âI was once described as âsomething close to traditional folk, to a more dreamy sound, all the way to an electro Tori Amos, an artist not to be pigeon holed.â
Read the Notts Music Network Magazine interview
âI create alternative and new age music. Iâm a multi-instrumentalist currently drumming in Nottingham indie rock band âStrange Currencies.â I release solo work under Claudine West and âEarth Tree Healing.â I used to call myself Bog Woppit.
âMy sound can be as simple as a finger picked acoustic guitar with a haunting vocal. To alternative rock with electric guitars and melodic keyboards. Iâm big on harmony, melody and haunting beauty that evokes emotion. I sing a little. But musically itâs the instruments that really do the talking with my work. I am the protagonist of my lyrics. My journey as a musician though jazz, blues, folk, grunge, rock has shaped what I create. You will hear elements of all.
âI also release new age, instrumental and meditation music under the pseudonym âEarth Tree Healing.â From performing on sitars to accordions, keyboards, singing bowls, bongos, mandolins and more. Iâm venturing more into binaural beats and good vibrations at 432hz (the God frequency).â
History
âFrom my first little âBontempiâ Keyboard and second hand classical guitar. I knew my fingers were a bit special. Puberty unleashed a massive rush of creativity and opened me up as a conduit. It flows through me like a stream from the mountains. But I cannot contemplate the true source. Why would I?
âOn one level Itâs the buzz after exercise, the wellbeing after meditation and the warmth after red wine all rolled into one. On another it is the rock and roll adrenalin fuelled orgasm and vibrational ecstasy that come with live performance. I am grateful of the bliss this life is giving me. Fame is elusive. But in the dark rooms I learned to play the guitar in, so I didnât need to look at my fingers on the fretboard, to collecting instruments. (You can never have too many!)
âThis journey is so much more satisfying in ways that money or fame cannot bring. I never got into cover bands. Iâm a creator not a copier. Iâve spent a lot of time locked away from daylight in home studios. As a teenager I got into Hip-Hop, Tori Amos, Suzanne Vega and grunge music. I appreciated funky beats and rhyme. Along with learning the drums at School. I equally concentrated on piano/keyboards and guitar. Self-taught. I donât read music much. I improvise. Playing jazz and blues music and spending my formative years jamming at live mic nights.
âI spent many a good and not so good time with talented and sometimes temperamental musicians. I also suffer from a sometimes creative temperament. The beast is calmer with maturity. All great learning on this road!
âExperiencing the sudden death of my music mentor and close friend in my late 20âs was sobering. It created a world of emptiness and revaluation. The writerâs block that followed took me to new shores to heal. My evolution as a songwriter, composer, musician and conduit of thoughts, damage that became lyrics.
âI also have always loved creating instrumental music. A few years ago, I trained as a Reiki Practitioner. I wanted to accompany my practice and meditations. Being part of the pagan community and a spiritual being. The long road of excess led me here. I wrote a book about my life so far. Itâs not an ego massager. It is an honest and true account of how I came to be âClaudsville Blogs and Biog of a Bog Woppit.â is available via Amazon Kindle.
âIâve been in a few bands along the way to here. Namely the cofounder and a decade stint in Nottinghamâs The Idolins. I moved from folk pop to rock with the short lived Subway Circus. With myself and the vocalist PP Johnson departing to form Strange Currencies.
âI crawled out of the hole a few years back and really got back into gigging. This helped me get over the stage nerves that plagued me so much. The digital age has been a fantastic enabler to share it all worldwide. Iâm having a great old time! Iâve been doing all of this this for over 20 years. Balancing it with my bill paying full time day job in the NHS is hard, but if it was easy. I would not appreciate it as much.
âAfter Iâve departed this mortal coil, my music will live on. There is something special and humbling about that. Practice, feel it, perform it, channel it, love it.â
What Iâm working on
âIâve just got back from a trip travelling around California. I was in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the tragic wildfires of October 2017. I wrote a new song upon my return called âDiablo Winds.â Which is currently on Bandcamp. This will be on my new instrumental album under âEarth Tree Healingâ called âCandle Gardenersâ which will be released on digital stores on my birthday, May 30th 2018.
âIâm also busy creating some instrumental meditation work for a few clients. New music and recording an EP with our band Strange Currencies. About to release a guided meditation album Iâve just completed with our spiritual âYodaâ Sally Wathen at Rainbow Bridge. Then Iâll write and record a âGoddessâ themed instrumental album later in the year.â
https://claudinewestmusic.com/
