Petra Hermanova

Transplanted to Berlin, the Czech musician rediscovered her mojo after an injury forced her to change instrument.

“I had some issues with my hand,” sighs Petra Hermanova. “I had to stop playing guitar 12 years ago, so when I started thinking about what instrument could I have in my private life. There weren’t that many available to anyone who was recovering from a hand injury that wasn’t healing. It was like, what can I actually do?”

The answer came from the unlikeliest of instruments: “I bought my first autoharp about five or six years ago and there was something magic about it,” smiles Petranova. “There is something very charming about it. Many musicians have a feeling of instant magic with their chosen instrument and for me, it became something of an obsession.”

Born in the Czech Republic Hermanova left her home for Berlin with her trip-hop band, Fiordmoss, but success proved to be elusive. Splitting up, Hermanova was initially at a loss as to how to continue her musical journey, but the discovery of the autoharp soon set her on a new course, as did her subsequent experiments with the instrument.

“I remember feeling like, I want to send this angelic instrument through some pretty nasty pedals,” she recalls. “It was a very immediate impulse that I had, but I wanted to push it to see what was possible. There isn’t so much information on what happens if you send an autoharp through a series of distortion and delay pedals, so it was fun to find out. I’m going down the rabbit hole with pedals!”

The result is her debut solo album, //In Death’s Eyes//, which sees Petranova moving into striking and daring directions as she blends her autoharp with baroque orchestrations, folk music and an unexpected musical detour.

“I realised that I’d [accidentally] written an organ part on this electronic piano at home on an organ setting and that I would actually need a pipe organ,” she says. “But that’s always the case with me – first I make it and then I find out what it is.”

Despite the logistical challenges of incorporating such an immobile instrument into her work, Hermanova is continuing in this vein. “This is a sound that I’m feeling very comfortable in right now. It’ll be interesting to make music in this world before I leave it entirely.”

— JM

For more information see www. petrahermanova.bandcamp.com