{"id":43019,"date":"2017-02-21T07:17:01","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T12:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=43019"},"modified":"2017-02-21T07:17:01","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T12:17:01","slug":"qa-questions-for-owen-pallett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2017\/02\/21\/qa-questions-for-owen-pallett\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A | 41 Questions For Owen Pallett"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Owen
Owen Pallett (Photo: Brian Vu)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every so often MT poses 60 questions to a local or visiting artist in Toronto who has made our classical music community that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A kind of Rorschach personality test, if you will.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Owen Pallett<\/b> is a composer, violinist, vocalist, and arranger\u00a0who was born and raised in Toronto. Classically trained from an early age, his musical influences have led to a hybrid of styles and approaches.\u00a0Under the moniker of\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/b>, (a name since retired), he developed a violin\u00a0and vocal style using an innovative looping technique that allowed him to play his baroque-style compositions as a solo act. His 2006 album, He Poos Clouds<\/em> won the inaugural Polaris Prize, launching his career into overdrive. He has since worked with the National, Taylor Swift, R.E.M., Franz Ferdinand, the Hidden Cameras, Beirut, Brian Eno, Arcade Fire and countless others.<\/p>\n

Pallett has been featured at the Barbican, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Ballet of Canada, Bang on a Can, and the Ecstatic Music Festival.<\/p>\n

You can hear the premiere of a new work\u00a0for orchestra and Canadian baritone Daniel Okulitch at part of the New Creations Festival<\/a> in Toronto, March 8 at Roy Thomson Hall. Full details, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Default drink\/cocktail of choice?<\/h3>\n

Sparkling water<\/p>\n

Name your favourite concert hall\/venue in Toronto<\/h3>\n

Horseshoe Tavern, Lee\u2019s Palace, Massey Hall, Koerner Hall, Soy Bomb, Adelaide Hall.<\/p>\n

Name your favourite concert hall\/venue anywhere<\/h3>\n

Whelan\u2019s in Dublin, Ireland<\/p>\n

Your role models?<\/h3>\n

Buffy Sainte-Marie<\/p>\n

Your favourite sound?<\/h3>\n

The combination of quietly simmering tomato sauce on the stove and drone music on the stereo<\/p>\n

Your least favourite sound?<\/h3>\n

When the fitness instructor at the gym turns up his headset microphone too loud.<\/p>\n

Your favourite smells?<\/h3>\n

Seven days of not showering.<\/p>\n

First thing that comes to your mind when you think about Toronto<\/h3>\n

Complacency, opportunistic developer shitheads.<\/p>\n

The historical personalities, both good and bad, that fascinate you the most?<\/h3>\n

James Baldwin; Yukio Mishima; Emperor Julian; Ferdinand Magellan; Foucault, Barthes, Kosofsky Sedgwick.<\/p>\n

The dumbest thing that you\u2019ve ever done to your hair?<\/h3>\n

I cue-balled it when I first moved to Toronto and discovered that I have a remarkably unattractively-shaped skull.<\/p>\n

What are the three things you\u2019d like to change about Toronto?<\/h3>\n

Hold the persons responsible for its terrifyingly profit-oriented new developments over the last two decades, and seriously consider solutions toward creating mixed use spaces and housing that isn\u2019t just a trap of financial indenture for new Canadian and young Canadian first-time property-owners; hold all restaurants that charge more than $20-a-plate mains responsible for creating a higher standard of good food, as Toronto\u2019s low-to-mid price dining is unbeatable, but almost every restaurant that charges $20 or more for a main is not remotely worth the expense in this city; bike lanes.<\/p>\n

Is there a local music store that could sell you anything?<\/h3>\n

I actually rotate my patronage about the city to not pay favourites to any one music retailer.<\/p>\n

Your first three record store purchases<\/h3>\n

Eurythmics \u201cSweet Dreams\u201d, Bjork \u201cPost\u201d, Jean-Michel Jarre \u201cOxygene\u201d.<\/p>\n

If you could board a plane this afternoon, where would it be taking you?<\/h4>\n

Lisbon, Portugal.<\/p>\n

The strangest place you\u2019ve ever been to?<\/h3>\n

Calgary.\u00a0 Just kidding, probably Inuvik.\u00a0 The sunlight is a different colour, the crows (or were they ravens?) were as large as small dogs, the dragonflies enormous as well.\u00a0 It felt as if that place is far further along in time than the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

The three books that you read that made an impact on you in your formative years?<\/h3>\n

Roland Barthes \u201cA Lover\u2019s Discourse\u201d, Ann Carson \u201cAutobiography Of Red\u201d, Vladimir Nabokov \u201cLolita\u201d.<\/p>\n

Whose musical style do you covet?<\/h3>\n

Ligeti, or any other composer that is successful or nearly-successful at creating aural representations of the infinite.<\/p>\n

Where was the last place you traveled to for work or pleasure?<\/h3>\n

I lived in Los Angeles for much of last year.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t put my finger on why it felt familiar, until somebody told me \u201cit\u2019s basically Mississauga, but hot\u201d.<\/p>\n

What is your biggest phobia?<\/h3>\n

Knives in the hands of others.<\/p>\n

Where did you go to school?<\/h3>\n

University of Toronto.<\/p>\n

What did you major in as an undergraduate?<\/h3>\n

Music composition, I studied with Gary Kulesha and Chan Ka Nin.<\/p>\n

The clich\u00e9 that you overuse?<\/h3>\n

I use the word \u201caspirational\u201d a great deal, which some spell-checkers don\u2019t think exists, but I use it to describe when people are making assertions in order to describe the way they wish things were, rather than the way things actually are.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not an anxious person,\u201d he says, for example, and my mind responds, \u201cyou are very anxious and you wish it were not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strangest talent that you possess?<\/h3>\n

I am the fastest eater in the world.<\/p>\n

Your three favourite films?<\/h3>\n

Roy Anderssen\u2019s \u201cEn Karlekshistoria\u201d, Stanley Kubrick\u2019s \u201c2001: A Space Odyssey\u201d, Michael Haneke\u2019s \u201cCode Inconnu\u201d.<\/p>\n

Under what circumstances would you join the army?<\/h3>\n

No circumstances whatsoever.<\/p>\n

Your major character flaw?<\/h3>\n

I am terrifically hard on myself and spend a couple days of a month lying in bed hating everything I\u2019ve ever said and done.<\/p>\n

The character flaw in others that you can\u2019t abide?<\/h3>\n

When people are blind to their own privilege.<\/p>\n

How do you know when you can trust someone?<\/h3>\n

Never trust anyone.<\/p>\n

What are you the most proud of?<\/h3>\n

My live show on the \u201cIn Conflict\u201d tour, with my drummer Robbie, my bassist Matt, and my sound engineer Noah.\u00a0 I felt that we really created something special in that year-and-a-half that we toured that record.<\/p>\n

The talent that you wish you possessed?<\/h3>\n

I wish I had the flexibility and patience to be good at yoga, but I\u2019m not, and it is a constant struggle for me.<\/p>\n

What are you listening to as you answer these questions?<\/h3>\n

Silence.\u00a0 I tend to listen very intently when music is playing so I don\u2019t put it on passively. I can\u2019t even exercise to music. \u00a0The only time I can multi-task with music is when I\u2019m cooking.<\/p>\n

What musical instrument do you secretly long to play?<\/h3>\n

Uilleann pipes, I\u2019m serious, it\u2019s such an amazingly beautiful instrument and I wish I could play them.<\/p>\n

What is the one animal that scares you the most?<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m not scared of animals but I\u2019m terrified of mushrooms when I see them in the wild.<\/p>\n

Your favourite curse word?<\/h3>\n

Fuckles.<\/p>\n

Name three pieces or composers that you never want to hear again<\/h3>\n

Though both composers are far more technically accomplished than I\u2019ll ever be, and have my deepest respect, I never want to hear Alfred Schnittke\u2019s First Symphony or Andrew Norman\u2019s Play ever again, for the same reason, as I find that kind of post-modernity cynical and conservative.<\/p>\n

Your first memory?<\/h3>\n

A car accident I was in at age 4, I remember very vividly my head cracking against the side window of my mother\u2019s VW Rabbit.<\/p>\n

The first album that made you love music?<\/h3>\n

I am told that at age two I would put on Pachebel\u2019s Canon or Bach Double Violin Concerto and scream at everyone in the house to shut up and listen.<\/p>\n

Three pieces, songs, or arias that you could listen to on repeat for an hour?<\/h3>\n

I love the sound of analog pressings of Stockhausen recordings, and have several copies of the Kontakt \/ Gesang Der J\u00fcnglinge record that I often listen to on repeat.\u00a0 I love Kranky as a label and listen to everything they put out and never find myself exhausted.\u00a0 And my world stops whenever \u201cEverybody Wants To Rule The World\u201d comes on.<\/p>\n

The one place that you have the least interest in ever visiting?<\/h3>\n

Russia.\u00a0 I have been to places where queer people do not have the same rights as they have in Canada, and although I didn\u2019t experience any violence firsthand, the feeling of being threatened was so oppressive that I decided to not go to places like Russia.\u00a0 Additionally, I am worried they\u2019d seize my violin if I went there.\u00a0 And I have no interest in Russian cuisine.\u00a0 I like their music, cinema and literature, though!\u00a0 But I\u2019ll enjoy them from afar.<\/p>\n

The first three things that you do every morning?<\/h3>\n

I drink a pint of coffee, run 5 kilometres and lift weights for an hour.<\/p>\n

The best way to die?<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m a big fan of suicide.\u00a0 I wish that we existed culturally in a society that was more open to the possibility of a controlled, dignified, painless and deliberate end of one\u2019s life, so that the conclusion of one\u2019s existence could be discussed amongst family members and friends, and approached with compassion and understanding and celebration, instead of this supposed nobility of having people age and sicken until they are robbed of all humanity and dignity.<\/p>\n

To read more from our Q&A Series, click\u00a0<\/span>HERE<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/h3>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Composer, violinist, vocalist, and arranger Owen Pallett answers MT’s rapid-fire Q&A with questions ranging from the devilishly serious to the darn right absurd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":43020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6439,18,5009,63],"tags":[2546],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/Owen_Pallett_by_Brian_Vu.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-bbR","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43019"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43019"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43102,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43019\/revisions\/43102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43019"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=43019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}