Sisters of sound
All girl octet St. Rupertsberg makes fresh noise.
It began late in 2009 in an amphitheatre carved into the garden of a ramshackle Newtown manor. Kate Whelen summoned her nearest and dearest, requiring only that they be female and musically inclined. St. Rupertsberg was Kate Whelen’s idea, and she grabbed seven friends. They now have a new member, Eli, who has replaced Miriam, who, in the style of a true heroine, has just moved to Mongolia.
That 12th century nun, Hildegard von Bingen, is an idol of Whelen’s. At a time when the patriarchal church ruled, her being a nun dictated a lack of power, but she was an outstanding artist, healer and mystic. In particular, she was musically innovative.
“Despite being female, she said that God was speaking through her,” explains Whelen.
The gifted Sister inspired the ’Bergs, who are not only clever girls with several post-graduate degrees between them, but also talented multi-instrumentalists. They all sing and collectively play about 15 instruments.
It makes for fresh noise: friendly baselines, airy schoolgirl-choir harmonies and a sweet, natural simplicity matched by smart lyrics. It’s the kind of skirt-sashaying, head bobbing sound that encourages dignified but enthusiastic front-row boogying. And there’s cute clapping too.
Whelen is technically the band’s leader but they share the role.
“As we’re trying to find our sound we want to explore the girls’ voices and discover the colours and textures that make up the band. We don’t want to focus on one girl,” she says.
Each girl is free to write music and lyrics and bring her creations to the group.
“We want to be collaborative but individually expressive so we don’t feel like a machine. We’re consensus driven, but there’s a lot of talking about haircuts too,” Whelen laughs.
Decisions are made by voting. It’s Swiss-style democracy in a musical setting.
Nun Von Bingen would approve of the undeniable streak of musical feminism. An all girl octet defies the stereotype of how traditional band works, without the usual hierarchy of importance from the lead vocalist down to the drummer.
“The all-girl thing shouldn’t be a big deal. Just as five guys in a band are just a bunch of friends, so are we,” explains Whelen, “But we want to see more girls on stage expressing themselves. Eight is manageable but I’d love to have 40!”
St. Rupertsberg also express themselves through fashion, epitomising boho-chic with a preppy twist; heavy fringes, dainty dresses and the obligatory Wellington tights’n’boots’n’cardie combo. Each gig is a chance to dress up in a different costume.
“It was tunics for our first show; half nun’s habit, half Girl Guide. Then it was casual coloured t-shirts and we’ve also done Pacific muumuus,” says Whelen.
The release of the Rupes’ debut five track EP Seasonal Glimpse is the end of an exploratory phase. The first few years were about forging a musical bond between eight people. The result? Compositional elements blended in a distinctly unpolished, bitsy-but-it-works way.
The band plans to write more, play more, tour New Zealand and go overseas. These Sisters are doing it for themselves.
St. Rupertsberg EP release, San Francisco Bath House, 9pm, September 3.
- Jennifer Niven
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