Artist of the Week
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Artist: Sebastian Schmidt
Artform: Musician What do you do and what are your main focuses? I am an electroacoustic composer and electronic musician - though I don’t believe there to be a huge boundary between the two fields. My main focus is on composing music for live instruments and electronics, as well as composing fixed media works that explore the boundaries between popular electronic music and traditional electroacoustic composition. Where have you studied? I studied an undergraduate degree in music at the University of Manchester, and have continued on to undertake a Masters in Electroacoustic Composition there as well. |
Tell us about ‘Synthetic Organisms’
This is a piece I wrote in the final year of my undergraduate degree. It was written for the bassoonist Lauren Martin, who has performed it in recitals and auditions and has also very kindly recorded it in the studio. The piece explores the relationship between traditional bassoon sounds and the world of extended techniques and electronics. When writing, my focus was very much to articulate a journey from the raw bassoon sounds of the opening to the heavily processed sounds that appear later in the piece.
I worked closely with the bassoonist to write this piece and I feel like that is such a valuable experience for composers. Writing for a specific player really gives you an insight into how to write music that actually works in performance - though in the case of ‘Synthetic Organisms’, I was lucky that Lauren could play almost anything and was willing to try almost any weird idea I threw at her!
Writing ‘Synthetic Organisms’ was also the start of my ongoing love affair with the Max MSP software. All the electronics for the piece are handled through Max, and it was quite a learning experience for me, as this was my first full work using the software. However, the experience has led to me now writing the vast majority of my music using Max MSP in some capacity.
Why do you compose?
I don’t really know, but honestly I think I compose for no other reason than that I find it fun! I’ve loved music since my dad started playing me classic rock in the car as a kid. Back then I used to want to be a rockstar and write hit songs, but after discovering weird electronic music as a teenager, I ended up on the path to electroacoustic music, and here I am now composing it.
I don’t really know, but honestly I think I compose for no other reason than that I find it fun! I’ve loved music since my dad started playing me classic rock in the car as a kid. Back then I used to want to be a rockstar and write hit songs, but after discovering weird electronic music as a teenager, I ended up on the path to electroacoustic music, and here I am now composing it.
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What is more important, talent or hard work?
Hard work without a doubt. Talent may give you a head start, but there's always going to be a limit unless you’re willing to put in the hard work. Plus, no one is naturally gifted at everything, so any significant degree of versatility is going to require some hard work in my opinion! What are you influenced by? I feel like my influences shift fairly often. At the moment, I’m being very influenced by experimental electronic and pop music. I’ve been listening to a lot of Autechre, Burial and SOPHIE particularly. That said, I do have some more constant influences that I draw upon. Stravinsky and Schoenberg are probably my two favourite instrumental composers, while Francis Dhomont and David Berezan are big influence on the electroacoustic front. In terms other musicians, David Bowie and Radiohead are big heros of mine and I actually have tattoos relating to both artists! I think being influenced by popular music is really important as it reminds me that there’s nothing wrong with making music that might have more crowd appeal than the sometimes technical to the point of pretentious ideas that I brainstorm in my bedroom. |
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What is your favourite instrument to compose for and why?
I love composing for the bassoon. Part of that is because of the sound, but I think another key factor may be the fact that my best friend is a bassoonist who is always willing to try my silly ideas.
I love composing for the bassoon. Part of that is because of the sound, but I think another key factor may be the fact that my best friend is a bassoonist who is always willing to try my silly ideas.
What excites you most about the art world today?
I love how much crossover there is in the art world today! I’m really glad that in my experience, electroacoustic music is making it’s way into traditional instrumental spaces, and that concert hall culture in general seems to have become more open to ideas based upon modern electroacoustic and electronic music. I’m also so glad for the collaborations I’ve seen between theatre/dance productions and composers - some of my best musical experiences have been working on these kinds of shows.
What is the most exciting/interesting thing you’ve done to date?
The project I’m most proud of and excited by at the moment is my work on the music for ‘Sound Cistem’ by Plaster Cast Theatre. It’s a work of physical theatre based around the transgender experience of nightclubs. I wrote the majority of music for the show, but was simply blown away by the choreography and narrative that the cast created to go with it. It was a really wonderful collaborative experience. The show debuted in Edinburgh Fringe in 2019, but has now had additional runs in HOME Manchester’s Push Festival and also at Vault Festival in London.
I love how much crossover there is in the art world today! I’m really glad that in my experience, electroacoustic music is making it’s way into traditional instrumental spaces, and that concert hall culture in general seems to have become more open to ideas based upon modern electroacoustic and electronic music. I’m also so glad for the collaborations I’ve seen between theatre/dance productions and composers - some of my best musical experiences have been working on these kinds of shows.
What is the most exciting/interesting thing you’ve done to date?
The project I’m most proud of and excited by at the moment is my work on the music for ‘Sound Cistem’ by Plaster Cast Theatre. It’s a work of physical theatre based around the transgender experience of nightclubs. I wrote the majority of music for the show, but was simply blown away by the choreography and narrative that the cast created to go with it. It was a really wonderful collaborative experience. The show debuted in Edinburgh Fringe in 2019, but has now had additional runs in HOME Manchester’s Push Festival and also at Vault Festival in London.
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Have you ever failed at something and what was the result of that? What advice would you give to someone as a result of that experience?
I absolutely bombed my conservatoire auditions when I was applying for undergraduate courses. I’d hoped to study jazz and contemporary guitar performance, but ended up going for a more general music course instead. This turned out to be a good thing though, as I ended up getting much more into composition and theory, which has helped me get to where I am with composing today - and in retrospect, I like composing a lot more than I liked performing guitar. So to anyone worrying about failure, I’d just say that failure isn’t a closing of a door kind of situation, sometimes it's more of a nudge towards alternate paths and perhaps even something better! |
Anything interesting coming up soon?
Yes! Obviously there’s the Collective 31 concert ‘St Matthew Passion: Reimagined’ that I’m involved in, but I am also involved with a very exciting collaborative arts project called Art in Mancunia. The project aims to celebrate student art works and will be holding a showcase at the White Hotel in Manchester in March!
Sebastian's links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sebschmidtmusician/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sebschmidtmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sebschmidtmusic/
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/sebastianschmidtmusic
Bandcamp: https://sebastianschmidt.bandcamp.com/
Yes! Obviously there’s the Collective 31 concert ‘St Matthew Passion: Reimagined’ that I’m involved in, but I am also involved with a very exciting collaborative arts project called Art in Mancunia. The project aims to celebrate student art works and will be holding a showcase at the White Hotel in Manchester in March!
Sebastian's links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sebschmidtmusician/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sebschmidtmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sebschmidtmusic/
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/sebastianschmidtmusic
Bandcamp: https://sebastianschmidt.bandcamp.com/
