Artist Spotlight: Meet David Lale
How does 'Vagus' reflect your musical journey and growth as an artist?
‘Vagus’ actually kind of represents my birth as a compositional artist. By that, I mean writing music for music's sake. I have spent my career to date mostly performing other people's music - whether that be on the concert platform with The London Philharmonic Orchestra (my day job!) or in the studio recording film and TV soundtracks. I've also worked on a load of other recording projects - some solo, some in collaborations - for specific purposes, whether it be for TV shows, sync libraries, etc. But this EP is me writing with no agenda, no reverse engineering. It's a hybrid soundworld I've been dreaming of creating, combining my passions of cello and electronic music. I'm so excited to share it!
Can you talk about any specific themes or motifs that run throughout 'Vagus?'
I'm a big believer in rhythmic integrity in music. As humans so much of our lives are made up of rhythm, from the most complex aspects of life down to the simplest like heartbeat, breathing, speech...so having a constant pulse or vapour of rhythm to glue everything together is very important, I feel.
Specifically, there are a couple of motifs that return throughout the EP, notably the high synth motor theme (sounds like a harpsichord on acid...) which I guess could symbolise the electricity running up and down the ‘Vagus’ nerve (hence the title, kind of...), although I'm not wedded to the idea of prescribing thoughts /images for my music necessarily.
But, finding out about the ‘Vagus’ nerve and its role in our fragile nature as human beings was the inspiration for this EP.
How do you feel this EP represents your artistic identity?
This EP IS my artistic identity, to date...
What do you enjoy most about being a musician?
Sincerity.
Can you describe your typical creative process when composing music? How do you usually start a new piece?
I should imagine I'm unusual, as I start everything at the cello. Cello is where I feel most comfortable, musically, so it makes sense to me to start there. But the process is always as organic as possible. At least that's what I want, everything to flow from one thing to the next. Sometimes it'll be a synth or kick sound that inspires the cellos or vice versa. The more time I invest in production and production techniques, the more it has become a catalyst for inspiration. The hybrid world of live cellos and synths seemingly has endless possibilities - it's my Pandora's box - and I'm already working on my next project..!