National Gallery inspiration for meditative new album
Meditative new solo album by Gatineau-based composer inspired by National Gallery
A California-born musician who grew up in Canada, Germany and the United States has directed his creative energies into composing meditative pieces of music inspired by the National Gallery of Canada.
Nick Schofield, 33, will release Glass Gallery, his second solo album on Feb. 5. The experimental music composer, a graduate of Concordia's electroacoustics music program who's currently riding out the pandemic with his partner in Gatineau, describes the record as an homage to the glass and granite building overlooking the Ottawa River that wowed him as a youngster on field trips. His mother, Claire Schofield, also worked at the gallery during her career as a communications professional.
In this interview, Schofield discusses his inspiration, shares an early memory of the building, and talks about his evolution from playing drums in punk bands to composing ambient music on synthesizers.
Q What prompted you to compose music inspired by the National Gallery of Canada?
A I visited the National Gallery every week during the initial creation period of the album in March 2019. I would go every week, and I always felt so charged with inspiration after visiting the space. It wasn't just the artwork on the walls, it was the architecture itself. I decided I would create a demo (recording) a day in that time period, and I really channelled a lot of the inspiration from the gallery. I would often look at the architecture and certain abstract geometric painters, like Guido Molinari and Paul Klee, who was on exhibition at the time, and think, `How would these paintings translate into music?'
Q How did you approach that challenge?
A I would see certain types of patterns or lines that implied arpeggiations on the synthesizer, and then when there would be more atmospheric, ambient colours in the background, I saw that as textural pads on the synthesizer, long tones. I really just was steeped in all of these thoughts in the entire creation of Glass Gallery. That's why it's called Glass Gallery. It really is a bit of an homage to the National Gallery because that's where the music came from.
Q I understand your mother worked there when you were growing up. Do you have early memories of visiting the building ?
A I remember being on a class field trip and going to the gallery. I remember walking up the long slope and that always stuck with me. Then getting into the gallery and these elevator doors opening, and my mom walking out, and just feeling, `Wow, this is so cool. My mom works in this incredibly beautiful space.' Then when I was starting to pursue music more seriously, and thinking about what it meant to be an artist, the gallery became an emblem of how much society values art. That literally the most beautiful building I've ever stepped foot in is what homes great artworks from around the world.
Q You like to compose within certain technical parameters. What were they on this project?
A For each of my albums, I like to choose the sound palette very early on, and often utilize just one keyboard instrument and one processing unit, like a pedal effect. Using just one sound source, instead of going wide with the palette, I look at it as going deep into one sound. So for Glass Gallery, I'm using a synth from the late '80s called the Prophet 600 by Sequential Circuits. It has a very distinctive, warm, textured sound. It's an analog synthesizer that has somewhat limited functionality compared to today's standards but it does allow me to use an arpeggiator and create nice long tones, so that's the sound source for the entire album, and I ran it through a delay pedal. Every track uses just those elements.
Q You were originally a drummer. Did you play in rock bands?
A Yep, I had an amazing time as a drummer. I was in jazz, rock and punk bands all throughout my adolescence in school and personal projects. But when I finished high school, I had just finished playing in a punk band and I wanted something that was almost opposite of the drums, that was quiet and synth-based and also portable. That's when I started getting into synths, and studying electroacoustics opened up that world for me. As time progressed, I became interested in analog synthesizers.
Q You are also part of a trio called Saxsyndrum. Tell me about that project.
A Saxsyndrum is a long-standing project with my best friends, AP (Bergeron, vocals) and Dave (Switchenko, tenor sax), and we released our sophomore album in 2019 and went on a tour. We develop our music a lot through jamming together. We come up with ideas in
the studio, using certain types of synth patches and drum machine grooves. Then we bring that to the rehearsal space and let the chemistry flow. We have all of the building blocks of the next album but because of the pandemic, that's obviously been hindered in the last year.
I always felt so charged with inspiration after visiting the space. It wasn't just the artwork on the walls, it was the architecture itself.
Q Why did you start making solo albums?
A Making music on my own basically began as an antidote to insomnia. I was frequently up when the birds started chirping, and to help me fall asleep, I would make ambient loops and put them on to usher in the evening, and then I realized that I liked this avenue I was exploring. For the first time, it felt like I was creating something that really was a reflection of who I am and what I want to express, and the type of music I would actually want to listen to.
Q Did it help you sleep?
A Yes, it definitely did. And I can say I'm on a perfectly normal sleep schedule now.