Svetlana Eliason pictured on stage alongside Moby, as a gig comes to an end. Photo / Supplied
Svetlana Eliason pictured on stage alongside Moby, as a gig comes to an end. Photo / Supplied
Svetlana Eliason might have played bass for a headline act at Glastonbury, but she's just as likely to be happy jamming with Hawke's Bay musos.
Eliason has landed in Hawke's Bay with her locally-born husband Todd, and is the new music lecturer at the EIT IDEAschool.
The Bulgarian has an impressive teaching and playing CV, including a long stint as a touring bass player for Moby - he sold 20 million records worldwide, including 12 million for his breakthrough album Play.
Professionally, she goes by her maiden name Svetlana Vassileva.
It was alongside Moby that Eliason performed at Glastonbury, headling one of the 2003 festival's three nights. The other headline acts in 2003 were REM and Radiohead.
Svetlana Eliason (Vassileva) has played bass guitar for international music acts including multi-million selling artist Moby. Photo / Supplied
She has an adult son who lives in London, and an eight-year-old son, Adler, who is in Hawke's Bay with her.
Eliason has taught for many years at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM) in London, where she was Head of Live Performance and, for the last four years, a Leader for a BMus music performance course.
She has a Master's in Popular Music Performance and is studying for a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning.
At IDEAschool, she is teaching music theory lessons for both the Diploma and the Bachelor of Creative Practice and running the performance workshops.
"What we are doing in the performance workshops is incredibly practical,'' Eliason says.
"I'm just hoping to inspire the students to create really good music, to give them some tools that they can use immediately and to encourage them to collaborate".
"Quite often students on Popular Music Programmes don't particularly enjoy the theory so much, and for that I'm just trying to make it relevant to help them see how it can be useful for them in their practical life as musicians."
Eliason is simply happy to be teaching and is enjoying life on EIT's Hawke's Bay campus.
"I'm really enjoying the space - the building I worked at in Fulham, London, was quite small.
"I enjoy the fact that I can walk up to the top of the hill during my lunch break and there are green spaces everywhere.
"And I find IDEAschool inspiring as I can walk past and see other creatives (art, fashion, film and design students) doing their work."
Eliason's personal music tastes are "funky and soulful" sounds.
"The music I enjoy is older Motown, 70s funk and soul and James Brown. From the more current artists, I enjoy listening to artists like Bruno Mars, Celeste and Jacob Collier.
"The Beatles were the first band that I really loved as a kid, so it started from there.
"I do like most genres, but bass players do tend to be quite diverse in their tastes."
Eliason is also open to connecting with local musicians.
"I am still waiting for all my equipment to arrive, but I have met quite a few musicians and they are keen to make some music in the very near future, I hope."
