Who or what were your earliest inspirations in terms of music?
Definitely prog rock. I was a massive fan of King Crimson and Genesis and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. That kind of stuff. Big Beatles fan as well and I always loved classical music as well, but it was prog rock initially, and I still love it.
I've certainly found that classical music has always felt a bit distant and out of reach for me. Do you think there is some sort of distance between classical music and the general population?
There definitely is. I mean, there wasn't in the 18th century. But now, you ask the average person in the street which composers they have heard of, they probably won't name anything from the 20th century onwards. It's gonna be Beethoven and Mozart and Tchaikovsky, people like that. There is a distance. That's the same as modern jazz, really. There was a time when jazz was in the public eye, but ever since bebop and it got serious, it kind of went a bit distant.
I think the trouble with classical music is that a lot of it was avant-garde, very difficult music. It went more and more down that hill, which didn't help as far as the general public is concerned. It's become almost like a secret club, in a way.
You've been in groups for so many years. What was it that made you take the plunge and decide to be a solo composer going forward?
First of all, I'm not very good at interacting with other people in a band. That's one of the reasons. The other thing is that contemporary classical music overtook prog rock and became more of a passion. It was more or less all I listened to for a while. I've always been able to hear music in my head and conceive of music and I love the way scores look on paper. I love that artistic side of it as well. So I thought to myself: ‘I can do this. I'm sure I can do this. I can conceive of music, write it down, and hopefully get it performed.’
But going back to the band situation, it’s the democracy of it I'm not keen on. I don't want to compromise my ideas with someone else. And [composing] is a lot easier in practical terms. I don't need equipment as such, just a computer or manuscript paper.
And since you embarked on this chapter of your career, what have been your successes as a composer?
Well, I've had some good feedback from people in high places. [Karlheinz] Stockhausen, the late German avant-garde composer did actually write to me before he died. He sent me a letter praising the music. A guy from King Crimson recently admired one of my pieces, said how good it was. The only trouble is I've yet to get a proper, human performance. All of my music is digital as of yet. But that is obviously something that’s very much on the cards.
How are you going about finding an audience for this digital music, without someone playing it for real?
I've had to do a lot of research, finding websites and magazines that deal with contemporary classical music. I've actually had a bit of radio airplay as well. I sent it off to BBC Radio 6 Music. There's a programme called Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone on a Sunday night. He actually played a track from my first album and that boosted my views on YouTube.
There's not that many platforms that deal with this kind of stuff, so it can be difficult in that respect, but I have managed to get myself reviewed and interviewed on a couple of websites.
Could you tell me a little bit about the role that the town of Warrington plays in your composing?
I've lived here all my life and I'm 55. It’s in my DNA now. So whatever music I write will, in one way or another. invoke Warrington. My music will always reflect that. My first CD was actually called Music Inspired by Warrington and each piece was named after a particular area where I spent a lot of time. I like the idea of being inspired by Warrington and thinking quite specifically about particular areas.
Voice Magazine’s core audience is younger people. What would you say to younger people who maybe feel that classical music isn't that relevant to them?
Don't be frightened by it. A lot of people have the idea that it's very much an intellectual thing and it's essentially middle and upper class people that appreciate it. But classical music can be for anyone. It's accessible. I was a pretty stupid teenager and, at the age of 14, I don't think I would have admitted to [liking classical music]. I would have kept that quiet. So maybe my advice would be: don't keep it quiet and just talk about what you like.
For me personally, my biggest exposure to classical music is film composers.
Film score composers mean a lot to me. Ennio Morricone was a big one for me, especially Once Upon a Time in America, The Mission, and the spaghetti westerns. You’ve got Bernard Herrmann as well, who wrote some really, really good scores. Psycho, everyone's got that in their head. We connect that staccato violin thing with the girl in the shower. A lot of my music probably does have a cinematic kind of quality to it because I’ve been so influenced by film.
Would you consider doing something for a film, or would that go into what you said about groups and democracy?
That's a different kind of compromise with a film score. I'd love to do a soundtrack for David Lynch or Danny Boyle. There’d be a compromise, yes, but with a soundtrack it would be music written to encapsulate what the film's about. That’s a compromise I like. It's not really democracy in the sense of being in a band with four or five other guys. I can still put a lot of my personality into that. I like the test. It gives you the chance to be wild with music in a way, because you might have a western, or you could have a violent film or a romance. It gives you the chance to explore lots of different colours and moods and so forth.
I have done three film scores, but they’re very low-budget student films. We’re not talking Hollywood.
What are your plans now going forward?
I'm gonna keep plodding on doing what I'm doing. I'm gonna try and get a string quartet performed. There's actually a couple of string quartets in Warrington, believe it or not, but I'd love to get it performed by a very highly acclaimed quartet like the Arditti Quartet or the Kronos Quartet.
I'm working on a solo piano piece as well. I wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time and effort on a big orchestral piece, only to never get it performed. So to get my foot in the door, a string quartet and a piece of solo piano is much more sensible for the time being. I’ll just see what happens.
For more on Lewis Gill and to check out his work, head on over to his pages on YouTube and Soundcloud.
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