What do you do if you're an accomplished classical composer with a thing against the proverbial 'same old, same old?' Well, if you're Ryan Lott, you pick up a handful (we're talking anywhere in the neighborhood of 5 to 9) of experimental music projects and run with them. A few weeks ago, we got the chance to see Ryan present his talents under the moniker of Son Lux, an experimental minimal pop project that's sonic intricacy is only rivaled by the manner in which he produces music. While the concert was based upon last year's At War with Walls And Mazes, Ryan constantly reinvented his sound, sometimes to the point where the live versions of songs barely resembled their original versions. This was an especially interesting treat considering that it displayed his take on music (and arguably life) perfectly. Never content with seeing something from a single perspective, Ryan Lott spoke with us about his unique attitude on music and its production thereof after a wonderful set at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary art.

Inyourspeakers: “At War With Walls and Mazes” took you four years to produce, right?

Ryan Lott: Yeah, basically because I didn’t really set out to make a record. I just realized somewhere along in my musical meanderings, that certain ideas I was coming up with, in the cracks of other projects, were gelling, and I decided; “I should make a record, I should make this into something”. At the time, I didn’t really know what though, but basically, that’s why it took so long. That and I was really busy with other projects; I’ve been writing music for dance companies, and producing friends’ records, and doing all sorts of things.

IYS: So when did it actually turn into you, going forth and producing an album?

Ryan Lott: That’s interesting I’ve never been asked that one before, but probably what it was, was whenever I was creating these like, little fragments of ideas, I was always imagining someone else, getting other people to sing to them, write songs to them. You know, they were sort of “music bed” sort of things. And I always imagined, just like, friends I knew that could sing well, you know, it’d be an album where some of the tracks are instrumental and some had vocals. But they didn’t have much energy behind it, so it never really was like “I’ll actually do this”, you know? And then basically what happened was, I started singing, I started experimenting “well, what if I could sing some of these things?” , because I felt like I didn’t want a traditional approach to singing. But I hadn’t sung before, and so, really maybe when I decided I could pull it off, as different as my voice is, maybe this sort of super-limited, frail nature of my voice could be a really interesting juxtaposition to the kind of prowess demonstrated by artfully crafted and meticulously woven sound textures, I thought “Maybe this could actually work”, even though I’m really good in the studio, but I’ve never sung. So I started recording a few little things, and people would say things like “Whoa, I really like that”, and so finally I just thought “shoot, I should do this”. So really, that’s probably when it was.

IYS: How long ago did you start singing? Less than four years ago?

Ryan Lott: Well, you know, I would sing in church, or I would sing, like, informally, but I was always like “I’m a pianist” or “I’m a guitarist” or something like that, but I never said “I’m a vocalist”. I mean, I had to start singing in school, you know, I went to Indiana University School of Music, and we had to be part of an ensemble, so I decided I wanted to be in this international vocal ensemble, and we basically learned music from other cultures, and actually, that was the moment I realized “my voice is good for something”, because it wasn’t really good for Western music at all. I also had to take voice lessons, because I was trying to sing Shubert songs with this voice, which is really interesting (laughs). But then, I was learning music from the Shona culture “HEY AYYY”, you know I could throw my voice, and these things that other people actually couldn’t do. And then I was learning, like, Native American culture, and they use a lot of vocal fry, which you hear in my voice, and it’s why my voice sounds so raspy, there’s like a little rasp to it, not throaty like a cigarette smoker, it’s more like a tension that I hold. So I actually learned that my voice was good for something, but I never really thought about the practical applications. So I started singing in college, because I had to for these things, and then I stopped for a while after school. And then I was like “I remember in college I could do some things that some people couldn’t, so I can try that”.

IYS: Wow, and now it’s been put together four, or however many years later?

Ryan Lott: Yeah, I think I first recorded my voice for real, on a Son Lux track “Do”. And that was the first time I actually turned on a microphone for real, and said “I’m gonna do this”.

IYS: Where does the name “Son Lux” come from?

Ryan Lott: “Son Lux” came about because I wanted to create a moniker that was distinct from my name, because I was also receiving commissions for creating music for dance, and actually, when I was doing Son Lux I was also in a sort of experimental, turntablism, hip-hop, funk duo called 2% Milk, and I always played stuff like dance music, and I loved so many different kinds of music and I didn’t want Ryan Lott to become one of those things, so Son Lux became my pseudonym for this project. Honestly, the name doesn’t have deep significance; I like the fact that even though it represents one person, it uses two names. Also, both ‘son’ and ‘lux’ are very simple words that can take on multiple larger meanings; they can be pronounced different ways, and represent different things.

IYS: So what does At War with Walls and Mazes mean to you?

Ryan Lott: The title means many things to me; I’ll actually go into two of them here. One of them, (the boring ‘music school answer’) is that I decided to bypass the standard verse-chorus-verse-type music templates that are so prevalent in pop music today. For this project, I’m not interested in making that sort of music, nor am I interested in telling stories. I am interested in the feelings that my music creates, and the stories that inevitably come from listening to it.

IYS: You’ve done a ton of remixes over the past two years, and it seems obvious that you enjoy reworking material. How do you choose which songs to work on?

Ryan Lott: I generally get asked to do remixes, and whenever possible, I try to work something up. The best part of it all is the inspiration that comes from delving into other artists work. Right now, I’m trying to how I conceptualize the remix; essentially, I see my version of a given piece as a cover using the studio as the instrument. I like to ask myself “how would I make this song if I had this pallet of sounds and instruments to draw from?” I generally don’t even listen to the songs before I remix them, which is always sorta risky because sometimes I’ll listen to the song and think “oh no, what am I going to do with this?” Nonetheless, it’s a good challenge to take these audio stems, these dry bones, and weave them into something living.

IYS: Now when I’ve tried to explain your music to others, I come up with a comparison somewhere in between Kid-A era Radiohead and Portishead. How would you go about describing your music?

Ryan Lott: If you’re going to make comparisons, those are great places to start. Both of them are huge influences of mine, and I hope I am what I eat because I eat well.

IYS: Ok, so how would you describe your music sans comparisons with other artists?

Ryan Lott: Hm. Minimal pop music that draws from classical music… I don’t really like that description (because it feels so lacking), but I guess it is the most accessible one I can offer.

IYS: I saw that you did a video with La Blogotheque. What was that like?

Ryan Lott: I have to say, that was a highlight of my musical career; I am a huge fan of those guys! Anyway, I was on tour with Why? at one of our show in Paris, and La Blogotheque had come to do a feature on Yoni and those guys. Well, after I played my set, they asked me if I would like to do a performance for them. I was completely ecstatic and nervous at the same time; I’d always wondered if I’d be featured on their site, but I wasn’t sure if what I did was cool enough for it. I mean, I could strum the guitar and stuff, but I didn’t think that would compare to most of what La Blogotheque featured on its site. Luckily, before the show, I’d been playing around with this great piano backstage, and I thought it might be cool to go do a version of “Stay” that I hadn’t done before on it. Apparently, they liked it because they posted the video on the site.

IYS: When I did my research for this interview, I kept being amazed by the sheer number of projects that you involve yourself with. Where does the drive come from to do so much at one time?

Ryan Lott: You don’t want to eat the same type of food everyday, so why would you want to be involved with the same project everyday? I love so many different kinds of music, and so many different types of people that I have to take on all these projects. Basically, if you’re lucky enough to do something you love, you’re going to do it!

IYS: Well, I was going to ask this question later, but since the previous question was so related, what are you working on now?

Ryan Lott: I’m currently working on the next Son Lux record, which is coming together really well, due in part to the amazing collaborations on it. I’m working on a ‘secret’ EP, which is even more experimental than Son Lux. Then there is a large-scale dance piece with Gina Gibney; Joshue Ott [who created the visuals for this show] will also be involved via SuperDraw. There are a few different remixes I’m working on currently, including one for this ridiculous, left-field hip-hop duo named Serengeti & Polyphonic.

IYS: On the Anticon website, I recently read that you produced a Son Lux version of a ballet piece.

Ryan Lott: I did. This summer, I received my first commission as Son Lux (as opposed to Ryan Lott), and wrote a piece for a French ballet company, Ballet de Lorraine. It drew from a bunch of existing material, but also featured some new stuff as well. It premiered in Marseille at the end of June. Although, I won’t be officially releasing that specific piece, since it acted as a jumping-off point for the new record, most of the new material will be put out in some form or another.

IYS: Do you have a release date set for the next record?

Ryan Lott: I’m hoping some time in April 2010.

IYS: Now, your other project, 2% milk, is that still active?

Ryan Lott: Unfortunately it isn’t, as the other part of the outfit, DJ Doc still lives in Cleveland. We did release an EP back in the day that is available for free on the internet. That said, we never actually recorded much, since the project was very contingent upon live experimentation and beat-making.

IYS: So your music tends to have many different sounds and textures, presumably from an array of instruments and synths. Do you play a bunch of instruments?

Ryan Lott: I actually don’t play that many instruments. I am trained as a classical pianist, and I only recently picked up guitar, bass and drums. Heh, I actually feel like I was born a drummer, but somehow ended up as a pianist. I don’t play any other stringed or brass instruments, so I’m actually very limited. On the other hand, I do write for those things because I’m a composer.

IYS: Do you predominantly use samples then?

Ryan Lott: I use a bunch of pre-made samples, but I also like to make sounds too. Believe it or not, but I didn’t actually use a sampler for At War with Walls and Mazes at all.

IYS: Wait, so what did you use?

Joshue Lott: This is great, say it.

[laughter]

Ryan Lott: Uh well, the Cleveland Public Library has a great selection of classical music, which I would listen to, and basically mine one or two note sections. Then I would let them influence what would happen to whatever piece I was working on at the time. Basically, I would start with a sample, and then I would think about what could emerge from it, in the sonic sense. Writing the melodies would be the last thing I’d do. The whole process was sorta backwards. I guess in that sense, I’m closer to a hip hop producer than anything else.