a festival we had met before but we hadn't worked together. And we were put together in a festival at Mudgee in New South Wales by Richard Tognetti. It was the Huntington Festival and we just did some English folk songs and we both went ah, I really like working with you. And then it kind of probably took another couple of years.
Karin Schaupp:After that we ran into each other at airports, as most musicians do, and sort of various events, and then, yeah, we made our first album and it was Songs of the British Isles. So we sort of, you know, continued from where we started. Then we've made four albums together and toured them and just grown a really beautiful friendship. We've both done a lot of other things in between and maybe that's the secret to a successful collaboration is that we you know, we only do this every few years together and it's very special when we do get to play together and we really look forward to hanging out and to being on stage together and making music together. So, yeah, it's been really lovely.
Cheryl Lee:Well, congratulations. That is a lot longer than a lot of marriages.
Karin Schaupp:Indeed indeed, but we're not married and all the time in between is probably the secret. Maybe that would be better for some marriages as well.
Cheryl Lee:Exactly, Me time, your own time, as you mentioned, and I don't think either of you recall it, but you did meet sort of as youngsters in the 80s because both of your mothers were music teachers.
Karin Schaupp:Yeah, that's right, and Katie at the time was predominantly focusing on learning piano and I mean she still is a really good pianist and I was learning guitar and my mother was my teacher and her mother was teaching singing. So she was learning piano, I think from another teacher at this music school called the Stolyarsky School of Music. We were both there, we both played in the little student concerts and our mothers knew each other and insist that we met at the time, but neither of us remembers because we were very young.
Cheryl Lee:But isn't that lovely how organically, all those years later, you reconnect on a stage and a beautiful friendship and a beautiful collaboration ensues.
Karin Schaupp:Yeah, look it is. It's really nice and it's kind of meant to be. And you know, I mean you go to a lot of festivals and you play with a lot of people as a kind of a one-off and that's really lovely and often they're really great experiences. But it's rare that you play with someone and immediately just feel that kind of intuitive rapport, like you are on the same page musically and you feel like you know what they're going to do when you agree with it. That's how we both felt, so I guess that's what this is built on.
Cheryl Lee:I usually ask artists because I'm usually really interested in, you know, is music in their DNA and when did they first pick up their instrument and realize that? You know, this is their life passion. But with music teacher mothers I don't think was there ever any plan B, any other course, or it was preordained.
Karin Schaupp:Look, I mean, certainly for me. I you know my mother once I had said I want to be a musician, then she pushed me. But I mean, I teach music as well and I play music and neither of my children want to be musicians and I'm totally okay with that. I don't think it's necessarily preordained, but I think once you make the decision, and then you know, I know that my mother was certainly then very much involved, which is good and bad. She was very much involved in teaching me and sort of, you know, getting me to work towards things and not do too much too soon. She was kind of the opposite of an ambitious dance mum. She was like, no, no, it's too soon for you to do that, don't try to do that yet, sort of thing. So she sort of, in a way, held me back a little bit when I was young in terms of what I was doing externally, whereas at home she made me, you know, do lots of practice which I'm grateful for.
Cheryl Lee:You are listening to Still Rockin' it, the podcast with Cheryl Lee. Even before we tell you too much more about the collaboration on the album Songs of the Southern Skies, Volume 2, we're going to play you one. You'll recognise this from the movie Xanadu. And then we're back to speak to Karin again shortly.
Karin Schaupp:So you were born in Germany. What age did you come out to Australia? I was eight when we moved to Australia and I had no choice in the matter and at the time I was actually not too happy about it, to be honest. I was leaving all of my school and friends and everything and we had been for a visit and I loved the beach and I loved, you know, all the beautiful nature which really struck me after living in Germany and coming from a German winter.
Karin Schaupp:Yeah, it was a big transition. I couldn't speak a word of English, and this is in the early 80s. It wasn't usual for schools to have a lot of non-English speaking children. In fact I was the only one at my school at the time, so I was quite the oddity. So that was actually quite a big adjustment. But once I was here and after about probably within sort of four or five months, I could communicate fairly solidly and string sentences together, because when you're in that situation, that complete immersion, you learn pretty quickly. So I learned English very quickly and I felt very much as an Aussie and now, even though I do still, you know, when I go back to Germany I still feel that there's a part of me that feels very connected to that country. I would always say that I'm Australian.
Cheryl Lee:What made mum and dad come to Australia from Germany?
Karin Schaupp:Oh, lots of things. At the time there was sort of a political situation around Europe, and particularly with Russia, that they were worried was going to flare up. My father had some health issues which were pretty much immediately resolved by coming to a warmer climate. So a lot of factors. And my mum's sister, my aunt, had actually moved out here because she had a pen friend here from school and had visited and just gone on. She's younger and had gone on sort of an adventure with her young husband and said, oh, let's move to Australia, which at the time in Germany was like saying you know, you're going to move to the wild west Crazy.
Karin Schaupp:Everyone was like, oh my God, there's kangaroos in your yard and, you know, koalas, drop bears, totally sort of seen as an amazing exotic place but also quite a backward place and, you know, in a very exaggerated way, which of course wasn't the case.
Cheryl Lee:This new album because this one concentrates entirely on female artists. With all the fantastic Aussie female artists out there, how on earth do you and Katie choose and agree on what songs go into the album?
Karin Schaupp:It's tricky and it's probably the main reason that we chose to focus on females this time. So this is kind of a follow up album from Songs of the Southern Skies, volume 1, which was Australian and New Zealand, males and females. We didn't discriminate and it was so hard to make that list so we thought, ok, this time we're going to do just females. There's a couple of songs that were made famous by females but were actually written by men. So we didn't, we weren't too sort of, you know, entirely strict about it, but they're mostly songs written by female singer songwriters. Next time we might do male trucking songs, just to narrow it down. But you're right, I mean, there is such a wealth of music in this country and for us to narrow down, I mean first of all, obviously it's songs that we love. Many of these songs are songs that we kind of, you know, even grew up with, or at least you know that came out when we were teenagers. And then also another really big factor is does the song mean something to us, and particularly for Katie? If she's singing someone's words, she has to be able to relate to them emotionally.
Karin Schaupp:And will the song derive some benefit from being reimagined? Because we're not really. We're not just doing covers, we're really reimagining this music and, you know, taking it apart and putting it back together again, and in doing that you need to think about, obviously being respectful to the original and honoring that, but also thinking, well, is there something that we can give? This that's going to, you know, add something, because if you're taking away, you know you're taking away an electric guitar, a bass guitar, a drum kit, a keyboard and you know, maybe five backing singers and you're going to have one singer and one classical guitar. Are you gaining something by doing that? Of course, what there is to gain is intimacy as sort of a personal closeness and a rawness emotionally, which is something that we both value and something that we bring to the music that I think was a scoop.
Cheryl Lee:Ladies and gentlemen, I reckon that there's going to be songs of the Southern Skies, Volume 3. We're going to be just the fellas Trucking songs. Watch this space Still rockin' the podcast with that radio chick, cheryl Lee. We'll be back to talk again to Karin shortly, but in the meantime let's have a listen to the Kylie Minogue song, reimagined for the album Confide in Me. Congratulations, too, on your ARIA award. Well done.
Karin Schaupp:It was actually the album In Between, so we made songs of the Latin skies, which was all Latin music Brazilian, Argentinian, Colombian, lots of different countries from South America. We actually won the World Music ARIA for that.
Cheryl Lee:Beautiful that was our last album.
Karin Schaupp:That was BC before COVID. We always wanted to make a volume two of the Southern Skies, so we came back to do that. We just got a bit distracted in between.
Cheryl Lee:Yes, some little pandemic or something. Yes, yes, oh no. Well done and very well deserved Congratulations, along with the album. You are in the middle of a national tour.
Karin Schaupp:Admittedly, I'm sneaking away a few days at the beach with my family because my kids have just finished school. But yes, technically we are on tour. I have my guitar with me. Yeah, we've actually done most of this year's stint of the tour and we've just got Adelaide to go, which is exciting, and we're playing at the gorgeous Trinity Sessions which I've heard a lot about. Katie's been there a few times. She's told me about it, but I've actually not played there, so I'm really looking forward to it. That's on December 6th and 7th.
Cheryl Lee:That's right. You've got two more dates this year before you embark on part two, all of April in 2025. So get down to the Trinity Sessions on Goody Road If you haven't been there before. It is a beautiful, intimate environment. It's an old converted church actually, and it's a lovely spot. As Karin mentioned, friday the 6th of December and Saturday, the 7th of December. Tickets from katienoonacomau or karensharpcom. So get onto your Google-o-meter and I'm sure if you just typed in the trinity sessions, you could grab your ticket link from there as well. And, by the way, adelaideans, young adelaide voices, why yeah?
Karin Schaupp:yeah, look, it's been amazing and katie has done a mammoth job um organizing choirs for all of our concerts, and the choir joins us. In a gorgeous song by Kate Ceberano called Brave On the album, Kate herself joins us, but in our concerts we've got these beautiful choirs joining us, and Young Adelaide Voices are a fantastic choir, so we're really looking forward to meeting them and having them on stage with us.
Cheryl Lee:That is going to be amazing. Kate actually was here in South Australia last weekend. Oh fantastic, she's a legend. She is, isn't she? We love Kate you are listening to still rockin' it the podcast with cheryl lee we might have that song, I think brave, by Kate Ceberano, and this version is with the Symphony Orchestra. And then we're back to speak to Karin Schaupp. Apart from when you're choosing songs and learning songs and reimagining songs, what's on your playlist, Karin, when you get to listen to whatever you like?
Karin Schaupp:Look, you know my favourite playlist is the ocean. Honestly, silence. I'm actually away at the beach at the moment and just listening to the ocean. You know, I guess it has its own rhythm. But honestly, because I teach a lot as well. I teach at the Queensland Conservatorium, so I'm hearing music for so much of my life. I tend to actually want to be at home with not so much music.
Karin Schaupp:My family love music, so by default I actually, because I'm not usually the first to put music on, I end up listening to everything and anything that my family puts on. My son is 12. His favourite artist is Melanie Martinez. My daughter has just come out of a Taylor Swift phase. She's 16. So we've broadened our tastes a little bit there and she's now listening to a lot of musicals, which is great. I'm happy with that. I think I know most of the songs in Hamilton and you know my husband listens also to everything from Missy Higgins to Beethoven symphonies and I guess if I'm in the car by myself and I have to choose a radio station, I would probably listen to classic FM. I would mostly listen to classical music. That's my kind of homeland, that's the music I grew up with. It's the music I feel I really understand. But I appreciate all styles of music and I've played lots of styles of music, so I'm not that fussy.
Karin Schaupp:But yeah, the ocean is definitely my favourite sound.
Cheryl Lee:Your go-to. It's very relaxing, isn't it? It's rhythmic and will always lift your mood, I reckon, listening to the ocean.
Karin Schaupp:Absolutely Takes away all the stresses of the year gone by.
Cheryl Lee:Still rockin' it podcast with that radio chick, cheryl Lee. I have three daughters who were Swifties as well, and must admit to being a little bit of a Swifty myself, so let's have a quick one from Taylor. I knew you were trouble and then we're back, I think, to say goodbye to Karin Schaupp. Karin, I hear that there is a fabulous South Australian connection with your guitar.
Karin Schaupp:Indeed, yes. So my guitar was custom built for me by an incredible luthier who lives in Noorlunga outside of Adelaide, Jim Redgate. He is known all over the world and I'm not just saying that he really. He's got orders backed up I don't know for how many years from some of the best players all over the world that want him to build a guitar for them, a custom made guitar. So my guitar is a I'm just going to be a bit nerdy it's a cedar top and it's a wave top, double top guitar and it's absolutely gorgeous.
Karin Schaupp:Wherever I go, people comment on it. So I'm super excited that the guitar gets to come home to South Australia. I get to connect with Jim. Last time I was down there I went to his workshop and it's just amazing to have this instrument, which is really my baby, that was so lovingly built and in such incredible detail and with such a wealth of knowledge. So Jim has really taken the guitar building tradition, which very much came from Spain in the late 19th century, built on it and made, you know, a lot of sort of changes and inventions really, and he builds, as I said, incredible guitars. I absolutely love mine. I've got two actually, but the one I'm bringing is my favourite. I'm very thrilled to share that with South Australian audiences.
Cheryl Lee:Bring the guitar home how long have you had a Jim guitar?
Karin Schaupp:I've been playing Jim's guitars for, I reckon, at least 12 or 14 years quite a long time. And, as I said, this is my second one and I think I'll probably end up getting a third one out of him at some point. But at the moment I love this guitar and I'm actually there's nothing that I would change about it. It records beautifully, it travels really well. A lot of really sort of high level classical concert guitars are very fragile and don't travel very well and you know, if it rains the guitar kind of sounds like it's got the flu. That's actually true because the overtones change. But Jim's guitars are amazing and he's got it all figured out with how he builds them in his special humidity cabinet and everything. And each guitar is a labor of love. They take months from start to finish to build.
Cheryl Lee:A very clever and a very passionate man by the sounds of it. Yeah, amazing. Sometimes, when you're watching artists on stage, the guitar tech is every second song it's a different guitar and they're changing guitars all the time. Do you just use your favorite, Jimbo guitar?
Karin Schaupp:Yeah, I just use the one guitar and look honestly, I mean it's such a sophisticated instrument it can sound completely different.
Karin Schaupp:I can make it sound like 20, 30 different guitars and you wouldn't know it was the same instrument. It's got so much color and if you just adjust the angle of your hand slightly because we play so on classical guitar, we play with the nails of the right hand change the angle of the nail slightly or where you are along the strings, it completely changes the sound and that's a sign of a really very high level concert guitar and Jim's guitars are full of color, so I definitely don't need another guitar on stage. I change tuning and I use a capo. So you know, depending on the key, sometimes obviously I change the key and when you put a capo on, you've got a few guitars there. I know. You know what I'm talking about when I say capo pitch, that completely changes the color, as you know. So there's a lot of sounds and there's a lot of little bits of percussion and so on. Jim's always a bit like don't do percussion on the guitar, but I know where I'm allowed to hit it and where I'm not allowed to hit it.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, oh, that's beautiful Adelaide audiences. You've got two chances to catch the beautiful voice of the lovely Katie Noonan and Jim's guitar with Karin Schaupp on Goody Road at the Trinity Sessions. So get onto the Google-O-Meter and I will see you down the front. So lovely to meet you and chat with you and again, thank you so much for spending a little bit of your holiday time in the Zoom room with me oh, that's all right.
Karin Schaupp:Yeah, it's actually turned into a nice day out there. It was raining this morning.
Cheryl Lee:I'll let you get out into it, enjoy. We look forward to seeing you next month. Enjoy the rest of your day, I will. Thanks Bye, bye for now, Karin. You're with Cheryl Lee, that radio chick. Thank you so much for joining me on the Still Rockin' it podcast. Hope to catch you again next time. Get out when you can support Aussie music.