Photos by: Denise Mahoney
Full Name: Nicholas Vasallo
Age: 28
Function: 1st year Doctorate student
Currently Residing: Santa Cruz, CA
Currently Listening to: Conlon Nancarrow
Sometimes I meet people and
I find they are flying at the bare minimum to "get by". Sometimes I meet people and they blow me away. Such is the case of Nick Vasallo. This California native is a musician and composer and although started his venture later in life, has really grown to understand the inner workings of great musicianship.
I have always been into Classical music, (thanks, Mom), but didn't really grow to appreciate it until much later in my life. For, me Classical music is a force to be reckoned with. The power of one piece can bring me to tears and I love that emotion in my music. Nick Vasallo's creates a dark world of not only Classical, but also the raw force of....wait for it.....Metal. Yes, his love and talent of guitar meshes quite nicely with his Classical compoosition painting a landscape of sounds. It can be minimal at times and very ecletic at others.
It's easy to tell that Nick has a keen sense of the complexicty of composing these pieces. It's Classical music for the modern age. I like how he did a presentation on The Parallels Between Metal and Classical Music...very interesting. After hearing "The Burning, I feel so unaccomplished!
You've just finished your first piece of 2008 entitled "Coalescence". How did it go? Very smoothly; I finished it rather quickly - perhaps a week, but I was pre-planning its construction in my head for a while.
When did you begin composing music and has it always been in this particular genre?
Well, when I was fourteen I started writing songs on my guitar...I was just learning how to play so the songs were simple, melodic, and sometimes full of yelling/screaming. When I started a punk band (high school) with my best friend, Carlos Saldana, I took songwriting more seriously...by the time I was nineteen I was getting into more complex music (Metal and Classical). After writing and performing for my metal band, Antagony, I was searching for a more flexible avenue of expression - that's when I turned to "Classical" composition. I was never formally taught music - everything was very organic and by the ear. I wrote a string quartet when I was 23 and showed Dr. Owen Lee at Diablo Valley College and he recommended I study music academically.
I thought it was very interesting and impressive that you didn't start your music training until you were 23 years of age! What sparked the want to do such music and do you think of where you would be if you started earlier?
In addition to my aforementioned succinct compositional history, I was also doing some Film Scoring before I went to school for Music. I thought that maybe some formal training might do me some good. I sometimes ponder where I would be if I had those parents that forced their children to learn piano or Music Theory at a young age. I really don't know. I actually think learning music the way I did - "on the streets" as Professor Hansen told me, has benefited me...at least in setting me apart from the majority of other composers.
How did you come up with the notion of "Burning"...is there a story with the movements?
The graphic designer for "The Burning" really liked that track and the sound of the title. I was going to emit that track from the CD but it ended up being the hidden track and there are some clues on the actual cover. "The Burning" title comes from my favorite song by the (now defunct) Oakland Crust Punk/Doom Metal band Eldopa.
What do you find most challenging about doing this type of composing and the most easy?
The most challenging part for me is capturing everything in my head...sometimes there are too many ideas. Focus is very important for a composer. The easiest part...hmm....not performing it.
Your music has been featured on film and tv...how does this happen...do they find you and do you compose a new piece or use one already completed?
Most of my work in Film and TV has been work for hire but on many occasions a director will want a particular track of mine and license it from me.
What were you listening to growing up and who has influenced you through the years?
When I was young: Beethoven, The Beatles, Nirvana, Eldopa, Screeching Weasel. Since then: Stravinsky, Bernard Herrmann, Mike Patton, Arvo Part, Ligeti, Radiohead.
You give a very modern approach to classical music, how do you feel the culture is changing if at all?
"The Burning" is new in its approach to western art "Classical" music. I, and my generation, is guilty of being easily bored. It's not that our attention span is short, it just takes a little more to get our attention. Rather than saying something overly eloquent, musically speaking, or soporifically subtle - this album speaks directly and succinctly...beauty through simplicity.
Where do people go to see you perform? Are you a touring musician or do you stick to more studio work?
I am mainly a studio musician, but people can see my works performed by others throughout the country. Find the "Upcoming Performances" link on my website.
Who or what would you most want to compose for? What is your favorite classical piece in history?
I would love to compose a requiem with the San Francisco Symphony and Vienna Boys Choir. My favorite Classical piece would probably be Beethoven's op.130 fifth movement (Cavatina) it is part of his late string quartets and his most moving work ever. He felt that of all his pieces this one haunted him the most.
Favorite body of water and why?
The Pacific Ocean; its beautiful and frightening.
For more info on Nick Vasallo, visit his MySpace or you can go to his site and check out his video section.
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