Addi & Jacq burst onto the New York scene in 2015 by winning the Battle of the Boroughs—a huge competition open to all genres of music. Singer Addi McDaniel and harpist Jacqui Kerrod have since proven their staying power and dazzled audiences by pushing boundaries with their eclectic and heartfelt music, which they compose themselves. They are redefining the singer/songwriter model, elevating the harp to be on equal footing with the vocals in the ensemble. Their songs and the incredible sounds that Jacq is able to get from the harp by using all sorts of effects and pedals have captivated harpists and non-harpists alike. I caught up with the duo in New York City, in the midst of a busy spring performing season, to find out how they create their music and what drives their originality and spirit as a duo.

Harp Column: For our readers who haven’t heard you perform or aren’t familiar with your music, how would you two describe Addi & Jacq’s music?

JACQ: Our music is intimate and expansive all at once. We love to tell stories that are deeply human, personal, and quirky and draw our audience in with the beauty of a harp and a voice. What’s different is that we strive to create this larger-than-life quality to the sound—a sound that is big and enveloping by taking this gorgeous, delicate yet powerful instrument and blending it with Addi’s voice to experience stories of life, love, and what makes us human. What we frequently hear from audiences is that it’s heartfelt, warm, fun, quirky, smart, intimate, and has a fresh sound.

ADDI: People often say the music is refreshing and innovative. We had to get creative with ways that we make sound because it’s just the two of us. Working within that limitation, a diverse range of sounds and styles emerged—it’s contributed to a pretty eclectic mix of things!

JACQ: There’s a lot of variety. I think that’s why we struggle with these types of questions (how to label or categorize our group) because we go in a lot of different directions. And you can’t really put us into a box. But I think that’s what is exciting for us, because we get to do things on the acoustic harp that are really intimate and then move on to the electric harp and fill the space with sound. In terms of being a singer/songwriter duo, we’ve tried to take that to the next level. It’s not modeled after the traditional singer/songwriter duo where the harp is mostly treated as an accompaniment. It’s really two equal voices, and we try to allow both of our instruments the space to sing and be powerful without cluttering the texture. People have this preconceived notion that it’s going to be vocals up front with a little ditty on the harp in the background. That’s not what this is.

HC: And you also collaborate with other musicians, correct? I’ve seen you perform with additional singers, string players, etc.

JACQ: Yes, and drummers! We really love adding this rhythmic element as it fills out the sound, and feels wonderfully supportive.

HC: Back to some basics, I love the story of how you met—it’s such a New York harp story—playing together on Broadway for one of the harp’s most well-known shows. Can you tell us about that?

ADDI: Yes, it is a fun story! We met performing in The Fantasticks off-Broadway. At that point, we had both been doing the show off and on for several years and were really hungry for our own kind of creative expression and experience. The decision to start writing together happened about six years ago in the most organic way possible—we had been talking about wanting to write our own music and one day decided to just get together and jam.

JACQ: Although the Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto is the piece that inspired me to play the harp, I’ve just always wanted to do something a bit more mainstream with the instrument, even since I was tiny. Honestly, I listened to popular music more than classical music. I had tried in little spurts [to play more mainstream music] but had never committed to it. So, it was really exciting to get together with someone who was also into it. It helps working with someone else who keeps you accountable—you feel like a team. When one of us is not feeling up for it, the other keeps things going.

HC: I think it’s so exciting because, as harpists, even though we may enjoy popular music, it’s not always presented to us as something we can do. That’s one reason why I think your group is so refreshing to harpists, especially younger harpists. They see you and they think, “Oh, we can do something different.” I think it’s exhilarating for them to hear the kind of music they like to listen to being played on their own instrument. What you are doing is not a dumbed down version of the harp­: it’s interesting, difficult, and you really have to have the chops to pull it off.

JACQ: Thank you. That’s really important to me, to be able to show harpists that there is so much you can do with our instrument. And harpists are doing it all over the place—it’s wonderful to be a part of that.

HC: Jacqui, can you tell me a bit about your background in the harp? Readers are not able to hear your accent but you grew up in South Africa, correct? What brought you to NYC?

JACQ: I went to the Yale School of Music first (before coming to New York) to study with Nancy Allen. And, actually, that was just kind of a fluke. I grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. I had just completed my bachelor of music degree when Isabelle Perrin was on tour in South Africa. I had a private lesson with her and she said to me, “You should come and study with me.” I told her, “That’s so awesome, but I’ve listened to Nancy’s recordings and my dream is to study with her.” [Isabelle Perrin] was very gracious, encouraging me to write to Nancy with her recommendation. I didn’t think anything would come of it, but I wrote Nancy a letter, and she phoned me. She said I was too late and there was no space at Juilliard, but there was space at Yale. So she asked me to send an audition CD. It was just three weeks before commencement that I found out I was going to go. Everything came together so quickly! It was the first time I had left home, so I was pretty terrified. After I completed my studies, the most natural thing was to move to New York City.

HC: You two bring such good energy to the stage—what’s your secret?

ADDI: We often do pep talks before performances, and check in with each other. I think more and more you realize that you are in control of the performance experience. If you want it to be fun, then it will be fun. If you want it to be stressful and torturous, it will be. We try not to take ourselves too seriously. There is also something so liberating about performing your own material—you made it up, so really, you can’t screw it up.

JACQ: [Laughs] You can! With the loop, you can totally screw up. Coming from a classical background where we spend hours working on passages and working on awkward parts until they are just right—the anxiety and the stress of aiming for perfection sometimes make performing not that fun. But the harp parts I play with Addi are comfortable for me because I made them up. So going on stage knowing that, we can just have fun. And also, when you are playing more accessible music, the vibe from the audience feels a bit looser and you feed off of that. We’re able to crack jokes—Addi is really funny, she will make jokes between songs—and laugh at things. We have this one song that is totally cursed—something always goes wrong with the looper, every single time. It’s always a different thing, but that’s kind of the fun of the night. I can’t imagine that happening in a classical concert. It would be a catastrophe or really uncomfortable at best.

HC: Most of the music you perform is original. Can you talk about your songwriting process?

JACQ: We’ve gone through different stages. When we first got together, we were really ignorant. I think that’s beautiful and was the best thing because there was no judgment. We would just get in a room, improvise and jam, and see what would come of it. After a while, we started to find that there was a real structure to popular music, and we started to think about that formula. So, we’ve done a variety of things, and I think having that experience, different songs come to us in different ways.

ADDI: Our writing process has definitely evolved over time, but one constant is the element of improvisation.

HC: What inspires you to write a song?

ADDI: I’d say generally we focus less on output and more on getting together to see what emerges. Sometimes I’ll bring in a random piece of text to the rehearsal just to have something to work from. That helps me come up with vowel sounds that I can then replace with lyrics. The text could come from any source. For example, one of my favorite songs, “Hovering” was inspired by a short story by Nell Freudenberger. It’s about a woman going through a divorce, and she discovers that when she’s doing a mundane activity like folding laundry or tying her son’s shoe, she just starts floating ever so slightly off the ground. I was struck by this beautifully nuanced piece, and we wrote a whole song inspired by that. There’s no limit to where the inspiration to write comes from. We’ve been inspired by Craigslist ads, poetry, newspaper articles, and bridges, just to name a few.

JACQ: It’s not surprising that so many composers and musicians are fascinated by bridges. I have long been taken by their beauty, strength, and architectural rhythm. To me they are feminine structures with these beautiful bodies that stretch across, connecting one place to another. I thought it would be so wonderful to write stories about the bridges in NYC­—historical stories intertwined with true human stories or completely made up stories. This resonated with Addi, and she found some incredible true stories about the awe inspiring George Washington and Verrazano bridges.

On and off for the last several years, I’ve done something called Morning Pages. I am sure your readers who are familiar with The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron will be familiar with this. In a nutshell, it’s the practice of writing three pages of free flow thoughts and ideas when you wake up in the morning. I decided to apply this practice to writing music and improvising, so I’ll go down to my practice room, put the recorder on, just play and improvise. Every day. And that’s been really helpful for me. You may not realize it when you are improvising, but you really do end up writing the basic ideas for a song. You listen back, and you hear the verse, the chorus, and the bridge. Awesome! And it’s all done, and then you build on that. I find that exciting, having that free flow early in the morning.

HC: Some technical questions: Jacqui, can you tell us about the harps you play?

JACQ: I’ll start with the one that gets everyone talking—the Camac. I bought my blue Camac about 10 years ago when I bought my Lyon & Healy 23. It’s kind of funny, I had to take out a loan from the Actor’s Federal Credit to buy my harp and secured more money than I actually needed for the harp, so I thought, “Cool! I’ll buy an electric, too.” I didn’t use it for about three years, but pulled it out when Addi and I started getting together. And I was so glad that I had it. That often happens to me—I’ll buy equipment, and it’ll just sit there for ages. I’ve just traded my blue harp in for the DHC 36-string white harp. It’s so beautiful; it’s so chic, like it should appear in a Chanel ad. I can’t even describe to you how stable and even it is in tone. And it just looks beautiful on stage. The other instruments that I use with the harp are the loopers. I have one main looper, which is the Boss RC 300. And then I have various effects boxes, delay units, and reverb units. My other harp is a Lyon & Healy 23. I have a pickup installed on the underside of the soundboard, and sometimes I use effects on it too. This harp has an inherently warm sound so when you add some reverb and delay to it, it’s just magnificent.

HC: How do you decide what harp to use for each song? Are you able to play your songs on different harps?

JACQ: It’s really hard for me to be flexible on that. Once I’ve written a song on one harp, it just feels like it wants to be on that harp. It comes down to how I’m feeling in the moment. With the electric harp, I like to turn the volume up really loud so that the response of the strings is really clean and clear. I’ve heard some harpists play the harp with the volume a bit lower and really dig in. I’m not going for that sound, so it means that I have to be really careful with buzzing, tone, and the way that I pull the strings because it’s really responsive. I like that very reverb-y kind of sound. It means that I can’t play a ton of notes; it needs to have space. And, then, when I want to get fancy, I just go to the pedal harp.

HC: Jacqui, you use some really cool looping techniques in your performances. Can you tell us a little bit about that and why you find it to be an effective technique for your duo?

JACQ: It’s a way to make the harp larger than life. We want to fill the space; we want to have a bass or guitar-like figures. We want to have interesting textures that are made up of xylophonics that are on top of each other. And I have to say, I did start out using the line 6 looper and quickly discovered that it was not versatile enough for us. Because that looper kind of works like a pizza, whatever you put on top, you can only take the top layer off. And, that gets really boring. Honestly, looping in general can get really boring because it’s the same thing over and over again. And that’s been a challenge for us. But that’s why the Boss RC 300 is really excellent because it has three separate tracks, and I can loop whatever I want however I want. I can loop many loops on top of each other on each separate track. And then I can take one of the tracks out or I can put it back in, even from the middle of the texture of the music. And that’s really important to us, to create variety. But we don’t try to draw attention to the looper.

HC: It’s not a gimmick to you.

JACQ: Exactly, it’s just a tool.

HC: There really isn’t another duo like you two in the harp world, so you two obviously weren’t modeling yourselves after any existing duo. Tell us about your musical influences.

ADDI: Joni Mitchell, for sure. Paul Simon, Rufus Wainwright, Leonard Cohen, Radiohead.

JACQ: Feist, Imogen Heap, Regina Spektor, lots of powerful, beautiful, feminine artists.

ADDI: Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Bird.

JACQ: Mozart (Flute and Harp Concerto), the second movement. That spot with the soaring flute melody and the gorgeous arpeggios underneath, that’s so full and beautiful. Amplify that!

HC: [Laughs] I love that you list all of these artists, none of them classical, and then…Mozart.

JACQ: There’s just something about it. I remember when I was 9 years old, we had a record of Zabaleta playing the piece, and I used to play the second movement on repeat. My heart would turn inside out. I just loved it so much. I feel the same thing when I get excited about plugging my electric or acoustic [harp] into something that can reach the audience and envelop them. That’s my dream—I want to envelop the audience in a gorgeous harp sound and bring them into Addi and let her tell the story.

HC: You’ve had a lot of success in the NYC music scene in the last few years, including the WNYC Battle of the Boroughs. Can you tell me a bit about that experience?

ADDI: It was hosted by WNYC (NYC Public Radio). It was a contest looking for undiscovered talent of all musical genres living in New York City. There were around 700 applicants, I believe, and one group was ultimately chosen to represent each borough. Then the winners of each borough came together to perform in the “Ultimate Battle” a few months later.

JACQ: Karen Lindquist told me about it. She said, “You should enter the Battle of the Boroughs!” So I looked it up and the deadline was in two days, so we thought, well, let’s just do it.

HC: And you won the whole thing!

ADDI: Yes! We applied from Queens, which is where I was living at the time. We thought we would have a better chance from Queens than if we had applied from Manhattan. And then we won Queens and we competed against the other boroughs. We were intimidated because everyone was so pro.

JACQ: It was a total surprise. There’s a photo when we found out that we won; my jaw is practically on the floor.

ADDI: It was a game changer because after that we thought, maybe we can actually do this. Maybe we really have something here.

HC: It launched you into the scene but also gave you the confidence in your ensemble.

JACQ: Yes, we got way more serious after that.

ADDI: Working on this project has been an incredible lesson in how investing time and energy into something you believe in can really pay off. You have no idea where it can lead. It still feels so surreal that we’ve performed at such amazing venues because it feels like not that long ago we were trying out our first songs for our friends in Jacqui’s living room.

JACQ: It all happened so naturally, we didn’t over research or analyze anything.

HC: You’ve been working together for six years now. What obstacles—musical or otherwise—did you have to work through to get to where you are now? What’s easier now than it was when you started? What’s still difficult?

JACQ: Life happens. Logistically, I moved and have a busy freelance schedule. Addi has a full time job. There are a lot of things to juggle. I think the main challenge is finding the time to dedicate to writing more music, because that’s really what’s important, and also to running a small business. There’s promotion, social media, replying to emails, booking shows, inviting people to shows, finding ways to take it to the next level. It’s a hell of a commitment. We are two strong individuals and have strong creative ideas. Sometimes that’s hard to navigate. It’s like any relationship really, but we strive to cultivate an atmosphere of respect, understanding, commitment, honesty, support, and humor. It’s humor that saves us I think—the ability to laugh at ourselves. Musically, we come from very different backgrounds with different ideas about what’s important. I’m classically trained and earn a living as a professional harpist. Addi comes from a theater background and has spent many years performing musical theater. I think, over the years, we have learned a lot about combining our ideas in creative ways. We have a two-part veto process: what makes it into the songs has to resonate with us both. It took a long time to come to that point comfortably.

ADDI: Exactly, there have been moments that felt like “my way or your way.” We ultimately adopted the practice when one person likes A and the other prefers B, we throw out both and come up with C, something that feels right to both of us. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that change is the only constant. As our music and collaboration continues to grow, we’ve learned that flexibility and an open mind are vital in moving through growing pains.

JACQ: Sometimes it is tricky and gets difficult but it always, for me, comes back to the music. I really believe in this project, I love the music, and I love the fact that we can create something and put that out into the world. We both want that in our lives; it feels good, and it’s important.

ADDI: Another obstacle we’ve faced is wondering what other people would think of the music. We found ourselves listening, judging, and moderating as we were writing. You literally can’t create with that kind of judgmental voice. I feel like that is still something that comes up, but we try to be less concerned with how [our music] is going to land or how it’s going to be interpreted.

JACQ: Yes! There’s a wonderful clip that I recently watched on Facebook—it’s David Bowie talking about navigating life as an artist. What really resonated with me was the idea to never try to make what you think other people want to hear. Listen to that voice inside and find a way to manifest it. By doing this one learns so much about oneself and how we coexist with the rest of society. He went on to say that it’s so important as an artist to go a little bit further than you feel you are really capable of. It’s not a bad thing to be a little bit out of your depth, as this is usually the place where something wonderful happens.

HC: Harpists go crazy for you two when they hear you because there is an element of mainstream singer/songwriter/rock star that many harpists probably yearn for, but they haven’t been able to tap into it, or don’t even know where to start. So for harpists out there (young and old) who want to be Addi & Jacq, what’s your advice for them?

JACQ: Don’t try to be us, be authentic. If you have a sound in your head, if you have a story to tell, make a voice memo or jot your ideas down. Start small, do it regularly, and share it with your friends. You learn so much just by doing it. Don’t be afraid to copy an artist you like. Take a piece of music that you like, identify what it is you like about it, copy it, and develop it. You’ll see how it morphs into something that is yours purely because there is no one like you. You will inevitably have a unique way of developing the material. We always remind people in our workshops that good artists borrow, great artists steal—the essence being that nothing is truly original. Artists are always drawing inspiration from and building upon the work of other artists, and then you must make it your own. If you prefer working with others, find a writing buddy. It’s fun and keeps you accountable. If you are overwhelmed with the tech stuff, again, start small. Just pick one thing to play around with. Keep at it and let your creative ideas drive your next purchase. What I mean by this is, it’s often an idea of what sound I want to create that motivates me to use a new box, not the other way around.

HC: You have a lot of your performance videos online—do you think it’s important to have that sort of presence online these days?

ADDI: Yes!

JACQ: I think it’s actually more important than recording a CD. We are such a visual society, and there’s just no way around that.

HC: You collaborate quite a lot with other instruments. Is it a project-to-project thing or is that part of a bigger picture or dream for you all? Do you see your music being performed with a larger ensemble or orchestra?

JACQ: That’s in the pipeline! We are working with a composer who is busy working on arrangements of our music for an orchestra. And, actually, that was on our vision board, five years ago.

HC: So you have a vision board—tell us about that.

ADDI: Oh, yeah, we are into vision boards. It’s been a very helpful tool for us in focusing our ideas of what we want to do, feel, and create. It’s also a great way to let your imagination run wild. There’s no one telling you what you could or should do. It’s a way to shut everything out and just let your mind…

JACQ: …dream.

ADDI: And many of the things on our vision board have happened; it’s really exciting!

JACQ: I especially think it’s important when you are working in a duo because you realize, “Oh wow, that’s what you want, but I want this.” Or, “Yeah, we both want this.”  The clarity it brings is really helpful.

ADDI: It also helps you recognize opportunities when they arise. It’s about having those ideas in your consciousness, much in the same way that if you were to think about the color red, all of a sudden, you see red everywhere. If you are thinking clearly about something you want to do, suddenly, it’s out there.

HC: If our readers want to hear your music, but don’t live in NYC, what’s the best way for them to listen?

JACQ: iTunes, YouTube, Spotify. And everything is on our website www.addiandjacq.com. To find out when we might be playing in their town, readers can subscribe to our mailing list.

HC: What’s next for you two?

JACQ: We are going to France for the Camac Harpes aux Max Festival in Ancenis, France, in May. It is such a dream come true because we have both wanted this group to take us to other places, to experience other countries and cultures. And, as we mentioned, we are also working on orchestral arrangements for our tunes.

HC: Is there anything else you want the readers to know?

ADDI: We are incredibly thankful that the harp community has been so supportive, excited, and open to our ensemble. It has been a huge part of our growth, and we wouldn’t be where we are without them.