Making it, and Breaking it with Afrodeutsche

Henrietta Smith-Rolla is Afrodeutsche. The Manchester-based composer, producer, and DJ delves into her British, German, Ghanian, and Russian roots via a multitude of projects traversing electro, house, techno, and more classical styles of music that embrace her escapades as a solo pianist. From the club to the concert hall, Smith-Rolla transports listeners to an evocative realm in which she welcomes vulnerability.

Over the last six years, Smith-Rolla has embraced the unknown, spurred on by her decision to take on even the most daunting of opportunities. In 2016 the self-proclaimed Drexciya devotee performed live for the first time, opening for Carl Craig in Ibiza and more recently, she’s been drawn back into her love affair with film and as a result, was invited by the Royal Northern College of Music to provide a modern interpretive score for score the cinematic hard-hitting documentary, Baraka. Trailing the path of her predecessors Autechre and Boards of Canada, Smith-Rolla followed suit in the summer of 2018, releasing her cathartic debut album, titled Break Before Make, via esteemed IDM label Skam Records.

In the sixth grade, Smith-Rolla longed to learn the cello. And since then, she’s set out to include soul-stirring cello samples and a range of evocative string snippets in every aspect of her musical output. Implementing KONTAKT libraries —such as EMOTIVE STRINGS— has allowed Smith-Rolla to emulate the superlative strings reminiscent of the chordophones she dreamed of playing as a child.

In 2006 you joined Sisters of Transistors, the Manchester-based music group and research project founded by 808 State’s Graham Massey. You aren’t classically trained, and at that point, you didn’t know how to read music or play keys. While your production is self-taught, where does your piano background come from?

When I was a child, my mum used to clean houses for a living. I would finish primary school and walk down to this one particular house that she used to clean. The woman who owned the house would play on this big beautiful piano, and I would sit beside her, listening attentively. Her long nails would click on the keys like talons. I recall making up my first piece of music on that piano. I still remember how to play it, even now.

When I was asked to be in the Sisters group, I didn’t realize I was being asked to join a band, rather than a collaborative project. I was playing keys with just one finger for quite some time or doing simple basslines with synths. During that time I couldn’t read music, so I figured out a way where I could learn the pieces through colour association, where we dropped parts of the tracks into Ableton and colour coded sections which I then learned by ear. It’s very intricate. At one point, I didn’t have any other option but to learn so I could keep up with the group, and I ended up teaching myself through trial and error.

I’m constantly learning and being honest about skills I simply don’t have. I’ll admit that to someone and ask if they can show me. ‘I don’t know how to do that? Do you know how to do that? And can you show me? Furthermore, I know something that you don’t know how to do and, I’ll share it with you.’ It’s an exchange.

Is it possible that your lack of classical training allows you the freedom to let go of any apprehensions and completely immerse yourself when new opportunities arise? 

Definitely. When you’re classically trained you’re bound by a very strict set of rules. When you learn the rules, it’s very difficult to unlearn them or even act outside of them. Without the rules, the possibilities are infinite, you can do whatever you want. You decide if something sounds good. Not being classically trained has been extremely freeing. However, I did always want to be. I wanted to be part of that world. I’m not judging that path, though I do feel that for me it worked out better that I didn’t take that route. I discern sounds differently.

Music was always in my life. I always wanted to play the cello, but instead, I ended up taking violin lessons until I was twelve. My mum got me a double tape deck to practice, and I remember learning ‘Twinkle twinkle, little star’, as well as a duet. I would record one part and then play the other over the top of the recording. I was always recording something on that tape deck!

In 2006 you joined Sisters of Transistors, the Manchester-based music group and research project founded by 808 State’s Graham Massey. You aren’t classically trained, and at that point, you didn’t know how to read music or play keys. While your production is self-taught, where does your piano background come from?

When I was a child, my mum used to clean houses for a living. I would finish primary school and walk down to this one particular house that she used to clean. The woman who owned the house would play on this big beautiful piano, and I would sit beside her, listening attentively. Her long nails would click on the keys like talons. I recall making up my first piece of music on that piano. I still remember how to play it, even now.

When I was asked to be in the Sisters group, I didn’t realize I was being asked to join a band, rather than a collaborative project. I was playing keys with just one finger for quite some time or doing simple basslines with synths. During that time I couldn’t read music, so I figured out a way where I could learn the pieces through colour association, where we dropped parts of the tracks into Ableton and colour coded sections which I then learned by ear. It’s very intricate. At one point, I didn’t have any other option but to learn so I could keep up with the group, and I ended up teaching myself through trial and error.

I’m constantly learning and being honest about skills I simply don’t have. I’ll admit that to someone and ask if they can show me. ‘I don’t know how to do that? Do you know how to do that? And can you show me? Furthermore, I know something that you don’t know how to do and, I’ll share it with you.’ It’s an exchange.

Is it possible that your lack of classical training allows you the freedom to let go of any apprehensions and completely immerse yourself when new opportunities arise? 

Definitely. When you’re classically trained you’re bound by a very strict set of rules. When you learn the rules, it’s very difficult to unlearn them or even act outside of them. Without the rules, the possibilities are infinite, you can do whatever you want. You decide if something sounds good. Not being classically trained has been extremely freeing. However, I did always want to be. I wanted to be part of that world. I’m not judging that path, though I do feel that for me it worked out better that I didn’t take that route. I discern sounds differently.

Music was always in my life. I always wanted to play the cello, but instead, I ended up taking violin lessons until I was twelve. My mum got me a double tape deck to practice, and I remember learning ‘Twinkle twinkle, little star’, as well as a duet. I would record one part and then play the other over the top of the recording. I was always recording something on that tape deck!

Additionally, you engage with a range of compositional projects that involve scoring films, documentaries, and theatre productions. What piqued your interest to begin working in those industries?

Film and composition have always been floating around in my head. I’ve always been drawn to those practices and particular composers like Vangelis and Hans Zimmer. I live in their world and understand their language.

In 2017, Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music reached out to see if I’d take part in a project they were working on which involved re-scoring a section of a documentary from the 90s called Baraka. I had the opportunity to use an exquisite grand piano that they had there, alongside my Korg MS2000 synth and Ableton, teamed with Emotive Strings. I love writing for visuals and making sense of a moving image, especially when I can involve my love for string instruments. They say that the cello is the closest frequency to human speech. The way that I work when scoring films is that I drop the visual into an audio file channel in Ableton and view it as a video window. That way I’m able to measure the pace of the visual media and follow exactly where it goes. Another short film I worked on recently just qualified for the Oscars. My dream would be to score a full motion picture, from beginning to end.

My life at the minute is very, very cosmic. People ask me to do things that I’m not sure if I can do, but I say yes, work hard and end up pulling it off. It’s always a case of being nervous and worried that I can’t do something and just doing it.

Check out the new Afrodeutsche EP on Rover Rapid here.

photo credits: Giovanni Dominice