Steve Crowther: Can you
tell us something of your background?
Philip Cashian: Born
Manchester, 17/01/1963 but have lived in London since 1984.
SC: Can you describe Mechanik
to us?
PC: It’s very brief and is
inspired by Eduardo Paolozzi’s sculpture Mechanik’s Bench, rhythmic,
repetitive, mechanical.
SC: Do you
write at the piano, do you pre-plan? Can you describe the compositional
process?
PC:
I
always start at the piano. Eventually I’ll also use the computer. I used to
plan pieces but not anymore; I start at the beginning and through compose now.
SC: Is it important to know the performers? Do you write with a sound in mind?
PC:
It really helps and most of the time I’m commissioned by people I’ve worked
with before or who I’ve heard perform which is always a starting point when
writing. Not vital though.
SC: How would you describe
your individual ‘sound world’?
PC:
That’s the listener’s job. We all hear things differently depending on what
music we already know and context. It’s dangerous for a composer to describe
their own music as it might suggest to the listener how to listen to it or what
to listen out for which isn’t a good.
SC: What motivates you to
compose?
PC:
Excitement.
SC: Which living composers do
you identify with or simply admire?
PC:
Harrison Birtwistle, Hans Abrahamsen, Andrew Norman, Radiohead, Oliver Knussen,
Tom Waits, Pascal Dusapin.
SC: If you could have a beer
and a chat with any composer from the past, who would it be and why?
PC:
Stravinsky, obviously
SC: Now for some desert island
discery – please name eight pieces of music you could not be without, and then
select just one.
PC:
Goldberg Variations, Sibelius Symphony 5, Beethoven Symphony 7, Stravinsky
Violin Concerto, Silbury Air, Gruppen, Broadway the Hardway (album), Schubert
‘Death and the Maiden’ quartet.
And
one would be the Goldberg Variations.
SC: …and a book?
PC: East of Eden
SC: …a film?
PC: Seven Psycopaths
SC: … and a luxury item?
PC:
iPhone 7
