A Butterfly Mind

Annelies and Sarah Cappaert now perform as A Butterfly Mind and have just released their first single: ‘Louis’.

Annelies:"My grandfather was a cabaret performer. From a very young age, we used to sing and make music with our mother and uncles in pubs and local halls, at village parties and wedding receptions and at times even on the street. That is how I learnt that singing together and really making music makes the world a happier and more beautiful place."

Sarah:"Annelies is a few years older than me, but she always used to drag me along wherever she went. We still have a tape somewhere of us singing when I was four years old. We have always sung together and work really well together. When Annelies started writing her own material last year, we noticed that the songs didn't really fit in with the shows we were doing in Flanders."

Annelies:"More and more we felt like outsiders. At the time, we were given the opportunity to record a single. They gave me about 600 CDs to take home and listen to. We could then pick a song to record. They were all new songs that record labels distributed to all the candidates. We spent days going through all these songs, but we couldn’t find a single song that made us think, yeah that’s the one, that’s us. And so we decided not to record a single."

"This stubbornness caused resentment among some people in the entourage, but they meant well. It was all very understandable, because no single meant no popular television shows, so our status in the business began to deteriorate rather rapidly."

"But I didn't worry about that much, because that was never the real issue for us. I don't have anything against popular television shows, but I do want to perform songs that we ourselves can believe in and put our heart and soul into... That stubbornness quickly had many consequences. Of course, then came the doubts and the worries, because there isn’t any ready-made solution."

"As you know, doing nothing is prohibited by Royal Decree in West Flanders, so I decided to start writing my own songs – a very primitive process that took up all my time from morning until night. We were very fortunate that people like Jean Blaute and Eric Melaerts thought those first songs were OK. They encouraged us to keep searching for our own style. We then took the plunge and decided to go back to the beginning: just us and a cassette recorder at home (laughs). And every now and then we tried out our own songs in pubs or in front of friends."

Returning home turned out to produce a great bunch of songs that were simple and beautiful and had really recognisable lyrics.

Rick Tubbax (manager):"The main idea was to fully explore that unique, warm feeling the sisters can evoke with Annelies' songs. We did a few sessions with various musicians in the best studios in Belgium, but failed to produce that tingle I got when I heard Sarah and Annelies rehearsing in their kitchen or saw them playing at a small club somewhere with just Eric Melaerts on guitar or Michel Bisceglia on piano."

"Michel actually helped us find the solution. He told us about how jazz records are recorded almost organically. No overdubs, no pro-tools, no technical magic tricks that are used so often nowadays to make everyone sound 'perfect'. Thanks to that imperfection, you can actually hear the extraordinary quality of the music that Sarah, Annelies and the musicians are creating."

Annelies:"It took some getting used to, but it just worked for us. The musicians absolutely love working on songs together in an organic way and things fall into place more and more after every take, until we know we have it. And if Sarah started the second verse of 'Louis' a smidgeon too far from the microphone, then so be it. It is the way she sings it that gives everyone goose bumps."

The new sound and approach deserved a new name: A Butterfly Mind.

Annelies:"To be honest, I never liked the sound of 'The Cappaert Sisters'. The name sort of happened to us when Sarah and I were cast together in a tribute show for the Flemish Pop Idol, Idool. We have subconsciously been looking for a good band name for years now."

Sarah:"When I heard the description ‘a butterfly mind’ for the first time, I just knew that was us!"

Annelies:"My thoughts constantly flit from here to there. I suspect it's a typically female thing! I also work as a graphic designer and my constant thinking ahead and developing ideas sometimes conflict with my deadlines. That is why I really enjoy working on our own album covers, websites and artwork. I can keep going until I am truly satisfied. For A Butterfly Mind, we simply do away with all deadlines and stress."

Sarah:"We just keep looking and don't stop until we are both happy with a song or a single cover. 'A Butterfly Mind' is really appropriate there."

IDENTIKIT
Annelies Cappaert was born on 10 September 1979 in Bruges.
Sarah Cappaert was born on 24 July 1987 in Torhout.

They have one br