This weeks 'Featured Artist of the Week' is the talented pianist, singer-songwriter, musician & composer LAPTOP PHILHARMONIC
1.Please introduce yourself
Hi, I'm Laptop Philharmonic, once described as a producer of "piano-led progressive electronica" which is the best label for my music anyone has come up with so far.
2. How did you get into music?
I had a very musical teacher in my first year at school, and she got me into music in general. I started piano lessons not long after, but it wasn't really until my mid-teens that I started to think about music seriously.
It was hearing the fast movement of Beethoven's famous Moonlight Sonata that convinced me playing the piano could actually be cool, and it was probably the Final Fantasy game sound tracks that first made me think about writing my own music.
3. What instruments do you play?
Piano, laptop and voice I guess! Also technically the recorder, but I haven't done that properly for years.
4. Who are your influences?
There's no hiding that Radiohead have been a big source of inspiration - they were the band that really brought me into the modern world of music instead of just classical stuff, probably because there's quite a bit of both in their work. I'd also list Soulwax (more recent stuff), Aphex Twin, Kraftwerk and Grizzly Bear here too.
My classical roots are also quite obviously there in my music - mainly Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev.
5. Tell us about your latest release
I actually just put out a charity release - a completely instrumental work, a piano sonata in classical style. I'm hoping to raise money for the British Red Cross through Bandcamp sales of it.
If classical isn't your thing, I released my latest album, Two Monologues in January of this year. I was hoping for an epic mix of electronica, chip tune, classical and all sorts of other bits and bobs, and I think I managed to pull off at least a bit of that. It's definitely best listened to as a complete piece of work, but if you wanted to try out just one track I'd say either My Other Face or Houses On The Sand.
6. Whats your songwriting process?
99% of the time I starts out with working out chord progressions at a piano. Harmony is the most important thing in musical structure I think - if you don't get that right, it doesn't matter how well produced your song is, how catchy a tune you come up with... it'll be empty.
I usually have in mind something I want to convey, and I try to bake that in to the fundamental structure of the music, and press all the right emotional buttons from the get go. After that I'll drape a tune over it, then think about how I can make the arrangement also communicate the same message.
After that, I'll keep twiddling, stopping, starting, doing-over and so on until I can't think of any way to make it significantly better.
7. Which musician/ artist would you most like to collaborate with & why?
This is a tough one, since I'm naturally a bit of a loner... it'd either have to be a fantastic vocalist since I don't really like the sound of my own voice half the time, or an experimental electronica producer to see what they'd do with the raw materials I come up with. Specific people though... I don't know.
8. If you were on a desert island what 3 musical gear would you take?
Erm... it depends if there were any working plug sockets on the island. If not (cause why would there be), I'd have to go with a massive grand piano, a book on how to keep it in tune and tools to do that. If I'm allowed electricity I might be tempted, with a heavy heart, to swap it out for an electric piano, a laptop and a mic (what I use to make my music now basically).
9. Where can fans find your music (links etc)?
It's on most streaming and buying things, just search Laptop Philharmonic. If you want to check out the piano sonata and donate to a worthy cause, you can do that on my Bandcamp page:
I would like to say a huge thank you to LAPTOP PHILHARMONIC for taking part in this weeks 'Featured Artist Of The Week' 😃😃
Law