Interview with:Sylvester Wager [sylvestertone]
MUSIC
 | What do you do? What is your musical specialty? Online, I make film & music.
I'm a classical pianist & organist. I have a friend who plays some jazz improv in the style of Art Tatum that I use as the soundtrack to some of my films.
I consider myself a multi-media artist at this point. Very hit & miss. |
| Is there a web address where one can listen, see, or read some of your work? |
| When did you realise that making music could be a way of life for you? By age 18 I had a job in music. Pianists and organists can always find work, it seems. |
| What is your creative process? The best impetus is listening to something good - live. A live concert may seem like a drag, but that is where you get that feeling: I want to do that, too.
Proper study of whatever technique. Then, forget about it. Write music the way you hear it. Since I studied harmony & counterpoint, I am sure about my decisions. I can justify my voice leading, for instance.
Sitting at the piano with a pencil and staff paper means business. I write very fast. |
| When do you have your most lucid moments, in the morning or night? Usually, the morning is a good time to work. If I decide to write a new piece, I want it down fast - so I will need all day. I will let it go some 12-14 hours later.
I have large gaps in my life concerning composition. It is exhausting, and it does not pay! |
| Have you ever awoken with a melody created from your dreams? A feeling. A few times a melody, but never properly remembered. Improvising lightly creates the best fodder. |
| How do you know when a song is finished or needs no more changes? It's finished often when I run to the end of the (last) page. My measures get smaller and smaller.
Changes can be made 20 years later. But nothing major. I usually am satisfied with the integrity of the work. I have to trust that I basically knew why I did something, because I usually don't write a line without a reason. |
| What part of your job is your least favourite? My former job was church organist. The least favorite part about that was the tension between my art, my spirituality and the politics of concrete religious structures. A lot of my playing was ruined by things that happened right before a service, or after. I had them during communion, however, and I loved giving musically, at that point.
Being tacitly asked to stay at least somewhat in the closet is the worst part of any job, when you get down to basics. That is why I quit. And I moved my energy to making film & music.
And that changed the focus of composition from organ back to piano: easier music this time.
Seeing the world completely commercialize has been the toughest of all trials. I smashed a fine Sony HD camcorder over my polarization: do I make the art for me, or for vanity?
(I am not sure the camcorder is simply a commercial ruse... to keep us on a string of electronica-technica forever and ever...)
The best part of being a musician is playing the music: alone - in peace. |
| Which musicians or groups have been inspiring to your career? All the classical composers. And certain pianists, like Sviatoslav Richter, and Shura Cherkassky (who flutter pedals).
All music from the 12th Century deep into the 20th. Just about everyone well-known.
Pop music, too. Historical popular music (before the 20th century), and mostly American pop from that point, onward.
Swing made a big impression on me. So did Novelty Music. And the studio orchestra sounds that were popular throughout the 1950s up to about 1980.
All the usual vocalists.
I have a special love for Hungarian Gypsy music, the way Bartok did not like it! |
| What should be done to stop piracy? Honor system. If you borrow, plainly tell from whom you borrowed from.
Copyright is very intrusive for composers. Historically, you got paid upfront (better), and that was that.
Perhaps we might be looking at a return to what real-life is like. You get your pay now, and the music takes off, or it sits in a drawer.
I'm happy to give it all away for free, but I am an idealist. If I had to make a living, I would perform, and try to write music that people could play with ease. Things that were attractive. |
| Have you ever played on the street or in the subway? How much did you collect each day? I played in the subway in 1985, and 1986. I was not good at it. I played the wooden recorder, which was new to me (I knew all the woodwinds).
I averaged about $25 per day, and it was cold, so that wasn't too bad. I played in Grand Central, Penn Station in the subway (where I got a summons, which I chucked), and near the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
It's easier to just get a regular job, if you are not a "people person."
One must be a Vaudeville type to make money on the street. And if you can find a funny sidekick, you have got it made.
I live near Times Square, so I see a lot of busking. They do all right, but it is not enough to make the rent. NYC got too expensive, causing an art-drain. Those that persist are older, and have rent-stabilized places. I live in a supported housing apartment hotel. I'm lucky. |
| What advice would you give to someone starting out in the business? It's all different, every year. Most classical musicians need to set realistic goals. If you can create a group, create it. Lower your fees. Use a sliding-scale to access new audiences. Do a lot of free work to get exposure.
Have over 100 videos of your work posted in many places on the Internet.
If you are a real pro, you will already have an agent. Your chances are about as good as Lotto without an experienced agent.
I enjoy my tiny end-of-career on Internet. It's fun to see my stuff come up on a TV screen. When I was young, that was a dream. If 100 people look at your work, that is equal to a concert. Be happy with the smallest accomplishment.
For those who know how, network. The 1st stop is church. But beware: it may trap you. I found that I enjoyed that field, but others were frustrated. Like those mean frustrated professors some of us had in college. They really wanted to be doing something else.
If you cannot put 20 hours into music per week, and you are young, forget about it. |
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Sylvester Wager
New York, NY
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