The Handpan Show

This week we are sat down with Adel Szirtes (Organika Sound) - an up and coming handpan and organic house artist from Hungary. Adel is fairly new to the handpan scene but has already started to form a very signature style that we are loving!

Adel tells us the story of how she got into playing handpan and how she linked up with the MAG Instruments Team in Hungary. She also talks about her music influences and which artists have helped shape her unique sound.

She told us all about her first official release - "Amazona" - and her second release - "Fűszál" - before teasing her third track from her upcoming EP. The third song she's gearing up to release is a 20 minute sound bath!

We got to know her a bit better during the rapid fire questions (don't stand in front of her on the train!) and got a crash course lesson on the Hungarian language. (PS: we apologize in advance to all of our Hungarian listeners for our terrible pronouncing of your language!).

She might be new to the handpan universe, but she is already doing amazing things! We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did! For more from Adel Szirtes: IG: @organikasound YouTube:  @Organikasound 

Spotify: @OrganikaSound

BIG things are happening over at MasterTheHandpan and we HAD to talk about them. MasterTheHandpan Academy is huge news, not only for the three of us (being as we all work on MasterTheHandpan), but for the entire online educational space for handpan students. Until now, there has never been a handpan platform that was so in-depth with so many teachers and courses while also building a thriving community of students. We firmly believe that, even if we didn't work on MasterTheHandpan, we would have still talked about it on the pod! LOL. Usually these "family" episodes are just the two of us (Dan and Dave), but given the news and peek behind the curtain we wanted to give, we were HONORED to have Sylvain Paslier back with us to catch up. In addition to being a fantastic player, Sylvain also handles all of the community outreach at MasterTheHandpan. Before we stopped recording, we answered two big questions from our Instagram audience. First, how we deal with feeling stuck and uninspired and second, how to go about getting booked to play at handpan festivals. Thanks for your continued love and support...we hope you're enjoying these episodes as much as we are! Check out the MasterTheHandpan Academy!www.MasterTheHandpan.com Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and submit your questions for the next one! @TheHandpanShow -Dan and Dave

This is NOT an episode to skip! We're sitting down with David Kuckhermann - a handpan player who needs no introduction! David has been a professional percussionist for over 20 years and has been playing handpan since 2012. His album "Path of the Metal Turtle" from 2012 is one of the most iconic handpan albums of all time and he talks us through his path to handpan, what the early days were like, and the process of making this album. Unfortunately, David's handpan world right now isn't all sunshine and rainbows as he finds himself right in the middle of the PANArt VS HCU lawsuits - an incredibly serious issue that could impact the future of the handpan as we all know it. David talks about his initial involvement and role in forming the HCU. He's been in the courtroom and in meetings at every step and we very much appreciated an update from him! He talked about his guilty pleasure music, worst concert experience, biggest pet peeve, and much during our rapid fire questions before talking about his new music, Handpan Dojo (his online teaching platform), and MUCH more! It was an awesome to catch up with David and we hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did! For more from David Kuckhermann: www.HandpanDojo.com www.worldpercussion.net www.HCU.global IG: @handpandojo YouTube: @DavidKuckhermann

There is a very short list of people who can say "I've grown up with the handpan in my lap" - our guest this week is one of them.

Amy Naylor joins the podcast and talks about her life with the handpan. Amy started playing about a decade ago and she's only 26! We hear all about her early days in music and what the decision was like for her to make the handpan her main focus.

She also talks about how she treats live shows and how she holds the attention of an audience like NO OTHER! Amy also weighs in on comments about her being "the best female player" around and which other players she's excited about.

We heard all about her creative process, her incorporation of pop music and handpan playing, her latest album "The Earth Teaches" and MUCH more! She also played our rapid fire game and talked about her biggest pet peeve and most embarrassing moment on stage.

We hope you'll enjoy this episode just as much as we did and don't forget to check out Amy's work and follow along: Check Amy out here:  www.AmyNaylorMusic.com Instagram: @Amy_Naylor_Smiles YouTube: @AmyNaylorMusic 

Our guest this week is Connor Shafran. If you haven't seen or heard Connor's music yet, you're missing out! The compositions are one of a kind and the playing is amazing. Where Connor really separates himself is his use of live looping - more specifically "scripted looping" - which he walks us through on the pod.  Connor is a highly educated musician who recently completed his masters thesis in electro-acoustic music. We hear about his background and how he got to the handpan. We talk about the specifics and get some explanation of "how" he does what he does.  We also hear about the status about his upcoming music, how he composes, his involvement in Future Rust Records, and MUCH more!  We hope you enjoy this podcast as much as we did! Check Connor out here:  www.ConorShafran.com Instagram: @ConnorShafran YouTube:  @connorshafran 

Mar Loi is one of the most talented handpan players on the scene today! She's got an incredible style that perfectly blends melodic story telling with jaw-dropping technical precision.

In this episode, we hear about her life before handpan music - did you know she was a therapist?! We hear about her decision to leave her job and go to music full time, what the first day was like as a self-employed musician, and what she took with her from her old career to her new one.

We also heard all about her new album GRISES, which is coming out after her ongoing crowdfunding campaign.

She also told us about her practice routine, her favorite female players, her thoughts about teaching handpan, and MUCH more! Mar Loi also played along with our rapid fire questions before we wrapped up.

We hope you enjoy the episode as much as we did and PLEASE check out Mar Loi's website for all the info about her new album, GRISES, and how you can support her ahead of the release.

-Dan and Dave

Sylvain Paslier has had a LIFE of handpans! He began playing in 2006 with his cousin (and podcast co-host) David Charrier. Sylvain talked about his early days around the instrument and how he got his first PANArt Hang! We also talked a lot about the handpan community - something very important to Sylvain that he's taken a big role in building. Sylvain began his performing career a long time ago, but still remains one of the top players on the scene today. He recently played over 300 shows for the 2020 World Expo in Dubai! Before we let him go, we talked with Sylvain about his newest project - Hajmiin - which is basically a fairytale that he narrates while playing handpan to a painting of a fantasy island. We also talked with him about his new role at MasterTheHandpan!!! We hope you enjoy this episode with your favorite handpan players' FAVORITE handpan player...Sylvain Paslier! For more info on Sylvain: YouTube: @Handpans Instagram: @SylvainPaslierMusic www.SylvainPaslierMusic.com www.MythsAndMoods.com

Adam Foote - better known as "Ethereal in E" - is the worlds most famous handpan player! He's got over 1 million subscribers on YouTube, 300K on Instagram, and over 8 MILLION followers on TikTok. You've seen him in countless viral videos including his 'birthday' song which he has been posting every day in 2023.

Adam talks about his upbringing in music and his family life. He hasn't had an easy life and talks about his struggles with mental health and some of the losses he experienced as a kid. He talks about how music gave him a more positive outlook on certain situations and how amazed he is at his current fame. It's no secret that

Adam has also experienced a lot of online hate and negative feedback on his videos. We had to talk with him about this and hear about how much he is aware of and how he deals with all of the the attention. It was very nice to know the guy behind all the viral attention and to get to know Adam for more than his videos. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did!

For more info on Adam: TikTok: @Ethereal.In.E

YouTube: @Ethereal.In.E

Instagram: @Ethereal.In.E

Facebook: @Ethereal.In.E

We're back answering your questions! This is our second "family episode" of taking questions from our YouTube comments, Instagram comments and emails. This week, we talked about how to go about starting to play handpan, buying your first instrument, how much and how quickly the handpan world is growing and how we deal with negative comments on our content.

We also talk about some tips when recording an album, our hobbies outside of music and our favorite place to travel to.

Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and submit your questions for the next one! @TheHandpanShow

-Dan and Dave

Adrian Portia is the worlds FASTEST handpan player. But almost more impressive than his speed is his precision and control while playing at mach speed. In this episode, we hear about his musical background, his path to developing his style and some of his best tips for handpan practice! Adrian also talks about his music life during COVID, his hiatus from social media and much more. Do yourself a favor and check out some of Adrian's INCREDIBLE playing! For more info on Adrian: Instagram: @AdrianJPortia YouTube:  @ADRIANJPDRUM  www.AdrianPortia.com

Maja Wlazly is an up and coming artist that EVERYONE seems to be talking about. She's a classically trained percussionist that does incredible things with odd-meters, looping, and much more.

Maja talks about her upbringing in music, her path to the handpan and some of the other players that inspire her playing. She also talks about her experiences as a music therapist and how it has influenced her unique sound.

We also heard about her favorite non-handpan music, crazy dreams and MUCH more in the rapid fire section. Do yourself a favor and check out her videos and we hope you enjoy the episode! For more info on Maja: Instagram: @maja_wlazly

YouTube:  @MajaWlazy 

SoundCloud: /mayvv

He may be new to the handpan universe, but Cam Steen is a WORKER! He started playing in 2019 and since then has BLASTED on the scene by already releasing 24 singles and 3 full length albums. Apart from releasing all this music, Cam has built an enormous online following. He has over 700,000 followers on TikTok and has over 11 Million likes. He explains how he built this following and how, more importantly, he uses it as a platform to share his original music. Cam talks about how he balances being a content creator VS being a self-improving musician. He also talks about his path to the handpan, his approach to releasing music and much more. If you haven't heard his original music...grab your mustache wax and bass-friendly headphones! It's incredibly unique and features an awesome blend of handpan, guitar and electronic music. For more info on Cam: TikTok: @Cam_Steen Instagram: @Cam_Steen

We're answering your questions! Every couple of episodes we'll take listener questions that are come from our YouTube and Instagram comments OR email. This week we talked about musical influences and last listened to artists, what excites us about the next wave of handpan builders and instruments, cheap VS expensive instruments and more.

Don't forget to follow us along on Instagram and submit your questions for the next one! @TheHandpanShow

-Dan and Dave

Manu Delago is, hands down, the MOST influential handpan player in the world. He's been playing since 2003 and has introduced the world to a very percussive and professional style of playing. Manu was also the first player to introduce our amazing instrument to the world high level collaboration. He's got 15 full length albums starting with "Made in Silence" in 2006 up to his most recent release of "Enviorn Me" in 2021. If you're not familiar with his personal catalog...maybe you've heard him with one of his many collaborators such as Björk, Anoushka Shankar, Ellie Goulding, or Shpongle. In this episode, we hear about his beginnings in music, his path to developing his playing style, how he began working with other musicians, and much more! We also got a more in-depth understanding of his instruments, his personal set-up, and what he brings on tour. In other HUGE news, Manu is releasing a Masterclass on MasterTheHandpan starting on May 26th where he gives an incredible look behind the curtain of his biggest songs, the stories behind some of his biggest collaborative projects, how he develops ideas for his albums, and MUCH more! Check out Manu's Masterclass here: https://www.masterthehandpan.com/masterclass/manu-delago For more about Manu: www.ManuDelago.com www.RecyclingTour2023.com IG: @ManuDelago

Does this mean we've made it?! We're sitting down with Founder and CEO of the first ever record label for handpan music - Future Rust Records. Lauri Wuolio is the visionary behind Future Rust and is also an incredibly accomplished handpan player himself. In this episode, we hear from Lauri about the vision and purpose of Future Rust Records. He also breaks down why having a record label and a community of artists is so vitally important to the progression of this art form. We would be remised not to talk about his own personal music as well - Kumea Sound. He talks us through his early days in music, how he began incorporating electronic production in his albums and much more. Fun fact: He has a masters degree in sound design...if you've ever heard his music, this will be NO SURPRISE to you! Lastly, we get into one of the most important projects he's curated called "Contra Spem Spero – A Compilation of Ukrainian Handpan Music" which features all Ukrainian artists and directly raises funds for their community. He also talked about the track from Alex Pavlenko which was recorded in a bomb shelter during an airstrike. For more info on Lauri and Future Rust Records: www.futurerustrecords.com www.wuolio.fi @FutureRustRecords @KumeaSound

A big purpose of The Handpan Show is to highlight the people that are driving the handpan artform forward...which is why we HAD to have Alexandre Lora on immediately! If you're not familiar with Alexandre's work, we're jealous that you get to hear it for the first time! Alexandre is from Brazil and is a life long percussionist. He's been a handpan player for over 10 years and he's even been nominated for a GRAMMY Award based from his work with 'Trio Brasileiro.' On this episode, we hear all about Alexandre's musical history and his experience with music before handpan. Then we get into his handpan playing, which is a super interesting and amazing fusion of traditional Brazilian rhythms and modern handpan playing. Alex breaks down some of the elements of his rhythms and also gives an update on his tour, new music and MUCH more! You can read more about Alexandre here: www.AlexandreLora.com

The Handpan Show is live!! Who better to kick it off with than Colin Foulke. Colin has been a pillar of the handpan community since 2009 and as a player, a builder, and now a leading representative of the HCU (Handpan Community United). In this episode, we hear all about Colin's early days with handpan and his friendship with Dante Bucci - then we fast forward a few years to his path to becoming a well respected builder and how he pioneered hydroforming only to open-source his findings to the entire handpan community. He also walks us through all of the iterations of his brand - Xenith, Aether, Radix, CFoulke... Colin gives a very important update in regards to the HCU and what the future holds for the handpan. Then we get to know him a bit more personally with some rapid fire questions - who would have thought he's also a lifeguard!

Welcome to The Handpan Show! This podcast is hosted by Dan Mulqueen and David Charrier and will be an in-depth look into the handpan world. Each episode will feature a guest and center around a topic related to their style of playing and use of the handpan in their music. In this introduction, Dan and David discuss FINALLY starting this project, the hopes and direction of the show and the reasons for speaking in English instead of French.

In addition to this introduction, we've also launched the first full episode with Colin Foulke. Head over to our channel to check it out. We cant wait to share this podcast with all of you!

- Dan and Dave

Follow us on Instagram:@TheHandpanShow