Tempo Talks: A Conversation with GatiS
THE RELEASE
Hailing from Sigulda, Latvia comes Gatis Sturnieks, also known as GatiS. This artist brings a unique take on instrumentals crafting beautiful thought-provoking pieces. You’ll find yourself hitting repeat while lost in wonderful thought. His latest project “Stay.Theme” captures this idea perfectly.
What first drew me into the piece was the piano with its entrancing melody. The left hand keeps the momentum of the piece moving forward while the right introduces both new moments alongside a couple of refrains. The piano itself invokes the journey of life, inspiring reflection and contemplation. As the piece progresses, the drums subtly come creating a gradual crescendo of movement. I found this to be a great addition to the song. As everything is building with the drums and piano, the synth keeps an element of calm throughout. It reminds me that while life gets hectic, there are always moments of peace within. Finally, as the piece nears the end, there is a great pause almost convincing you that it’s over. Just when you think that it’s a fluke, the piano comes in for just a second. This moment begs several questions. What was that? Is there more? Is that it? All of these solidify the central theme of the piece: reflecting. The whole song has you asking questions, reflecting on both the moments within and without and, at the end, it doesn’t provide answers similar to how life works. Instead you are left with the questions and the desire to keep moving forward, like the piano, to see what lies ahead. I loved these ideas and once the song was over, I found myself hitting replay just to have the same experience again and again. Overall, this is a great piece that invokes reflection primarily on life but not straying from who you are. Just like every melody is unique, so is your own life and we must stay true to our own tune. I for one am looking forward to more from GatiS!
THE INTERVIEW
When you are composing an instrumental song, what instrument do you like to lean towards first?
The piano. I'm a keyboardist, so by playing the idea directly on the piano/keys, I can capture the maximum amount of harmony, passages, rhythm, the outlines of multiple individual instrument parts, and even vocal lines. Right from the first note, this gives me a complete audible vision of the overall future sound, the narrative of the piece, and its moods – everything together, as much as possible. Other instruments don't offer such possibilities, perhaps only an acoustic guitar. Hearing everything together, right from the start, is crucial if I want to immediately capture my musical idea and then develop it into a full instrumental piece or song.
Is the latest release going to be a standalone or part of something larger?
"Stay.Theme" is an instrumental version – a theme for my muunroo project song "Stay," which is currently being refined in the studio, and I'm also preparing its music video. Stylistically, the muunroo project is melodic pop / indie pop – ambient with a touch of classical. Listeners will enjoy this blend of musical currents.
What drives or feeds your creativity?
After 25 years, I've returned to music, and what's breaking through are the unrealized ideas from that time – the thoughts, events, impressions, experiences, conclusions that have stayed with me, and the everyday things happening all around. Sometimes these are seemingly tiny moments that leave a big impact on my creative and human side, making me reconsider things, my perspective, and my attitude towards life and other people. It could be the weather, which changes very quickly in Latvia, or nature; it could be an injured animal I couldn't help, even though I did everything I could; it's people's attitudes towards global events and towards each other, right here next to us. All of this influences and breaks through; I just have to be quick enough to capture, write down, and record these ideas and impressions before they disappear.
What fellow composers do you look towards for inspiration?
Creative inspiration is already there by itself, as I already mentioned. Composers as a source of inspiration – that's more a phase at the beginning of a musician's journey, when you "fanboy," admire certain musicians, want to imitate them, when you haven't even become yourself yet, when your handwriting is just forming, and you need some examples of successes to strive for. It's the same as in sports or anywhere else. Time passes, and you realize that you want to be yourself, and you draw your inspiration and creative energy from your own life and what's happening around you, as I said. On the other hand, by listening to specific composers a lot, you become influenced and start to feel this influence in your own works. Back in the '90s, of course, everyone listened to Depeche Mode, U2, Madonna, Enigma, countless other projects and bands. That was in the beginning. However, for some time now, I try to avoid deliberately listening to anything specific, only superficially, to understand what's currently happening in pop music. Sometimes, while driving, I listen to movie soundtracks by Ennio Morricone, Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, Trevor Morris, and others. Good film music always makes you think; it sounds different every time, and you can always hear something new for yourself, it never gets boring...
Do you have any other projects in the works?
I'm working intensively on my muunroo project and several other projects in the studio. Simultaneously, music videos, lyrics, and new songs are being created. In the very near future, by September, several muunroo releases and videos are planned, including the song "Stay."
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