TOBY ANDERSON

Can you describe your music in three words?

embodied diva apocalypse  

What first drew you to composing, and what keeps you curious now?

I was first drawn to composing when I was very young. I remember having intense, bodily reactions to music which prompted a fixation on trying to work out how the notes worked. I was very into maths when I was younger and 'working out' my favourite musical moments felt like a satisfying and complex problem of geometry, relationships, symmetries, and transformations. Once I was in that world, the only way I could explore it further was through my own compositions. At the same time, I loved music for its poetry, and I was always drawn to the glamour and intimacy of making something that moves people. What keeps me curious now is the body; you can understand everything one can about a piece of music, but occasionally it will hit you and take over your body entirely, producing sublime and terrifying affects that feel mysterious and unknowable. The right concert or club or whatever can make you realise that when it comes to the way music actually hits us, we know basically nothing at all.

Which non-musical influence has shaped your work the most?

Pina Bausch, or at least, I so desperately want her to influence me the most. Her work makes me feel like we have barely scratched the surface of the creative possibilities of live performance.

What are you most excited to explore during Magnum Opus?

Of course, I'm excited for all of it. It feels like properly 'being a composer,' which is the whole point, and I'm determined to enjoy every moment. That being said, I'm most excited to get into the weeds of what a concerto can be, thinking about the relationship between soloist and ensemble and expanding on the inherent Grecian theatre of the individual vs the collective.

Is there a composer or artist you return to again and again?

Maurice Ravel; he was my gateway drug into classical music. Everything he wrote is just so brilliantly constructed, and his attention to detail so great that you'll always find something new when you look closely.  

How do you like to begin a new piece?

Usually, some tragicomic contradiction of contemporary culture produces a complex and ecstatic feeling in my body, containing hope and despair, overstimulation and numbness, humour and pain, etc. and I want to try and make work that gifts some version of that feeling to others. I try to keep in touch with the feeling throughout the writing process and let it guide the many cerebral decisions that must be made.

What do you hope the audience feels when they hear your music?

Of course, every musical experience we have is filtered by our own histories and experience, our tastes and our memories, so I never want to be too prescriptive with how someone 'should' react to a given piece. That being said, I usually want the audience to basically understand what a piece is about, and for it to then be woven into the fabric of their own thinking, for it to stay with them for a while. And I also just want them to enjoy it, to leave the experience feeling a little richer.

Tell us about a recent musical discovery you’ve loved.

I've been recently getting into Brazilian funk music, especially funk carioca from the early noughties when it was beginning to be noticed by the rest of the world. My favourite album so far is Boladona by Tati Quebro Barraco. There's so much humour in the lyrics and sample choices, and a lot of it sounds super weird and experimental while staying completely unpretentious. I love the incorporation of, and departures from, both Brazilian and North American genres. Faves from the album are 'Montagem Cartão Magnético,' 'Sou Feia Mais Tô na Moda,' and 'Dako é Bom.'