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EESTI ELU reedel, 10. detsembril 2021 — Friday, December 10, 2021
The composition of a songwriter, according to Ike Rann
each place formed who you are or how you write songs? When we relocated to Los Angeles, California, both of my parents were studying music. I started playing the piano and wrote my first song when I was five years old, but as I grew older, so did my love for rock music. As a teenager, I started playing Nirvana songs on my mother’s guitar – that ignited something in me, and it wasn’t long before I started singing in bands. In my early 20s, I started collaborating with musicians outside of Estonia, although my main residence remained there. Around five years ago, I packed my things and moved to London, and studied songwriting at Berklee. After that, I learned to compose melodies from Swedish songwriters while
living in Stockholm. About three years ago, I moved to Copenhagen, where I’m living now. What I appreciate about Copenhagen is that there’s a lot of humility, trust, and curiosity towards different tastes and different cultures. And they don’t take themselves too seriously. What do you think is the secret to making songs that listeners pay attention to? It’s fascinating why some songs give us goosebumps or sometimes even make us cry. I have wondered why and I think that it’s a process of healing and releasing our emotional tension. I believe lyrics have more emotion and depth when they have “truth resonance.” That’s when artists are being honest and speaking from their heart – it gives songs a different kind of depth. The thing about vulnerability and being honest is that people can sense it. What are you musically inspired by? In the past, music has been a process of self-discovery and growing through the writing process, while putting out music that resonates with one’s inner values. I’m inspired by musicians from the 60s to the 80s, like Motown, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Wonder, and also bands like Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Pep pers, and Imagine Dragons. I think that artists are the conscience of our society and feel responsible for reflecting things that are going on in
so ciety. If we don’t do that, then that speaks about the values we uphold in our society. You’ve assembled an amazing ensemble of brass players, a rhythm section, and strings, to make a full and funky sound on your last album Synchronize. How did this “mini-orchestra” come to be? Jason Hunter also went to Berklee. He’s the one playing the trumpet and making the horn arrangements for my latest album. In Estonia, we were playing in a funk rock band called Rocket. In this band, we also had Mairo Marjamaa, who plays tenor saxophone, and later, Sten Valdmaa joined on trombone – he’s part of our brass gang. In addition, we have Silvia Ilves on cello and Katariina Maria Kits on violin. There’s also my core band with Valdur Viiklepp on bass, Stanley Love on drums, and Jaan Varts on guitar. And Madis Muul, who plays keys, ties in harmony in a very beautiful way. Then there’s Carlo Di Beo, who was my guitar teacher, who played the song “Hit Me With Your Tears” that has a Latin and flamenco sound. It was a dream come true for me and a kind of tribute to our teacher-student relationship. To top it off, it was Ricky Delin, the Swedish producer who made everything tie together with magical balance. The last album was an allaround journey inspired by
three years of travel to 30 countries, where all I had was a backpack and a guitar with me. My debut album Synchronize was more reflective with its storytelling but the new album is going to have a different sound and vibe to it. It’s more like “let’s jump in this Mustang, crank up the volume, and see how fast it goes.” So what do you have lined up for the near future? I have a small team creating sound design and soundscapes for companies, and this ex perience has helped me learn about music production in depth. But mainly, I’ve been working on my upcoming album, so I’ve been in a serious studio mode. My new album is going to be about finding yourself and embracing the chaos. It’s going to feel like a hurricane has been released in your two-room apartment while your toaster, kitchen table, and washing machine are playing a serenade, and you just can’t help but sing and dance along. Essentially, it’s about having fun and embracing this crazy world as it is. I think it’s more important than ever before to stay joyful, stay grounded, and not depend so much on outer conditions, because everything’s changing. I hope this upcoming album will resonate and give people the strength to power through. This interview has been edited and condensed in consultation with Triin Tammistu.
explicable about EKRE’s transformation. Anti-vaccination sentiment fits in perfectly with their populist narrative that pits the people against the elite. EKRE’s European sister parties and their supporters subscribe to the principles of liberal democracy as far as it suits current politics, and the heads of EKRE were left with little in the way of tactical alternatives in Estonia. However, let us start by asking what is liberal democracy? The term has been overly mystified recently, signifying for many moral permissibility, unlimited minority rights, obligation to legalize same-sex marriage etc. In truth, liberal democracy covers three main principles that hardly come across as radical for most people. First, rule of law – that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law and that governance proceeds from Constitutional tenets. Also, when popular opinion differs on certain matters at different points in time. Secondly, separation of powers – the executive, judicial and legislative authorities standing separate and working as checks on one another. In other words, a situation where a popular government cannot bend courts to its will based on claims of having the “people’s mandate.” Thirdly, universal citizenship – citizens’ fundamental rights
are not dependent on their race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation etc. In other words, the rights and freedoms of ethnic and sexual minorities cannot easily be limited based on the will of the majority (for example, through referendums) or government decisions. Looking at the statements of EKRE leaders in the new situation, they have become true liberal democrats. Restrictions for unvaccinated people are labeled as incompatible with rule of law. The government is accused of steamroller politics in the Riigikogu, with hopes placed on independent courts. EKRE are busy redefining civil rights and attempting to tie principles of equal treatment to vaccination status. Let us recall the party’s attitude towards the aforementioned principles of liberal democracy when it was a member of the government. There were more than a few question marks. That said, EKRE’s approach is hardly surprising. Renowned Dutch populism expert Wouter van der Burg and colleagues published a paper based on Europe-wide polls in the Journal of Democracy recently where they show that supporters of right-wing populist parties tend to favor principles of liberal democracy when their favorite party is in the opposition. This regard for liberal democracy tends to go out the window once their favored political
force is part of the government. In this light, the conduct of EKRE leaders makes perfect sense and seems to be in line with their supporters’ expec tations. Scientific literature concerned with the populist right also suggests that while parties like EKRE talk a good game about freedoms and rights, they place them in suitable context. The narrative usually allows that the careless and evil elite is looking to constrain the “people’s” rights, while national conservative forces stand up in the “people’s” defense. EKRE’s newfound narrative of pitting against one another “the anti-citizenry government” and “free citizens using their heads” is nothing but their traditional anti-elite rhetoric dressed in new clothes. The epithet “liberal” has simply been removed from the elite and the definition of people widened to cover more social groups that just “ethnic Esto
nians sporting a conservative mindset.”
How the national conservatives became liberal democrats Tõnis Saarts, political scientist, ERR Recent statements by the heads of the Conservative People’s Party (EKRE) paint them as true liberal democrats. Restrictions for people who are not vaccinated are labeled incompatible with rule of law. The government is accused of steamroller politics and hopes placed with independent courts. That said, this seeming about-turn comes as no surprise, Tõnis Saarts finds in Vikerraadio’s daily comment. Many might have been surprised by EKRE clearly siding with anti-vaxxers or joining the ranks of those promoting vaccination freedom. Heads of the party sent rather different messages when they were still in the government, supporting relatively tough lockdown measures and participating in initial vaccine procurements. Therefore, national conservatives and enemies of liberal democracy have become the fiercest supporters of liberal democracy and the resulting freedoms seemingly overnight. How come? In truth, there is nothing in-
Photo: Patrik Tamm
Vincent Teetsov It’s not every artist or musician who has seen their crea tions bring about danger for themselves or their family. But this is what happened to pianist and composer Rein Rannap at the end of the Soviet occupation of Estonia. After being harassed for the music he was making (parti cularly in the band Ruja), he escaped the KGB guards that were watching his moves on a tour in Italy and eventually made his way to Los Angeles. His wife sent a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev, requesting the family to be reunited with him in Los Angeles; and it was there that his newborn son, Ikevald Rannap, spent his first six years growing up. The danger has subsided, but the stories and music have remained. Ikevald Rannap, performing under the name Ike Rann, writes and records some seriously catchy rock tunes. Now based in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a BBC songwriting award and the album Synchronize under his belt, he told me about how he has grown his musical style. Between living in the US, Estonia, Sweden, England, and now Denmark, how has
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And finally, let us also consider whether EKRE had any other choice in a situation where Varro Vooglaid set about organizing his Freedom Square protest meeting? Whether allowing Vooglaid to become the figurehead of anti-vaccination sentiment and taking a back seat was even conceivable. A choice had to be made, even if the price was being excluded from potential coalitions and hitting a ceiling in the polls. EKRE conduct reveals that liberal democracy and its core principles do not really matter to the party. If the current situation requires supporting rule of law, civil society and separation of powers, that is what we will do. While these things can just as easily be ignored once in power. This makes EKRE fundamentally different from other parlia mentary parties. Or does it?
TRIINU LUMI kinnisvarafirma müügiesindaja BURLINGTON • HAMILTON • NIAGARA
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