Al Swainger - Impure Imagination

So I think because I've had a lot of different experiences, I originally started on the cornet when I was about six and then I did a little bit of piano, went into that and progressed my way through various wind instruments.

I did trumpet and piano horn and then settled on the French horn for a long time.

So I had all these traditional music experiences where you were in ensembles, you had to do a specific thing, you had to be able to read music, follow a conductor, balance your sound within an ensemble, all of those things were really great.

And then in high school, I also got into the pop group there.

And so the style of music changed and also the opportunities, because everyone in this group was a multi-instrumentalist, can play different things.

So we all swapped around from track to track, depending on what it was.

And I got into arranging music and so on.

So I would kind of make sure I angled myself onto the instrument that was having the most fun with whatever piece that was.

I did the bedroom guitarist thing too, where you just learn stuff off records and you copy and you listen and, um, it's a much more oral style.

And I guess doing these different approaches gave me a lot of, uh, room for what music could, what it needs to do in different circumstances and how it operates and the hierarchies change.

And, uh, what the music should feel like kind of changes as well.

Um, and I had friends who were really interested in different types of music.

So there were people who were only interested in prog rock, the people who are only interested in heavy metal, people who are only interested in jazz standards.

Um, and then I worked in soul groups and other things.

Um, and I've just always, you have a much easier time appreciating music if you appreciate the thing, um, that the person in front of you likes, which has worked to my benefit.

So I've just got into a lot of different styles of music.

And because I know and I've worked through all these different things, it feels really natural to me to combine them because I'm not trying to compose a style of music.

I'm trying to perhaps just explore what things feel like.

And depending on what mood I'm in that day, the feeling needs this type of music.

if that makes sense sometimes it's ambient sometimes it's latin sometimes it's a bit more rock because all of those styles of music I think articulate different emotions kind of

more strongly than others perhaps or you know

depending on the mood I'm a wallower when it comes to listening to music you know if I'm in a bad mood I want to put on heavy rock and I want to wallow in it if I'm feeling sad I want the most melancholy music I can find and I'm not someone who uses music to change their mood and try and cheer themselves up.

I just want to work through it.

I guess the way that I compose is kind of like that too.

There was a study, and I can't cite the study.