David Lanz To visit David's Site click here.

Ambient Visions is proud to continue our series of Artist interviews with our latest entry featuring David Lanz. Piano Superstar David Lanz bridges the gap between contemporary instrumental music and popular hit songs. His multi-million selling albums have won him recognition world-wide as a musical trend-setter whose talents encompass both recordings and the concert stage. Lanz (pronounced LAHNZ) has successfully established himself as a critically-acclaimed concert artist, one of the few contemporary instrumental recording stars to also win roaring approval for his live stage performances. Lanz, who uses concerts as an opportunity to "create vivid musical pictures" transports his audiences on a breathtaking nature walk through his native Northwest in Behind the Waterfall or back in time with Cristofori's Dream, heralding the Italian harpsichord builder who conceived the modern piano. By combining brilliant pop stylings with a unique sense of showmanship, Lanz creates an unforgettable evening of solo piano artistry.

East of the Moon: Ambient Visions Talks with....David Lanz ©2000AmbientVisions

East of the Moon   Return to the Heart   Cristofori's Dream   Sacred Road   Heartsounds

AV: What were some of your earliest influences in music and when was it that you began playing an instrument yourself? Was piano always your musical instrument of choice? DL: The piano always loomed large in my life. My earliest remembrances are of my grandmother playing church hymns and my mom playing Pine Top Smith's Original Boogie Woogie! I all but asked for lessons, so the story goes, and I began with my first teacher at the tender age of 4 1/2. AV: What kind of influence did the British invasion have on your music? DL: I was already rocking and boogie wooging on the keys when I first saw and heard the Beatles. I was spellbound for the next several years and loved just about every group from that era. I had my own rock group The Town Cryers, who did a lot of Kinks, Animals, Beatles, and Stones material. I later became a huge fan of the English Rock Band Procol Harum (A Whiter Shade of Pale) and have since made friends with founding member and organist Matthew Fisher, who appears on several albums with me. Their use of classical forms and approach to rock music, along with the Beatles, had a tremendous impact on the music I still make today. I am an Anglophile at heart, recorded my "East Of The Moon" CD in London in 1999, a British Invasion tribute CD in 1998 (Songs from an English Garden) and fair to say, I never really got over the 2nd "British Invasion"! AV: Tell me about your early efforts as a budding rock star and how you felt about that phase of your career. DL: I got my first taste of fame and fortune (light on the fortune) with my progressive rock band Brahman. We were the first Canadian group to sign with a major American label (Mercury) back in the early 1970s. I was transplanted in Vancouver British Columbia for several years, 71-73, from my home in Seattle. We put out one critically acclaimed record and then broke up. Terry Jacks, of "Season's In The Sun" fame, used to listen to us rehearse and wanted to produce us. We wanted nothing to do with his bubblegum pop approach, but later he recorded several of my songs and got me to play on his big hit "Seasons In The Sun". AV: When was it that you began to get an inkling about the style of music that you would eventually become so identified with? DL: Actually, if you could find a copy of that first LP of Brahman, you would hear a short solo piano improv. on one of the tracks that was very early "New Age" piano. I always remember "noodeling" around in that style. It just took awhile for me to get really grounded in it. AV: When you first began to look at this new style of music as what you wanted to do, were there others already out there making this kind of music or were you alone in your efforts? DL: Well solo piano wise Keith Jarret was way out in front of the pack...technically and time wise. I saw him in the late 60's with the Charles Lloyd Quartet. He would have a solo segment where he would do his improv thing. Very cool! Much later in the very early 80's a friend of mine played me a George Winston LP and I thought," You have got to be kidding! People are buying this simple solo piano music!" George was an inspiration, not so much in his musical approach...just the fact that he was doing his thing as a solo player. Up till then I was always writing and recording with a large musical production in mind. Just the piano by itself seemed so naked, but so personal and complete somehow. I also had been listening to Kitaro's "Silk Road" and Steven Halprens first recording "The Spectrum Suite" since the late 70's. AV: Who were some of you early influences when it came to the "new age" music that you were starting to compose and perform? DL: Besides the artists I just mentioned I believe my influences were mostly from the Jazz, Classical, and pop music I had digested my whole life. When I listened to most early new age music I found I liked the atmosphere it created, but wanted more melodic content and form. In the early days I told people I was writing Zen Pop. More hooks than new age and less notes and more space than pop music. AV: What was the name of your sophomore effort in this genre of music and how well was it received by the listening audience? DL: My first album was entitled "Heartsounds" and it was received very well and encouraged me to continue on this new path. AV: There are many names that are floating around that are used to describe the music that you do. How do you define the genre of music that you do? DL: With my tongue firmly placed in my cheek I tell my audiences that I play...."Heavy Mellow!"

AV:  What kind of process do you go through to take a project from beginning to end? DL: This can takes several years from a writing and arranging point of view. Most of my CDs are a combination of new and older material. Once the material  has been composed and arranged for piano, and solo piano or piano/drum machine demos have been made, then I decide on production values for each piece. This process really begins when I am given a release date from the record label....and happens solo and with my arranger (if orchestral elements are involved) and with the producer/engineer. I usually have a pretty good  idea for each piece, but collaboration during this process can lead to some welcome surprises along the way. In the past I have started in the studio by laying down the keeper piano tracks. This makes for a solid foundation to layer the other elements, unless of course it is just a solo piano recording. On my last recording East of the Moon all the basic tracks were cut live. Drums, Bass, Guitar, Strings, etc., happened live in the studio. I will use this method whenever possible now. I love the results. Once all the tracks and overdubs are complete, the final mix down and editing and mastering make the recording ready for duplication. The next phase is writing liner notes, and working with the art director for cover concepts. A photo session usually insures, several mock ups of the cover and weeks of fine tuning and writing until everyone (managers, label heads, art departments) are relatively happy. Marketing plans, touring, radio promotion, and related issues are talked about and then I go about the business of writing my stage presentation for the tour following the release of each CD. I usually have several months to do interviews and prepare for my tour which almost always finds me at the piano, by myself, like the process began AV:  Where do your compositions come from? What is it that inspires the music that you write? DL: My inner and out life is what I write about. Relationships with family and friends, with nature and my connection to spirit seem to give me plenty to reflect on musically. AV:  After Heartsounds you had a string of about six CD's before reaching Cristofori's Dream. What is that people like so much about this work and was this project the same as the previous CD's in regard to the amount of effort that was required to write the music? DL: With Cristofori's Dream, I brought in the whole history of the piano (Crisofori invented it) as well as my own musical history with the cover version of A Whiter Shade of Pale. This was a fairly simple record to make, but the timing at radio was on target to give it great exposure to the public. I do have to say that the title song seems to be magic, and I never tire of performing this piece. AV:  Over the years that you have been involved in this genre of music what kinds of changes have you seen taking place? Has the music gained more of an audience since your first release and why do you think this is? DL: It seems that the audience is widening, but at the same time, the opportunity for radio exposure has all but vanished. I have a tremendous amount of young piano students and their teachers playing my songs and I have new listeners coming on board all the time. The challenge, without radio support, is in reaching out to the audience. I am hoping the Internet will continue to help in this process! The music itself has a place in peoples homes due to it's very personal nature. The calming effects of many of the compositions also seems to be a positive in our very hectic world. AV:  What has the Internet done in regard to exposing your work to a wider audience?  Do you see it as something that will be commonplace in the distribution of music in the near future? DL:  I use to receive written fan mail, but that has all but vanished. Email is the medium of the day and having my own site has given people who want more info and more music related products a place to go. Music distribution on the web still has a ways to go in my mind as far as the download only music. I like to have art work, credits, something to hold in my hand...not just look at a screen. The convenience of the web to purchase CDs and written music is nice and I believe will continue to find its way and its place in the overall big picture. AV:  How has the computer and electronics changed the way that you create your music? How big of a role do synths and other electronic forms of music creation affect what you write? DL:  Writing music for me is strictly an organic process. I do not use computers in this part of the creative work. They have, however, become invaluable farther down the creative road in the studio when it comes to mix down, and editing. I am planning on a collaboration of several pieces with my friend and master space music composer, Jonn Serrie, on my next project. Jonn on the other hand, has fused his creative process with the technology of the day. I will benefit from his approach directly on our collaboration! AV:  If you wanted to give someone a couple of your CD titles that represented the essence of your music what would you recommend? DL: Cristofori's Dream, Skyline Firedance, Beloved, East of the Moon AV:  How does touring fit into the creative schedule of your career? Do you find that touring inspires you with new ideas and variations on themes that you hadn't considered? DL:  Touring is more about meeting people and watching how the music has brought us together. It adds a nice balance to the creative process, which is very solitary. A tremendous amount of stress is connected to performing, but once I am in the groove on stage, there is almost nothing more satisfying.

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