Ep: 28 is a special treat, all of us in the earbud coven get to hang with Hem Netjer. We have the privilege of joining the band in their rehearsal space to chat with them about their upcoming album “The Song of Trees” available Feb 28th and their latest video “Elemental Cry” that you can watch now on youtube
The band classifies themselves as Dark Electronic Folk. They are Raven Rissy – creator + vocals, David Deckard – technomancer + synth, Jesse Ellytt – throat singer.
If you have the chance to see them live, do it ! The energy that the three of them create is something to behold. Raven Rissy’s ethereal voice rises and falls into crescendos of sound. Beautifully complemented by Jessie’s deep throat singing while technomancer David fills the air with danceable beats and soundscapes that will take you away.
If you are anywhere near Vancouver March 11, they will be playing at Bully’s Studio in New Westminster.
The new album, Song of Trees, has 7 songs and the concept is pretty magical. Having had the privilege of invading their jam space, for a personal concert, I have heard them all and I am looking forward to the album’s release. You can buy and stream it in its entirety on Feb 28th (pop over to band camp to grab the songs)
There is a song for each element earth, air, water, fire and the 5th element. Those of us who work magic are familiar with that 5th element, and often have our own name or feeling about it. Rissy shares her thoughts about it and the writing of the song in our interview.
I can tell you that I was able to feel the energy of the elements within each song.
- Void – we open the podcast with it and Raven Rissy shares about
- Salt and tears – the water song
- Eldur – the fire song
- Freedom – the air song
- Connect – the earth song
- Elemental Cry – Hem Netjer closed the podcast with it and Raven Rissy shared about writing
- and Otherworld
The band shares about their writing process. David is the noodler of the group. He plays keyboard and creates the soundscapes of the songs. He provides melodies and song grooves, for Raven Rissy to weave her lyrics into. As you watch the band live or in their videos, you will see that David does stand behind a traditional keyboard. Ok now, this part is just mind blowing for me, David has adapted and written software to transform a tool for keyboard-less typing into his instrument. Effectively moving himself out from behind the keyboards, he often will use his staff to play on.
We talked about how this grew out of the idea of wanting to easily join in to a jam session. Most musicians can join around a pagan fire with their drums, guitars, or voices, bringing a synth has not always been doable. Now David can bring a blue tooth speaker and a tablet and join in campfire type jams at pagan events.
Let’s talk a bit about throat singing now. Jesse uses Tuvan-style throat singing. I had heard recordings of throat singing before, but being in the room with a singer using their instrument is always the best.
Jesse even walked me through a lesson in this amazing vocal art form. Not gonna lie….. I’ve been playing around with making sounds since.
What occurred to me while in the studio with Hem Netjer was that they are melding the old and the new. They have Jessie’s traditional throat singing and David’s high-tech keyboard rings. If you are on their tictok you will also see that they use many different traditional instruments on the album, different shakers and such.
The band is active on their IG accounts, tictok and their webpage
tictok @Raven_Rissy_hemnetjer
@jesseellytt_hemnetjer
instagram https://www.hemnetjer.band/
or their website
Jodi Anne 
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