About
Long ago in a dream, a fair maiden I had seen
With the colors of true love in her eyes
And the dream did come true on the day that I met you
When the first rays of the new sun filled the sky
Emaho
Where to start? Probably it really starts in the summer of 2013. Mike meets Rebecca at a special gathering, a preparation for the ‘Launching of Timeship Earth 2013’. It is here that they first connect, and immediately talk the whole night through. Diving deep into Mayan time magic, they shared their visions on time and life. In the morning, still up and talking, they were joined by a couple of good friends to watch the first sunrise of a great new Mayan cycle. It was the portal to a New Time, and they stepped together through the gate. What they saw there could only be described by the exclamation of wonder and astonishment: Emaho!
They soon found that they shared more things in life, namely a deeply rooted passion for music and dance. Rebecca’s heart was filled with folk music from Ireland, France, the Appalachian Mountains, Scandinavia… to whose hypnotic rhythms she danced in magic circles. Her wooden flutes could often be heard playing with a soothing melancholy one might hear in Native American flute music, while her mandolin often resounded the Old-Time music.
Mike’s heart was generally pumping in the rhythm of rock ’n roll, his style of choice since when he was in elementary school. He played guitar, bass and drums in quite a few bands, going from Reggae to Hip Hop, from Stoner Rock to Pop. Using the acoustic guitar, he found his singing voice and realised how much he loves to sing! Improvisation has always played a great part in his music, and still does.
Bringing this all together, you get Cosmic Folk, a gathering of folky styles from around the Earth, cooked in a psychedelic cauldron of groovy improvisation.
A colourful duo…
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Rebecca Van Bogaert
SINGING, FLUTES, MANDOLIN
Already at the age of 6, while listening to the famous Irish flute player James Galways’ folky tunes, Rebecca knew she wanted to play the transverse flute!
She enrolled into the classical academy, and was tutored by the amazing Martine Van Puyvelde. At age 16, she entered the world of folk dance and music. Learning the dances from different regions in Europe, in workshops and classes, not only she was touched by the musicality of trad music but also she was deeply moved by the warm connections between the folks of the scene.
She studied classical flute (with the teachers Carlos Bruneel, Frank Hendrickx and Baudoin Giaux) and music didactics at the two conservatories in Brussels.
After graduating, she continued her folk apprentice with the Breton flutist Jean-Michel Veillon, one of her favorite cosmic musicians of all times.
She played in several folk and world music bands throughout the years. Right now, she’s also playing with Klankennest, the Brazilian band Euforró, the Armenian band Arax, the trio Chansons d’Enfance, and several other projects.
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Mike Floris
SINGING, GUITAR
Mike, at age 11… After watching a documentary about Dire Straits, it was clear to him: it’s gonna be the electric guitar! And so he got his first guitar, a ‘Black Beauty’ Hondo Les Paul. The only thing he could do, was to relentlessly bang on the strings, creating a noise that could be defined as ‘post-punk’.
So he took some guitar lessons from the illustrious Co Zijp, a local hero in Wormer, the village where he grew up in the Netherlands. The first song he ever learned was Wild Thing by the Troggs! From there, Mike resorted to self-education, trying to play along to the songs of his greatest heroes.
Throughout the years, Mike played in many bands of different styles: roots reggae, improvisation, rock, pop, folk… He also learned to play the bass, drum, harmonica, percussion, and to sing.
His greatest musical idols? To name a few: Billy Sheers, Michael Henderson (for his ability to play a single bass groove under a 25 min. Miles Davis track), Keith Moon (the last one not only for his music, but also his après-ski attitude)… But all silliness aside, you can hear many influences in his own unique musical voice.
Lately, Mike is developing his studio skills in Emaho’s home studio setup. This is something he will continue in the future.
