This is how Parwana Amiri starts one of her letters about the Ritsona Refugee Camp, Letter No.15, a story that is not isolated, a story that is common in places like that, between these people that dream about countries with no borders, where everyone is living their own life and they don’t have to run away from injustice, war, terrorism, blood and death.

I didn’t know who Parwana was before, but now I know her story, which unfortunately is very similar to the stories of many other people in this crazy world. I got the chance to get closer to these stories thanks to Marta Visentin, an Italian translator that decided to give an Italian voice to this girl, by translating the letter n.15 into Italian, our native language. When you read about the atrocities, the blood and everything that is happening around you in your own language, it resonates stronger, more powerful… And when Marta asked me to use ‘Circle Of Life’ as the soundtrack for this project, I couldn’t say no: I am honoured that something I created is helping to spread the voice and bringing some light to a reality that we, sometimes, deliberately decide to ignore because it’s too hard to digest.
Marta worked on the translation of the letter and took care of all relations between us, Parwana and Linn Hansen, a German videomaker who did the magic putting together the video, creating a visual representation of the letter, with an occidental point of view.

Nothing more to say, I leave you with the video and please share it, share the word, share what Parwana Amiri and others like her have to say.

If you have trouble loading the video on this page, please click here.

About the women mentioned in this post

Parwana Amiri is a human rights activist, author and poet. She is also a teacher and coordinator of “Wave of Hope for the Future”. She is currently living with her family in Ritsona Refugee Camp, Greece.
Follow Parwana Amiri on Instagram
“Eyes Of Refugees” official Instagram page
“Wave Of Hope For The Future” official Instagram page and website: https://waveofhope.org/

Marta Visentin is an Italian translator specialising in literary translation from English and Spanish to Italian. She is based in Dublin, Ireland. She translates articles from English to Italian for the independent journalism project “Migrant Women Press”.
Follow Marta on Instagram

Linn Hansen is a visual artist and writer based in Dublin and Hamburg. Her works centre around quiet sceneries, urban still lives and our placement within those abstract spaces. A theme that is also reflected in her upcoming novel.
https://www.linnhansen.net/
Follow Linn Hansen on Instagram

The post Letters to the World from Ritsona (no.15) appeared first on NikMartken.

I have already mentioned YSE previously: she is the Dutch artist that kindly created the awesome cover for my last single ‘The Story Of Siobhan The Temptress‘ (you can read the post here and follow her on Twitter and Instagram).

She actually didn’t do only this piece of art…
I met her in a totally random way, and with one song that you should probably already know well: my debut single ‘Skies • Seas • Rocks‘.

But let’s go back to the start.
I was surfing on Twitter some time ago and I landed on this page, “YSE” it said, where the drawings were something totally different from the things you usually see. I could recognise some empathy in the design, something human but still, hard to explain with words the right emotions that I got at this first sight.
I started to follow the artist and to look deeply at the designs and of course, commenting on some of them and expressing my admiration for her great work.
After all, besides being a musician, I am a Graphic Designer, and I really got inspired by her work.

I remembered that I posted a tweet about my debut single ‘Skies • Seas • Rocks‘, tagging her saying something like “I hope you like this” or similar, I don’t remember honestly.

After that, she sent me a direct message saying one of the best things that you could ever say to a musician: “I liked your music, the video” and “I got inspired by it for a new artwork and today I finished the drawing. I would love to share it with you.”

I was amazed.
I was honoured.

YSE captured the song, its essence and gave to what was my ‘Mother Nature’ her view, a face, an entity.
She asked for permission to share it… and here is the Instagram post.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by YSE Design (@designbyyse)

To me, it’s perfect.
YSE also shared her view about this song, and I would like to share it with you too:

“Skies • Seas • Rocks represent the Earth for me. I don’t see the Earth as a feminine element that is desperate for love. The earth has its natural processes and responds to them when people disrupt these processes. She does what she cannot do otherwise: expressing the disturbance in the form of an enlargement of elements such as a firestorm or a tsunami. The Earth will continue in its own way, even if it becomes a black mass and there are no further romanticized emotions involved, but only a peaceful conscience.”

At the beginning of this post, I talked about “Mother Nature” and I refer to it as the Great Element that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it, in the form of the mother.
I share the same thought, since this entity, the Earth, is something that we cannot fully understand: in the end, the Earth is everything and everyone. It has processes that we can’t control, as she said. It’s all around us and inside us… YSE simply used beautiful and powerful words to explain it.

Naturally, when I started working on the idea that straight after became a song, I wanted her to create the cover of ‘The Story Of Siobhan The Temptress‘ and, obviously, she nailed it… but I will talk about this in-depth in the specific post dedicated to the song.

So please, do yourself a favour and follow YSE on Twitter and Instagram.

If you haven’t watched the video yet, here’s the song I am talking about:

If you have trouble loading the video on this page, please click here.

The post ‘Mother Nature’: from a song to a drawing appeared first on NikMartken.

I opened the message, shared my email and immediately after I got on my inbox my very first review, done by Drew Jarvie (you can follow him on Twitter @Delerium65) and the Brecon Indie Reviewer Team.
Drew reviewed my latest release, ‘The Story Of Siobhán The Temptress’ that features also a great artist and friend J.P. Kallio (follow him on Twitter or Spotify).
If you want to listen to the song, just go to my discography page or watch the video at the end of this post, but read the review first: it’s really worth it!

Before starting, I must say a few words about the drawing made by the Dutch artist YSE, which explains exactly the story behind this track: I will write more about this in another post… If you want to see more art from YSE, please check her page on Instagram or Twitter @designbyyse.

So, let’s begin…!

Here is the review of ‘The Story Of Siobhán The Temptress’ by Drew Jarvie from the Brecon Indie Reviewer Team and founder of ‘The Delerium Trees’.

Siobhan is a beautiful, young and kind woman always ready to help anyone. However, a stranger, a man, arrives to the village – uses her, seduces her, abandons her. Far from being defeated or cowed in any way she embarks on turning the tables. She becomes the seducer, seducing these men and leaving them as she was left. Siobhan, has become The Temptress, is she still here, who knows, the story, as we all sadly know, still is and goes on.

Storytelling in music, whether it be in full blown symphonies or in simple folk songs, is found in numerous examples. Ireland, where Nik Marten lives and Scotland, where I live, have many tales of folklore and myth most of which have been handed down from Prehistoric times through to the Celtic tribes and are normally associated with power struggle or internal tribal strife. Was Siobhan involved in one of these? Throw in a few battles and wars since then and there is a ready-made source for instrumental storytelling.

The main storyteller is the flute which appears to weave an intricate conversation of self-doubt in Siobhan’s mind, what can she do, how does she retain self-belief. This quickly joined by percussive elements including the drumkit and handheld instruments. One of these is the Handpan, a relatively new instrument with ties to Indonesian, Thai and West Indian traditions, if rhythmically played it also has ties to the Bodhran – the big difference is that the instrument can be played in different keys and tones. Another instrument making a fantastic contribution is the Didgeridoo, it lays the platform with its incessant pedal point rhythmic playing and occasional sforzandos (sudden loudness). It adds mystery and pushes forward the story telling.
Putting this all together must have been no easy task; it works beautifully, the production is world-class.
The accompanying video with scenes of lochs and trees adds to music, almost impressionist in style, a Monet picture that moves.

Nik Marten describes himself as a drummer that loves percussion, he obviously loves flute as well going this example of intricate playing. J. P. Kallio adds an extra dimension adding occasional guitar to mix, adding to the song with subtle style.

If Siobhan is listening, she’ll be impressed, just like the rest of us!

Drew Jarvie (The Delerium Trees, follow him on Twitter @Delerium65)
Brecon Indie Reviews (@BreconIReviews)

Simply great words from Drew: thanks, man! You nailed it 😉
Also, these lads shared other thoughts about this song on Twitter… Let’s see what they are saying.

The first one is from The Blindfold Experience, a Rock/Acoustic Musical Project with artists from around the world (follow @theblindfoldex1).

https://t.co/fbptCXuMN4
Michael Lind, founder of @theblindfoldex1 is a WW Musician collaborative expert, who finds real sounds through Musicians playing instruments, a perfect choice to Review @NikMartken pic.twitter.com/HOOP4aNUhh

— Brecon Indie Reviews Mary Wood (@BreconIReviews) March 11, 2021

Below, the review from Reckless Velvet, a guitarist and music producer (follow him @RecklessVelvet).

Another great Reviewer choice, @RecklessVelvet is a WW collaborator in Music and refined in
multi instrumental and engineered sounds!https://t.co/fbptCXuMN4 pic.twitter.com/qYorNvYfrh

— Brecon Indie Reviews Mary Wood (@BreconIReviews) March 11, 2021

Then there’s also a Guest Reviewer, Ed Harris, a Celtic Multi-Instrumentalist and Recording Artist from North Carolina, USA (follow him @EdHarrisMusic).

Our first Guest Reviewer, @EdHarrisMusic is a Celtic,
multi- instrumentalist and Music wonder; his skills and passionate Music are revered throughout the Indie World.https://t.co/fbptCXuMN4 pic.twitter.com/ziZJ8NJ8Rd

— Brecon Indie Reviews Mary Wood (@BreconIReviews) March 11, 2021

And last but not least, a great musician and friend from Australia, Leigh Thomas (follow him @LeighThomasAU).

Our next Guest Reviewer @LeighThomasAU shares his thoughts as an out of Genre Musician.
Leigh was recently reviewed and hands down, his Music was loved
by all of us!
He is a standout Indie supporter!https://t.co/fbptCXuMN4 pic.twitter.com/pcsCDpxbw2

— Brecon Indie Reviews Mary Wood (@BreconIReviews) March 11, 2021

Thanks lads: you all rock! See you soon with (hopefully) the next review 😉
And, as promised, here the video of ‘The Story Of Siobhán The Temptress’.

If you have trouble loading the video on this page, please click here.

The post ‘The Story Of Siobhán The Temptress’ reviewed by Brecon Indie Reviews appeared first on NikMartken.

“Countless people have developed a relationship with and enriched their lives through the handpan for more than a decade, and many can’t imagine a life without it. Over the years, the handpan instrument has developed its own community and has become a worldwide movement.

Unfortunately, there is a long history of lawsuits between PANArt, creators of the Hang®, and various handpan makers. Recently a copyright claim has been made which states that Handpans which use a similar shape as the Hang®, are illegal copies. If the claim stands, it could have wide-ranging consequences which have the potential to seriously compromise the future of our community.”

As a Handpan player, when I received this email from Hardcase Technologies founder Alessio Massi, it immediately caught my attention.
“What does this mean?” was my first thought and I started to read what this guy had to say and immediately I felt the need to share this on my website because Handpan Players and Handpan Makers are a big United Family, and we respect each other and help each other when it’s possible, and here is my little part for protecting the work of these people that have been creating sound sculptures and new concepts that could not exist if it wasn’t for PANart®.

“We have enormous respect for Felix Rohner’s and Sabina Schärer’s work” and I have huge respect for what they created… “However, we do not feel their claim of copyright is fair nor correct in the current climate towards our community”.

I believe in sharing and supporting… Thanks to these makers, the Handpan became a state of mind and the original Hang® a cult.

You can help us by donating here at the official Fundraiser Page: even a little thing can be a huge game changer!

For further details, please visit the Handpan Community United official website here: https://hcu.global/.
Check also Handpan Community United Facebook Page.

Thanks for reading and supporting our Family.

If you have troubles loading the video on this page, please click here.

The post HCU, the Handpan Community United appeared first on NikMartken.

A quick introduction to myself: I am a Drummer, Percussionist and Handpan Player and you can check a more detail bio in my about me section.
This portal is meant to be a place where you can easily find all my latest releases, collected in the discography section as well as my official videos and other projects and collaborations.
And of course, there’s this Blog section where I am posting my latest news and other interesting things that are happening around.

If you have troubles loading the video on this page, please click here.

I am also a graphic designer, and I am posting all new artworks and more on this website: have a look here, and if you like something or need a special artwork for your music cover, band or anything else, I am more than welcome to help: just drop a message and let’s have a chat.

NikMartken is not only a “360 degrees” artists, I like to experiment with recordings and I’ve recorded and helped few musicians already like Zar Acoustic, Headtrip Acoustic Project, Giovanni Agostini, George Sandru and more… If you want to start a collaboration or have an inquiry, drop a message here.

Well, I think that’s it!
Enjoy the website, listen to my music if haven’t yet and check my social media channels and Youtube if you like my music.

Chat soon!

The post Welcome to my Website! appeared first on NikMartken.