Cedric Haeck
About a feral child and a bass guitar

Cedric Haeck graduated as a bass player from the pop programme. For his graduation project, he presented Saege, a band with its roots in Americana, but with an open mind for other disciplines, resulting in a beautiful and personal presentation that combined music and dance.

Cedric Haeck
In high school, I had a very enthusiastic music teacher who organized a big concert project every year. I participated in this for three years, first as a member of the choir and later as a bass player. That teacher also played bass guitar, which sparked my interest.

At one point, I performed Chet Baker's ‘My Funny Valentine’. That was the first time I brought something on a stage that felt special. It became clear to me that I didn't want to continue in the humanities, but wanted to study music. So I switched to Muda Kunstsecundair to do finish high school there. I started taking the bass seriously and practiced hard to get into KASK & Conservatorium.

Stijn Buyst
Can you tell us something about your graduation project?

CH
From the very first year, I always wanted to do my own thing. For my bachelor's thesis, I worked with a large choir and wrote arrangements for them. For my master's thesis, I wanted to bring a completely different undertone in terms of atmosphere to the music. Over the past year, I've written things that are darker and rougher in style. That's just the trip I'm on right now. It has to do with the music I'm listening to at the moment, but also with what's happening in the world. Themes such as war, grief, human vulnerability, images of masculinity and femininity... And, of course, the digital contamination of our minds, which is a theme that preoccupies many of my peers.

I also involved my girlfriend, who is a contemporary dancer, in the project: she dances a solo to one of the songs, which is about a feral child. We also created a duet in which we were tied together with a rope. I'm glad we did that. I really wanted to start the concert with something that would allow me to completely overcome my reserved personality, which is something I have always struggled with.

SB
That feral child intrigues me.

CH
When I was studying human sciences, I heard the story of Genie Wiley, a girl who was locked up in the basement of her house for years, where she had to survive without light and on a diet of cold porridge. When she finally got out, she suddenly found herself in a world of media and science, and everyone wanted a piece of her. They tried to teach her all kinds of things and to get her to communicate using sign language. That story stuck with me, partly because I believe that the upbringing of children is the most important thing: it is the foundation of society. I had wanted to do something about it for a long time, but hadn't found the right way yet. I didn't feel comfortable commenting on it, or at least I hadn't found the right way to do so. In the end, I decided to base my lyrics on quotes from testimonials from people who knew her. Only in the final verse do I briefly express my own thoughts.

Based on existing footage of Genie, my girlfriend conducted movement research, and we attempted to visually interpret that story in the language of dance.

SB
The band you performed your graduation project with is called Saege. Did you form it especially for that occasion?

CH

Yes. Before that, I made more folk-Americana-style songs with Kinsman. But the patriotic connotation of that name bothered me a bit. Sage is known as an herb that helps your memory, and I'm a very absent-minded person. I drank a lot of sage tea as a child. And I also really like the pastel-like color: that's reflected in the visual aspect of the project. The ‘ae' comes from my last name.

SB
Which genre of music influences you?

CH
I love folk, Americana, and swampy, bluesy stuff, but I'm just as fond of Hiroshi Yoshimura's ambient music, and I also enjoy exploring non-Western musical traditions such as Maqam.

SB
Is there a lesson from your education that you will remember for the rest of your life?

CH
Well, I learned a lot in Christian Mendoza's band coaching sessions. He chose to do a group session every week, a very open conversation. This created a bond and commitment with my fellow students that reminded me of the close-knit group our class had in the first year, when we were in lockdown, ironically enough. That class was super close because of what happened. Afterwards, that bond remained, but not to the same extent. And with Christian's band coaching sessions, it came back. Someone would sit down at the piano and play something, and then we would listen and discuss it together. Christian guided that very well.

SB
Zijn er medestudenten naar wie je opkijkt?

CH
I immediately think of Lander Lampaert—his project is called Floaters—a very atypical guitarist. Most guitarists in the programme mainly like to shred. Lander was more into noise and weird shit. The soundscape of his final exam was such a trip that I walked out with a big smile on my face.

And Indira Bergmans is a pop singer who performs Dutch-language music. She had a mega-cool band, too. Not the kind of music I usually listen to, but it radiated such joy that it was contagious. Stanny Rijckaert managed to reconcile his gentle personality and heavy metal taste in Constant Force, a Brutus-esque group. But I also really enjoyed the graduation projects by Leonie Geens and Alexis Bowen.

SB
You've now graduated, but your career had already been underway for a while, right? You play bass with Milo Meskens.

CH

Milo was also a student at KASK & Conservatorium, and at one point he was looking for a new bass player. He asked Vincent Pierins if there was a bass player at school who suited his style and could also sing backing vocals. I studied dilligently and was able to play everything from memory at the audition. I was very green when I started with Milo. That was two years ago, and I learned a lot from him about the field and how the sector works.