Somewhere beyond the sea Somewhere waiting for me My lover stands on golden sands And watches the ships that go sailing Somewhere beyond the sea She’s there watching for me If I could fly like birds on high Then straight to her arms I’d go sailing ~Robbie Williams performing “Beyond the Sea”, Finding Nemo (2003) For the film, Finding Nemo, Andrew Stanton pitched his idea to Pixar’s head, John Lasseter. The pitch lasted an hour, using visual aids and character voices to create the biggest impact possible. When asked what he thought of the idea, Lasseter simply replied, “You had me at ‘fish.'” Finding Nemo’s Soundtrack When I chose to write about Finding Nemo, I had no idea what song to choose. Mainly because Finding Nemo wasn’t a movie with a prominent soundtrack. What I mean is that the quotes are what you think of first not the music. This is probably because most of the soundtrack is simply musical scores, not lyrical music. In fact, there are only three lyrical songs in the whole film; “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” by Darla played by LuLu Ebeling, “Just Keep Swimming” by Dory played by Ellen DeGeneres, and finally “Beyond the Sea” performed by Robbie Williams. Despite not being used for a lot of Disney karaoke events,Thomas Newman has composed a beautiful score loved by fans. The score of the film received a nomination for the 76th Academy Awardsfor Best Original Score losing against . I can’t argue with that choice as it’s a film series I eventually will be covering (Yes, pun intended). The music we’ll look at is one of the few lyrical songs in the film; “Beyond the Sea” which is used in the ending credits. This song was originally by Jack Lawrence, with music taken from the song “La Mer” by Charles Trenet. From there countless musicians have covered the original song including Django Reinhardt, James Melton, The Sandpipers, and of course Bobby Darin, who became the best-known artist for this song as his version top numerous charts in the ’60s. These include No. 6 on the Hot 100, No. 15 on the USR&B Chart, and No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart. In 2001, Robbie Williams released his version of “Beyond the Sea” on his album Swing When You’re Winning. Two years later and this version is used in the film “Finding Nemo”. Finding Nemo Cover Songs Without further ado, here are our highlighted Disney covers for your listening entertainment. As the film itself is mostly scores that add to the film without lyrics, an instrumental cover seems fitting. Together Kezia Karran and her friend Felicia Janice provide a beautifully energetic cover. With an impressive amount of instruments, Riz Ramadhan performs “Beyond the Sea” with his violin, viola, cello, and harp. Together, they blend beautifully into this instrumental cover. This cover of “Beyond the Sea” by Kina Grannis is lullaby soft and endlessly beautiful. Her vocals complement the subtle instrumental perfectly in this cover. With a Ukelele in his hands and a tune on his tongue, Josef Pitura-Riley has produced a warm and energetic cover of “Beyond the Sea”. This swing-style ukulele cover is a fantastic tribute. Not to mention, the background shows a beautiful ocean scape. Some may even say Josef is just beyond the sea (That pun was painfully intended). Electra Music brings an electric big-band style to the Disney outro song. Their sound is hopping, making you want to get up and dance! Let me know what you think of these Fishy Tunes. And remember Just Keep Swimming!

No! You listen! All my life, you have told me that the world is a dark, cruel place. But now I see that the only thing dark and cruel about it is people like you. Quasimodo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) Introducing Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame The Hunchback of Notre Dame stood out for me as a kid and as a young adult. Like many Disney movies, it has a villain, a love interest, a hero, an underdog, drama, suspense, and no shortage of Disney magic. However, it has dark undertones that I have found interesting as an undergraduate and a journalist. There are ideas of toxic religion contrasted against charitable religion, as well as the idea of misinformation used in widespread forms in specific situations. The interactions between the characters highlight issues of emotionally abusive relationships, unwanted sexual and romantic attention, unrequited love, and so much more. There are so many contrasts to show not only that the world itself is complicated but that there is a fine line between good and bad. Disney, this is really pretty dark. Disney has created dark and chilling movies that include The Fox And the Hound, Bambi, Old Yeller, and The Black Cauldron. The Black Cauldron still makes me tear up. Regardless, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is up there on the list of dark Disney films that seem a bit more realistic than whimsical. According to IMDB, this film, “due to its dark and sexual themes, nearly became the first animated Disney film to receive a PG rating from the MPAA in the U.S. since The Black Cauldron (1985)”. Well, enough about the deep tangent, analyzing a children’s film for its dark and not-so-subtle undertones. The audience is here for the music. The Hunchback of Notre Dame Soundtrack Since this is a musically inclined blog, let’s discuss the soundtrack (which also has seriously dark undertones, but that’s a topic for later on). The soundtrack includes rather emotionally deep songs, including The Bells Of Notre Dame, Out There, Topsy Turvy, Humiliation, God Help The Outcasts, The Bell Tower, Heaven’s Light, Hellfire, A Guy Like You, Paris Burning, The Court Of Miracles, Sanctuary, And He Shall Smite the Wicked, Into The Sunlight, and Someday. Many of the songs within this soundtrack are rather different than those of other Disney films, mainly because of the topic and feel, but the Gregorian chanting in some of its songs stands out. These Latin chants are actually adapted from real Gregorian chants. One example is a portion of Dies Irae used during the scene where Frollo murders Quasimodo’s mother. This movie and its resulting music are dark, with some seriously real undertones. Thus, this article will focus on one of the darker songs. The song 'Hellfire' is considered one of the darkest songs written for a Disney film, and was nearly cut from the film,” quotes the trivia section on IMDB. Now for the list of damning HellFire Cover Songs. HellFire Cover Songs We will start with a cover by Mariah Rose Faith, which beautifully exemplifies my previous point. Heaven’s Light and Hellfire are songs about love in one way or another for the same women but from a very different position. Cover by Jake Turner-Clarkson Cover by Joel Maroon Cover by Elsie Lovelock Acappella Cover by Peter Hollens Cover by Julia Koep Cover by Florenza I hope these HellFire Cover Songs weren’t too dark for you. There are some additional renditions of Hellfire to somewhat cleanse your palette and give a bit of a laugh. Here’s a literal parody by Thadudette and Gordy Driver that puts this dark song into a different context of fantastic nerdy references. I hope to have balanced out the dark with a few jokes. Let me know what you think of these HellFire covers in the comments below!!

I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream. I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam. And I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem, but if I know you, I know what you’ll do. You’ll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream ~Sleeping Beauty (1959) Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Sleeping Beauty is one of Disney’s most iconic princess films. This Disney story is an adaptation of Charles Perrault’s fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty”, as well as the Brothers Grimm’s retelling of the story, “Little Briar Rose”. Although it was released in December 1959, it was in production for years longer than other Disney films. Altogether, the film itself took 8 years to complete. Background of Disney's Sleeping Beauty (1959) “Story work began in 1951, voices were recorded in 1952, the actual animation took place between 1953 and 1958, and the stereophonic score was recorded in 1957. The movie was finally released one to two years later, in 1959,” writes the IMDB profile of Sleeping Beauty. That long amount of work paid off in terms of awards. Sleeping Beauty won an Academy Award in 1960 for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture. Beyond that, the film was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album, Original Cast — Motion Picture or Television (1959), Saturn Award for Best DVD Classic Film Release (2009), Satellite Awards for Best Overall Blu-Ray Disc and Best Youth DVD (2008), and Young Artist Awards for Best Musical Entertainment Featuring Youth (1980). There’s a reason all but one of the previously mentioned awards are specifically for the music in the film. The soundtrack is beautiful. It includes gorgeous songs such as “Hail to the Princess Aurora”, “One Gift”, “I Wonder”, “Once Upon a Dream”, “The Skumps Song”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Sleeping Beauty Ballet”, “Sing a Smiling Song”, The majority of the songs had music by George Bruns and lyrics by Tom Adair. However, several other musicians also had a hand in the creation of the Sleeping Beauty soundtrack: Erdman Penner, Winston Hibler, Ted Sears, Sammy Fain, Jack Lawrence, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. All together these musicians create a splendid soundtrack that harmonizes with this magical Disney film. “Tchaikovsky always fascinates me because he was dramatic, he had humour, he had these luscious melodies. He could move from mood to mood seamlessly. It was absolutely fantastic,” Explains Mary Costa. Did you know that most of the film was inspired by another love story? As a fun fact, most of the film's musical score is based on Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet “Sleeping Beauty,” which has a prologue and three acts. First performed in 1890, this is the second of his three ballets. His first composition was “Swan Lake”. Ivan Vsevolozhsky, Director of the Imperial Theatres in St. Petersburg at the time, approached Tchaikovsky to adapt Undine. Later, it was decided that Charles Perrault’s version would make a better adaptation for ballet, with the Brothers Grimm version as the inspiration for the ballet scenario. In an interview with Mary Costa, the voice of Sleeping Beauty, she admits that “I think if these two people, Tchaikovsky and Walt Disney, had met today, they would be great friends. Because each had such a myriad of colours in their mind in which to create.” Did you know that Aurora is the Disney princess with the fewest lines? Second only to Dumbo (who doesn’t speak at all), Aurora had the fewest lines of any Disney Movie lead. The princess spoke fewer than 20 lines in the whole film. As the voice of Princess Aurora, Mary Costa became entwined with the character. In an interview with DvDizzy, Mary Costa explains that even though Aurora is silent during most of the movie, she shares physical mannerisms from the actress, “I think you’ll be amused by this – my mother lived to be 101. In her late nineties, I was living in Florida and I took her to a small theatre to see. It was packed and we were right in the middle. In the middle of the scene in the middle of the woods, she all of a sudden said, ‘Oh, Mary! That looks just like you!’, And I had to put my hand over her mouth. I got so tickled, but nobody knew who we were, they were all so into the scene.” She continues to explain why the mannerisms are the same, “I think that there was a lot of me in that character because Marc Davis came in every time I was recording and sketched me. Because my father always spoke with his hands, I never could sing or do a line without using my hands. So I see a lot of myself in that film. I truly do.” Regardless of the lack of lines, when the audience does hear her voice, especially for the songs she sings, it’s majestic. Once Upon a Dream Cover Songs The iconic song of Sleeping Beauty, “Once Upon a Dream,” is the focus of our article. Enjoy these amazing covers! Evynne Hollens and her husband, Peter Hollens, provide a soft and romantic cover. The fact that it’s a married couple covering the song as a duet is even more romantic. Philip Serino‘s cover of “Once Upon a Dream” combines his deep soothing vocals with gorgeous piano accompaniment. Portland Choir & Orchestra and Grammy-nominated Jenny Oaks Baker bring forth a powerful orchestral cover. Jess Anderson‘s cover of “Once Upon a Dream” is a beautiful and energetic rendition of the soft Disney song. Patrick Moon Bird‘s Lofi Remix of “Once Upon a Dream” is perfect when you want an upbeat rendition with a great beat.

Disney has a unique way of inspiring generations with its timeless music and enchanting stories. Casey Jones Costello, a talented musician and passionate Disney enthusiast, channels this magic into his captivating performances. Costello is known for his classical crossover style. His heartfelt interpretations bring nostalgia to life through stunning covers of beloved Disney songs. In this interview with Switching Styles journalist Dylanna Fisher, we delve into Costello’s journey in music. We discuss his creative process and explore the profound connection he fosters with audiences of all ages. He began his journey with his first notes in a church choir. Now, he shares his art on digital platforms. Costello’s story resonates as a testament to the enduring power of music and dreams. Casey Costello Disney is a brand that has encapsulated nostalgia around the entire world. Because of that, it’s a topic that Switching Styles have touched on frequently. They have explored many covers. These include Aladdin’s “A Friend Like Me”, Lion King Cover Songs,A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes,Finding Nemo Soundtrack Covers,Disney Music While Cooking,The Voice Of Phil Collins, and so much more!! Read below to learn more about the Disney Covers and musical career of Casey Costello. Introducing Casey Costello Follow the movie magic with these soundtrack covers and @caseyjcostello’s fantastic TikTok account. Costello initially appeared in Switching Styles in a piece on Disney’s “Snow White” (1937). The article “Disney and Dreams: Snow White Cover Songs” included his work. In this profound and powerful duet, Casey Jones Costello and Yunjin Audrey Kim perform beautifully. They combine their gorgeous vocals with Yunjin’s stunning piano talents. Here’s a lovely cover of “Someday My Prince Will Come” that he made. Interview With Casey Costello and Dylanna Fisher of Switching Styles Photo by Pixabay on One of the artists we’ve talked about is Casey Costello. His work takes inspiration from the world of Disney. Casey Costello has a long list of Disney covers in his repertoire. He also includes other classical music. He certainly has the voice of a Disney Prince. Below is an interview with Casey Costello, a musician, and our very own journalist, Dylanna Fisher. How Did You Get Started in Music? I started singing from the time I was young and sang in the boy’s choir at my church, St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church in Rochester, NY, and I joined several choirs in high school, but I didn’t take voice lessons formally until I was 15 or 16. I took lessons through the Hochstein School of Music in Rochester, NY, and then went on to get a bachelor’s degree in Music/Business at Nazareth College in Pittsford, NY. Why Did You Decide To Be Known As Casey Costello As Opposed To A Stage Name Or Nickname? I am known by my full name, Casey Jones Costello. I include my middle name as part of my artist name. It almost sounds like it’s a stage name already since there are many cultural associations with the name “Casey Jones”. I just figured it was easier to go by my real name than by a pseudonym. How Would You Describe Your Sound? I would describe my sound as traditional pop / classical crossover. I have been inspired a lot by singers whose sound bridges the gap between classical and popular music. So, I sing in what I hope is an authentic manner that preserves the character of the songs as they were intended to be performed when they were written by the songwriters. Who Are Your Musical Influences? I have many musical influences, including Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Mario Lanza, Josh Groban, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Robert Goulet, Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and so many other people. My musical inspirations span the gamut from operetta stars from the 1930s to popular singers of today. Why Did You Start on YouTube? I started on YouTube when I was maybe 14 years old just posting videos for fun, and eventually, as I started pursuing music professionally, I started using it as a platform to be able to post videos of my performances to it. How Do You Think YouTube Functions as A Platform for Musicians? YouTube can be a good promotional tool for musicians. Frankly, it hasn’t helped me that much. TikTok has been a lot more useful in building an audience of fans much more quickly. How Do You Feel About The Internet In The Music Business? The internet has both helped and hurt the music business. Streaming services like Spotify make it easier than ever to get your music distributed and heard. But it doesn’t pay very much royalties. Physical album sales like CD sales are much more significant in terms of being profitable, but very few people buy physical albums today. How Has the Internet Affected Your Music Career? The internet has allowed me to be discovered by many people who would not have otherwise probably ever heard of me, so that’s been a good thing, but again, it hasn’t helped a lot with actually selling albums. That tends to happen only when I do in-person concerts and sell CDs to people Why Do Covers in Particular? I do cover because a good song is a good song regardless of whether I wrote it or somebody else wrote it. I love the music of the Great American Songbook of the 20th century, and songs from Broadway, and Hollywood movies, and I sing what I like. Also, I want to sing songs that people know, because I do shows at senior living communities and other venues. People enjoy music better if it’s familiar. I do write songs as well. But I do not perform originals exclusively. How Do They Tend To Compare To The Originals? I try to interpret songs in a way that is authentic and respects the intentions of the songwriters who wrote the piece, so my interpretations tend to be quite faithful to the originally published arrangements of the songs. What Is The Typical Process Of Creating A Cover? When I perform covers, I try to find the original edition of the sheet music because oftentimes a piece of music will have many different arrangements that have been done over the years, but the most authentic arrangement is typically the originally published arrangement, so once I have a copy of the sheet music, it’s as simple as learning the song and rehearsing the piece with my pianist. Sometimes if I can’t find a good arrangement or if the song isn’t in a good key for me, I’ll do my own arrangement of the piece using Sibelius music notation software, which is a longer process, but I’ve done that quite a few times when I can’t find a satisfactory arrangement of the sheet music. “Some Day My Prince Will Come” Is A Gorgeous Duet Performance, What Was The Process Like For That Collaboration? “Some Day My Prince Will Come” wasn’t originally going to be a duet, since it was never intended to be a duet, but I was doing a Disney-themed concert and the pianist who was accompanying me also happened to have a lovely soprano voice, so the thought occurred to me that perhaps we could perform the song as a duet. As it so happens, there are two sets of lyrics for the song, one intended to be sung by a man and one intended to be sung by a woman. So I thought, what if we each sing the respective sets of lyrics to the piece separately, and then harmonize together at the end? It was really just a spontaneous idea and it happened to come together and work beautifully, and Yunjin Audrey Kim did a wonderful job as my duet partner and pianist for that song. I’m very proud of that recording and pleased that, years after performing it, I still get so many positive comments from people about how much they love my duet version of the song. What Do You Think About Collaboration? I honestly have so very many themed concerts I have done over the years that I don’t think I could tell you what my favourites have been. There are so many. One of my favourites at the moment is a piece I included in a springtime-themed concert called I’ll Remember April. The song is called “One More Walk Around the Garden,” and it is just so poignant and not particularly well-known, so I really enjoy getting to sing that for audiences. “When You Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio and “I’ll Be Seeing You” are two of my other favourite songs to sing, but there are really so many others I love to sing as well. Are There Any Specific Ones That Stick Out As Favourites? Many Of Your Performances Are Performed For A Live Audience, How Does It Compare To Performing Solely For A Camera? During 2020 and much of 2021, I wasn’t doing any live performances in front of an audience due to Covid, so I started performing in front of a camera just to record concerts without an audience much more often; it was a bit of an odd experience because, on the one hand, it is great to be able to do retakes in case I mess up or my pianist messes up, and it’s less stressful. On the other hand, I really enjoy the feedback I get from performing in front of a live audience. You simply don’t get that from performing in front of a camera without people watching; I like hearing the applause and the comments that people in the audience make to me after a concert about songs they enjoyed and getting that kind of tangible feedback that is only possible when performing in-person in front of a live audience. What Are Some Of Your Fondest Memories Throughout Your Music Career? I have many fond memories throughout my music career. And I remember the very first public concert I ever did. I sang a song called “A Perfect Day” written back in 1910 by Carrie Jacobs-Bond. an older woman in the audience came up to me afterwards and was crying, telling me that it had been her mother’s favourite song. Things like that mean so much to me. I enjoy being able to evoke happy memories, or sometimes nostalgic but still fond memories, for people. Whenever I get that kind of feedback it makes me happy. Nearly every time I perform at supportive living communities I get comments from residents telling me their memories of hearing the songs I was singing or memories that my songs evoked and how much it meant to them. And that means a lot to me. One of my other fondest memories of performing was doing an all Rodgers and Hammerstein-themed show with several girls between the ages of 9-12. It was delightful to share the stage with such talented young singers. I enjoyed singing duets and ensemble pieces with them. It was really just so much fun for me; the Disney show I did was a similarly fun experience since I also worked with several talented young girls that added such an element of fun to the show. What Are Some Obstacles Throughout Your Music Career? The obstacles in my music career have been numerous; Covid has certainly been a big one. Also, given that I perform “old-fashioned” music, it is difficult to find the right venues to perform other than at senior living communities. I don’t sing material that is going to be on Top 40 radio stations, so I have a very particular niche and finding the right audiences and venues for that niche is a challenge. Also, finding an agent who could help me book performances and help me find the right venues to perform is a challenge. And, as I mentioned previously, the shift towards streaming music over purchasing physical copies of music makes it difficult to make money from album sales, but that hasn’t deterred me from continuing to record and release new albums, regardless. What Advice Would You Give to Musicians Just Starting Out On YouTube? My advice to performers just starting out with YouTube would be not to put all your eggs in one basket; it’s very hard to get discovered on YouTube. It’s hard to get discovered anywhere, but you should use every outlet available to you, e.g., YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, a personal website, and if you have recorded music, make sure you’re putting it out on streaming services like Spotify, not just for streaming royalties but for the exposure. Use every social media outlet available to you and try to create content consistently that appeals to your audience; if you’re not sure what your niche is, try to figure it out and tailor your content to fit your niche and target it towards your target audience to the best of your ability. What Are Some Projects You Have In Progress Right Now? I have several projects I’m working on or have recently completed. Last month, I just released an album, The Morning After, which is available on most streaming services such as Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, etc., and is available for sale on CD as well. I am also working on a new show for the Rochester Fringe Festival in Rochester, NY which I’m calling A Little Night Music: Casey Jones Costello Sings Broadway and Beyond, featuring Gail Hyde on piano. The shows are scheduled to take place at the School of the Arts in Rochester, NY during the Rochester Fringe Festival in September, so my pianist and I are rehearsing for those shows right now and plan to record the songs from the new show for an album as well. Where Do You See Yourself In 10 Years? I don’t like to speculate on things too far off in the future; God only knows where I’ll be in 10 years. All I can say is that my aspiration is to be able to perform cabaret-style shows at venues across the United States, Canada, and elsewhere, and be able to make a consistent living by performing for and entertaining audiences of all ages and I hope to have an agent and that I’ll have recorded many more albums; it would be great if I could get signed by a record label, but if that never happens I hope to continue recording and releasing albums myself. It is very difficult to be successful in the music industry, but I love entertaining audiences and love it when people enjoy my music and I hope that I’ll always be able to continue singing and performing for people. Photo by Expect Best on Concluding Thoughts Casey Jones Costello’s dedication to music exemplifies the joy of sharing timeless art with the world. His passion for Disney classics combines with his deep respect for musical traditions. This creates an unforgettable listening experience that spans generations. Costello continues to inspire through live performances and digital platforms. He reminds us of the magic in storytelling. He also shows us the beauty of song. Stay tuned to Switching Styles for more artist spotlights. Join us as we celebrate the intersection of music, nostalgia, and creativity. Thank you for reading our lovely music posts. We are always updating our articles with new and exciting themes. Follow our email newsletter or social media to stay connected with our Switching styles community.

Disney brings magic to every home, and Switching Styles brings magic to you with Tarzan Cover Songs. Tarzan is a story about the meaning of family, self-discovery, and individualism. Disney released this movie in 1999 and it’s still a poignant and emotional film. The soundtrack reflects that in its lyrics and melody. Disney’s Tarzan Soundtrack Tony Goldwyn plays the voice of Tarzan, and Minnie Driver voices Jane. Unlike in many other Disney movies, the main characters don’t sing. With the exception of the song “Trashin’ the Camp,” most of the songs are background songs and aren’t sung by the characters. Instead, the songs are about them and their journey. The man behind the Tarzan soundtrack is Phil Collins. He was the main guy throughout the film, arranging, composing, and singing the songs. Other musicians who also contributed to the soundtrack include Mark Mancina, Glenn Close, Rosie O’Donnell, and Paul Bogaev. Together, they provided a gorgeous soundtrack with Phil Collins’s voice throughout. Phil Collins brings some deep and heavy emotions into the lyrics and the movie itself. The soundtrack includes the songs “Two Worlds”, “You’ll Be In My Heart”, “Son of Man”, “Trashin’ the Camp”, and finally “Strangers like me”. All of them seem to be pretty popular as covers though, “You’ll Be In My Heart” appears to be slightly more popular. Below is a list of fantastic covers of Phil Collins’s “You’ll Be In My Heart.” There are far more available on YouTube. I urge you to check out those ones as well. Tarzan Cover Songs Dan Vasc‘s vocal cover is gorgeous and channels the emotion and serenity of the original. Luna covers Phil Collins’ song in Italian. Her beautiful voice is full of emotion, allowing it to carry into the entire feel of the song. Kazukanda provides another awesome acoustic cover that allows his voice to be the central focus. The listener can focus on the lyrics and the emotions they portray. Sinnyw789 doesn’t change any of the song’s vocals, keeping Phil Collins’ phenomenal voice while covering it instrumentally. His drum cover is energetic and awesome. Together, it encourages listeners to tear up and dance. There’s something about Nick Pitera‘s voice that makes me melt. His voice is simply phenomenal in this cover. Keifer Wiley‘s voice is endlessly sweet and soft, which perfectly complements the original song’s melody. Peter Hollens and Bryan Lanning create a fantastic a capella cover using just their gorgeous voices. Let me know in the comments if this song makes you tear up or if it's just me!!

“Orchestras are vital to America’s musical landscape and civic life. America is brimming with extraordinary musicians, live concerts, and orchestras as unique as the communities they serve. Orchestral music-making is flourishing in our country, encouraging creativity and bringing people together to share live music experiences. “Orchestras fuel local economies, attract new business development, educate young people, and—through music- unite individuals and cultures in times of public celebration and healing unite individuals and cultures in times of public celebration and healing,” explains explains The League of American Orchestras. In contrast to modern music, which is predominantly lyrical, orchestral music is a seemingly hidden genre. But that isn’t the case. Statistics and data from the League of American Orchestras show the prominence of orchestras. Orchestral Statistics and Information “At last count, an estimated 105,000 musicians performed in some 1,600 orchestras across the United States. Orchestras offered over 28,000 performances – of which about 28% were free of charge – and reached 24.9 million people,” reads the March 2019 report, Orchestras at a Glance. This also rings true north of the border. Orchestras Canada has found this in their reports. They’ve seen the following from a Presentation to Orchestras Canada from the Canada Council for the Arts. 2,675 performances were presented publicly 2,340 were programmed and presented locally 303 were presented nationally 32 were presented internationally Total attendance: more than 1.87 million There’s something simplistic and yet so complex about instrumental music. An orchestra has several diverse instruments, such as woodwind, brass, percussion, and string. Each of them adds its sound to the overall melody of the song. “The Lord did not people the earth with a vibrant orchestra of personalities only to value the piccolos of the world. Every instrument is precious and adds to the complex beauty of the symphony.” ~Joseph B. Wirthlin Mr. Wirthlin has a point. There’s so much music that one single person can offer. Each person offers a diverse sound. Together, they combine into a beautiful orchestra. Orchestral Covers Songs There’s something elegant about orchestral music; even the word orchestral is elegant. Below are some orchestral covers to spice up your date night. These will add a pop of fun and a bit of elegance. “Smells like Teen Spirit” covered by Symphonic Pop Covers Metamorphestra’s orchestral cover of “Chop Suey,” Originally by System of a Down Albert Chang, Lily, Tiffany Chang, Josh Kim, Niall Ferguson’s Orchestral Cover of “Legends Never Die” Originally by and from League of Legends “Fortnite” by The Marcus Hedges Trend Orchestra Orchestral Cover of “Afterlife” By Avenged Sevenfold, arranged by Sašo Vindiš and performed by a school orchestra conducted by Blaž Šoba. Marc v/d Meulen’s Viola and Cinematic Orchestral Cover of “Awake and Alive” initially by Skillet “Spider Dance” Undertale Orchestral Cover by Sully Orchestration

You heard us right! Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Cover Songs “There’s the whole world at your feet.” Mary Poppins (1964) Mary Poppins is a film released in 1964. Julie Andrews plays the character of Mary Poppins, a beautiful nanny that transforms misbehaving kids into well-behaving kids with the use of fun and a little bit of magic. This movie is one of the most whimsical films that Disney has done (in my opinion). It contrasts dreary England with the imaginative magic of a whole new world. That contrast makes the whimsy that Mary Poppins brings forth to the children and the audience for that matter, all the more sensational. Adding to the whimsy is a typically cheery soundtrack. The soundtrack includes classics such as Sister Suffragette, The Life I Lead, The Perfect Nanny, A Spoonful of Sugar, A Jolly Holiday, Chim Chim Cheree, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,Stay Awake, I love to Laugh, Tuppence a Bag, Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, A Man has Dreams, and Let’s go Fly a Kite. These are all amazing songs sung throughout the film to highlight emotionally charged scenes. The highlighted song for this article from the gorgeous 1964 film is, of course, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Check the highlighted Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Cover Songs below! Cover by Harry Connick, Jr. Parodied Cover by The New Fangled Four Cover by Ryan Cassell and Bella Cassell Metal Cover by Andy Rehfeldt and Sara Hatchett Cover by Deredia Cover by Miche Fambro With so many amazing songs within the film, it’s hard to choose a single one to showcase the different covers available on the internet. But here are our honourable mentions. Mary Poppins A Cappella Medley by Backtrack Chim Chim Cher-ee by Amanda Castro Band

Miche Fambro is a folk, jazz, and Latin-blend musician with a sound hard to pin down. Like a chameleon, he fuses several elements of different genres into his sound. Elements of classical, folk, jazz, pop, and soul combine in the musical styles of Miche Fambro. Let’s start with an example of his music, so you can see what I mean. Here’s his original song, “A Good Guy Waiting For A Bad Girl To Happen”. It’s an energetic song with a dynamic melody and a tapping good beat. Hybrid Jazz describes Fambro as a completely unique musician, “It’s difficult to explain because there is NO one like him! He’s a consummate guitarist/vocalist. He’s a unique songwriter who is both whimsical and sentimental, funny and tragic, hilarious/delirious.” “The Very Beginning: I was basically a nerd. It was something to do around the house,” Fambro explained. Both Fambro and his younger brother were fascinated by music from a young age. Fambro was 13 while his younger brother was 10. His younger brother was spoiled by his grandparents. With a simple 'please,' anything he wanted, he got. At first, he got a drum set as a gift, merely because he asked. Which both of them used, From there, Fambro started as a drummer using his brother’s drum set but soon fell in love with the idea of playing guitar. Their grandparents bought his brother a drum set when he asked, so Fambro got an idea. “She wouldn’t get anything for me. I talked my brother into asking grandma for a guitar we saw in a pawn shop window. My brother soon had a guitar,” He remembered, “So I stayed with the guitar, my brother stayed with the drums.” From there, it became more than just something to do. It was a combination of a passion for music and a passion for getting even with his grandmother. The two brothers started a neighbourhood band playing (or trying, as Miche Fambro puts it) the hits of the day, including Chicago, Mandrill, Kool and the Gang, and so on. At the age of 20, Miche left to travel with a hotel band playing at Holiday Inns and the Ramada. Two years later, he found himself playing his last concert with the band in Geneseo, NY. Between 1980 and 1991, he played in several local bands that grew in popularity within the area. Unfortunately, responsibilities clashed with the band’s chances for growth. “As we were all becoming ‘responsible adults’, the band broke up, knowing we couldn’t do the things needed to further our chances, such as relocating.” He currently lives in Geneseo, NY, which is a “Quaint little college town, very different from my hometown of West Philadelphia.” Here is where his love for music took a turn, as his musical awakening started with a fiery passion. Fambro started to discover himself as an artist, as a unique musician. As a left-handed musician, he found it difficult to learn to play the guitar. Fambro tried to take guitar lessons, but they refused to teach him unless he played right-handed. Instead of conforming or worse giving up, he went home and did it his own way. Flipping the guitar around, he taught himself to play left-handed and upside down. Now he helps other left-handed musicians learn how to play without dictating how they play. “Lessons from a Leftie” fills in the gap of learning. His innovative left-hand guitar style marked him as something different from the get-go. Now his life consists of making music and travelling to perform around the globe. Recently, he played at Internationales Gitarrenfestival Deggendorf, a Guitar Festival in Germany, with countless other international classical musicians. “World-class,” He describes the festival, “it was such an honour to be there. I learned a lot.” Fambro’s music is a collective style but throughout his career, his music is consistently entertaining and soulful. Below are a few examples of his cover songs showcasing his versatility in melody and voice. You can check out his music on his Youtube channel here. “Fly Me To The Moon” “I’m a Believer” “Our House” “Kaleidoscope Eyes”

It’s one thing to have a passion for music, it’s another to want to protect it. Dennis James is an organist and historic preservationist. His passion for music leads him to preserve music from long ago eras. He focuses specifically on the genre of silent films. Something that not many people know is that silent films weren’t completely silent. They were often accompanied by musical scores. These scores are what Dennis James aims to preserve. This is an interview with Dennis James and Dylanna Fisher of Switching Styles. How did you start in music? I began my musical career at the age of seven by studying the “stomach-piano” (accordion). Because it was the local instrument of choice for budding musicians in Cleveland, Ohio in 1957. However, it was one day during Science Class in seventh grade. I had an epiphany that caused me to change instruments. I had the realization that none of my classmates wanted to hear my renditions of Lady of Spain complete with bellows shake. We had an electronic organ at home. Previously, I had embarrassed my older brother Rodger with competitive technique display in a bout of sibling rivalry when I was 9 and he was 12. I guess it was a no-brainer for me to make the shift finally when I turned 12. I played my first pipe organ a few weeks later on a visit to my accordion teacher’s church where he served as the organist and I think it was at that visit the seed was planted. Who inspired you within your music career? The very first was the brash, showy, ragtime/honky-tonk TV pianist Joanne Castle. She played regularly on the 1950’s popular Lawrence Welk television show. This was a particular parental “family entertainment” favourite at the time. In fact, I pestered my parents a lot about getting a piano. With an organ having already been acquired for my brother, the suggestion was made that I consider imitating another TV show musician, Myron Floren, who was the accordionist on the Lawrence Welk show. That bore fruit when, at age 6. I spotted an accordion in a pawn shop window near a favourite family restaurant in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. My parents bought it. They surprised me by giving it to me as a present on my 7th birthday. This led to my starting lessons immediately thereafter. How did your family impact your musical career? They were all very supportive. To the point that my Dad went so far as to build French door into the walls at the entrances to the room where the practice organ was located. It was difficult for the rest of the family to do anything, like watch TV, when I practiced. I’ll always remember starting a session and hearing those doors slide shut. They walled me in while everyone else went on about their business at home. How do you think your life would have been different if you continued with the accordion? I doubt if I would have stayed with music at all. I would have likely pursued my lifelong interest in oil painting or another similar interest. When did your interest in the silent film soundtracks begin? Gaylord Carter, the major touring film player at the time, flew in from Los Angeles to perform at the Tower Theatre’s Wurlitzer organ in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania (near to downtown Philadelphia). The film was Douglas Fairbanks in the 1920 swashbuckling adventure drama “The Mark of Zorro” and Gaylord played his own quite thrilling score made up of a combination of published theatre organ generics used in the scorings in the 1920s plus his own inimitable improvisation cascades. It was a sold-out house. I remember eagerly turning to my dad at the end. Then, I was thoroughly impressed by the cheers and standing ovation from the sellout crowd. I said to him those fateful words “I can do that!” I went home that very night after the post-performance reception. I pulled out some music paper. Then I wrote out his entire score from memory. To honor Gaylord Carter, I create my own score inspired by his work. I preserve about 20% of his efforts in my historical revival work. How old were you for your first organ plus orchestra screening at Indiana University? My recollection is it was done in the spring of 1970 so I would have been 19 Can you describe your first experience in silent film performance with live music? My first attempt to play my own prepared music to a silent film that starred a cross-eyed actor Larry Semon to be shown as an act within a high school variety show in 1967. I ended up stringing together a series of 1920’s popular songs as my score. It was in the summer of 1969. A couple of years later, I saw and heard the first live music silent film show. It had accompaniment by a professional theatre pipe organ player. It was during my first break after having begun freshman year studies at Indiana University. How would you describe Gaylord Carter and his music? Gaylord was not the “top” musician of his day. However, he is the silent film player that lived the longest – well into the revival era that enabled my career. He taught me such show business necessities as how to speak to an audience of 2,000-plus without a microphone. Since inevitably somewhere the microphone wouldn’t work; something has since happened to me several times! He was a cliche player. He focused on cluing essential basic emotional reactions to the film in the audience. And he was not very much concerned with the niceties of thematic applications. So, he paid little attention to motives developments and the rest that go into true music composition. What impact does music have in film? Thinking in particular of the silent films, I think it was best outlined LA Times article from October 2014 tat I keep on file: “Mocked, ignored, the victim of a massive cultural disinformation campaign that insisted these movies were too simple to take seriously, silent film has managed to outwit history. Not only is there a phoenix-like rebirth of interest in the medium, but the films themselves and the artifacts surrounding them are constantly coming to light in rich and unexpected ways. To be seen to their best advantage, however, silent films should be experienced, as they were in the medium’s glory days, with live musical accompaniment. To understand what makes silent film so special, the central place of music can’t be avoided. The live music enhances what we see, bringing us inside the film. As the late film authority William Everson explained several years ago, ‘The score minimized flaws. It added punctuation and feeling. It stretched the emotionalism and guided the audience into the right frame of mind.’ It’s a major crime, absolutely deadly, to show these films without the proper accompaniment.’ To enter this world is to understand why Mary Pickford, one of its biggest stars, famously said that “it would have been more logical if silent pictures had grown out of the talking instead of the other way around.” (Quote from “Silent films and their soaring music are rediscovered” by Kenneth Turan, from the LA Times) What appeal does a silent film with live music have to the audience? In my over 50 years of experience doing this, there is always a marvelling new fascination among the younger viewing generations. They are captivated by the live music component of what is now a nearly forgotten part of the original practice of exhibiting film. I recreate those days from nearly 100 years ago with my specialty approach. This involves performing stylistically authentic and period-appropriate live musical accompaniments at the film screenings. This original matching music to the period images facilitated the audience’s emotional responses in a manner already quite highly developed in the industry. There is a similar continuity to the present day with modern performances of other historically fully developed, music-enhanced theatrical music forms: opera, operetta, Broadway shows, ballet, vaudeville and so many others. My passion stems, I guess, by that I like the concept that it would have been more logical, thinking of film as an art form progression, for the silent film to have evolved from the sound film. To experience in live real-time experience movies the way they were meant to be. As performed in a large communal setting with the film image exactly as seen now 80 to 100 years ago, and heard with historically accurate original musical accompaniment performed with a thorough and fully realized respect for the past and with full confidence of serving the presentation desires of the filmmakers themselves. If one loves movies as do most moviegoers today, seeing and hearing, them as they were originally intended to be experienced simply should not be missed. Do you think that the appeal of silent films will change over the years? Of course. Those shifts in appeal are what enables the survival and periodic revivals for most all of the successful presentation art forms down through the years. I am certain that what people see and hear at the Metropolitan Opera today when a Mozart Opera is presented is quite far from the original 18th c. original conceptions and productions, if only from the changes in the instruments used and the stylistic nuances of the players. You’ve performed the soundtrack for Jekyll and Hyde, and Nosferatu, among others. Which of them stands out as a favourite? Well, my favourite career silent film scoring memory, dates back to 1993. I was living in Berkeley, California and renowned film preservationist and cultural philanthropist David W. Packard engaged me to play to the “The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg” silent film as my debut performance at his humanities foundation’s Wurlitzer pipe organ-equipped restored Stanford Theatre in somewhat nearby Palo Alto down on the Peninsula. I had already performed to the popular silent film version of the Heidelberg story under the auspices of film collector Paul Killiam at a film festival in the Midwest a few years previous. I found the score in my storage files. Preparations went along just fine. That is, until the day before the Palo Alto performance. David phoned and asked for any final setup details, arrival time and such, and during the conversation, he happened to mention that he was really looking forward to seeing Norma Shearer in the film. I flippingly replied that Norma Shearer wasn’t in the film. It was Dorothy Gish. A bit heatedly David said, “No, it is Norma Shearer with Ramon Navarro”. I said that I really didn’t want to argue about it. However, this 1916 film stars Dorothy Gish and Wallace Reid. There was this long pause. then we both realized that there must have been two silent film versions of the same story. David said he was screening the MGM 1928 one directed by Ernst Lubitsch. Well, that version was a film I had not yet seen nor known about hitherto. David gently asked what we could do and I asked to think about it a moment. Then I asked if he already had the print and was told the print was already in the booth. I told him to call in the projectionist and get him a room in a nearby hotel preparing for what I envisioned would be an all-nighter project. Then I asked him to set up a standard 6’ folding table in the theatre, bring in a photocopy machine, two cans of rubber cement, a ream of photocopy paper plus a paper cutter and a 1 1/2″ three-ring notebook. I said I’d be there in 45 minutes to begin. On my way, I stopped in at the Stanford University music library to get ahold of the Sigmund Romberg operetta’s vocal score. That’s what we did. And it indeed took a straight-through 23 hours and 15 minutes work session without any breaks to create an entirely new, precisely synchronized, all-Romberg plus period generics source music compilation score following the historical period practices of the scoring professionals as practiced in the silent film industry. This was predominantly assembled out of the operetta material just as I’d done with the earlier film starring Dorothy Gish titled, “In Old Heidelberg.” That film, however, was entirely different in every way from the Lubitsch 1928 version based on the same material. All of that prior scoring work was entirely unusable. David sat up with me all night in the little theatre office upstairs watching me work and observing closely, step by step, everything that I did. We would screen a scene of the film, and then I’d think about it a bit, scan through the entire Romberg operetta score for possibilities considering plot sequence, character assignments, scene atmospherics, emotional cues and implications, all while weighing the music styles and key orientations. I would find something that fit and place it in my mind. I played it through with my memory of the images while conducting myself along to ensure synchronization. Then, I pasted it up to assemble into the notebook. After that, I called the projectionist in again to run the next scene. We did that progressively, scene by scene, through the whole night and right on through into the next day. Finishing up the score assembly just 12 minutes before the start of my debut performance left no time to permit my actually playing any of it in advance. so the niceties of organ registration and key manipulations had to be done ‘on the fly.’ I’m happy to report that that score turned out so perfectly that I still perform it exactly as I assembled it that hectic all night session in 1993! How do you choose the songs or soundtracks to perform? The way I work primarily is through performance of either the original published scores that were distributed along with the film prints or scores I assemble faithfully following the compilation scoring guides sent along with the films to assemble scores from original period-published music intended for cueing purposes. There is this remarkable flow that happens where I’m looking at the screen and reading my carefully prepared and rehearsed music that causes the music to come out as a continuously synchronous emotion sequence matching the visuals like a perfectly fit glove on a hand. The visual cues go into my eyes. My brain processes the combination of audience reactions underway. It also considers the performance needs of the instrument at hand. Additionally, it calculates precision timings for the music tempos related to the unfolding scene contents and outcomes. This occurs in a fully synchronous spontaneity. I’m not even conscious of what the added expressive choices are in the real-time of performance having now been continually doing this for over fifty years. The basis of it all is informed by the time I spent many years ago working with veteran professional silent film scorers such as Lee Erwin, Gaylord Carter and Dr. C. A. J. Parmentier, all of whom were still active in the 1960s and 70’s when I was coming to the profession. Learning a lot of the basics of period stylistic revival and essential professional procedures really informed my nascent developing technique. As in the case of Broken Blossoms (1919), you’ve been called a musical detective. How did that start? My interest in finding and preserving historical film scores grew out of my discovery that there were actual original scores prepared for silent film accompanists to use back in the original exhibitions period. This discovery came about by my seeing the first page of the conductor’s part to Louis F. Gottschalk’s published full orchestra score to D. W. Griffith’s 1919 film Broken Blossoms. This was used for illustration in the seminal motion picture theatre architectural history book, The Best Remaining Seats, published in the 1960s. I chased down the author, Ben M. Hall who was based in New York City and then working as Time magazine’s film critic. He led me to an archive contact that held both the complete musical score with full orchestral parts, and a bit more hunting led me to a completely preserved theatrical print of the film. I decided to present my first organ plus orchestra screening at Indiana University with a performance that filled the 3,800 seat I.U. Auditorium accomplished with me at the organ together with a fellow student conducting the local Bloomington Symphony Orchestra. Can you tell me more about the film, Broken Blossoms (1919)? Here’s some information I have on file: “Broken Blossoms”, which stars Lillian Gish as a poor girl from London’s seedy Limehouse district who’s brutally abused her father and later falls in love with a Chinese man, is often regarded and dismissed as filmmaker D. W. Griffith’s apology for his celebration of the Klu Klux Klan in The Birth of a Nation. Because Broken Blossoms is so earnest a portraiture of an impossible love between the races, it’s tempting to accept Griffith’s claims that he didn’t mean any harm with The Birth of a Nation. Griffith, of course, was too smart to allow a film like Broken Blossoms to be taken as a simple blanket apology. Through the film’s poetic intertitles, Griffith tackles the complicated love between Lucy Burrows (Gish) and Cheng Huan (Richard Barthelmess). He also addresses the critics who accused him of racism with “the whip of unkind words and deeds.” The love story at the center of Broken Blossoms is deliberately overstuffed, but unmistakably coloured with infinite shades of biting irony and social critique. Griffith painstakingly evokes China as a serene Buddhist paradise, but Cheng’s philosophy of life is really no different than that of any good Christian. (Cheng tells a group of skylarking sailors: “What thou dost not want others to do to thee, do thou not to others.”) Cheng arrives in the godless streets of London and is soon seen as just another “chink storekeeper.” He’s handed a book about the perils of hell from a group of missionaries leaving for China on their way to convert so-called heathens, though they’re clearly oblivious to the horrors that reside within their own “scarlet house of sin.” The film’s feminist appeal lies in Griffith’s photojournalistic evocation of the Limehouse district as a deathtrap for women. Lucy is advised against marriage by a woman who washes clothes for a roomful of sweaty children. Just as Griffith felt he was falsely accused of racism, the film’s heroine constantly suffers the scorn of her vicious father. Battling Burrows (Donald Crisp) is a monster, but Griffith understands the man’s frustrated desire to lash out against something in the face of economic and masculine defeat. So horrible is Lucy’s torture at the hands of her father that she has to literally sculpt a smile from her perpetually downtrodden expression using the tips of her fingers. Beaten to a pulp by Battling, Lucy seeks refuge inside Cheng’s shop. She faints on the rug like a broken flower and awakens as his White Blossom. “Her beauty so long hidden shines out like a poem,” declares one the film’s intertitles, and Griffith recognizes the simple yet incredible power of an unforced smile. Cheng feeds this beauty with the rays he steals from the lyric moon. Because cinematic convention forbade physical contact between his actors, Griffith had to settle for grand poetic gestures and dramatic artifice to evoke the rapturous, nurturing love between Lucy and Cheng. For Griffith, Broken Blossoms was intended in part as a supreme act of reconciliation. But the film works less self-consciously as an ode to misdirected contempt, selfless love, and various modes of worship. Just as the film’s extended boxing sequence is an act of brutal masculine reverence, Griffith recognizes Cheng’s love for Lucy as an act of holy worship. Because social convention forbids their love, Lucy and Cheng persevere in death. And Griffith lovingly and hauntingly evokes this transcendence via a shot of a man worshipping in a Buddhist temple and ships dancing in the distant horizon. (This information comes from a film essay “Broken Blossoms” By Ed Gonzalez) When did you start performing for a live audience? Let’s see. I think that began around 1966. We bought a little Kinsman-brand “rock style,” very heavy, two manual Italian spinet organ device. This was before the single row of keys so-called “Keyboard” rock band instrument devices. We used it to drag around for my forays into pop music garage bands. These bands were quite popular for dance-playing in my South Jersey high school years. My first successful band was called ‘Vicious Omelette’ with the yolk half of the name came from the coats inherited from an earlier band called ‘The Yellow Jackets.’ I say success because the other one was an ONLY-covers band. One night, I found that at a dance when I’d got really fed up with playing that same organ solo from “Light My Fire” over and over again. I made up my own and played it on the spot. The lead singer who was in charge of the band stopped the song and ordered me to play the solo just like it was on the record or quit — so I quit. I met him again 25 years later at my high school reunion. he apologized, mentioning he thought I was the only really musically talented one, this after he was told that next night I was flying to LA to be on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno performing in the backup band with Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. Anyway, I wanted to call our new group ‘Vociferous Omelette,’ but the drummer couldn’t fit in all the letters when trying to paint it onto the bass drum, so we did a random page opening and finger point into a dictionary to find the shorter word Vicious. And that also gave us a great logo opportunity to have drawn a quite menacing angry omelette to go with the lettering. Our audition for Atlantic Records (one of our members had an uncle who worked there) went nowhere, but we did do a lot of gigs and met a lot of girls. How old were you when you started ‘Vicious Omelette’? That was a high school band, formed by my recollection in junior year, so I would have been 16 Can you describe ‘Vicious Omelette’ a bit more? Just a typical “Garage Band” of the day; lead guitar (who also sang), rhythm guitar, bass guitar, organ and drums. Funny memory is that the lead singer was rail-thin. He had a pretty girlfriend who had red hair chewed gum all of the time. When I went to my 25th high school reunion, a middle-aged couple came up to speak to me. I did not recognize him until noticing his wife had red hair and was chewing gum! Sure enough, they’d gotten married after high school. We chatted a bit remembering when I’d gotten thrown out of the band in the middle of one of our high school dance performances. We were doing a cover of “Light My Fire” and I’d gotten tired of playing the famous lengthy organ solo within that classic arrangement and had decided to make up something of my own. Our lead singer stopped the piece, yelled at me and fired me on the spot! At that 25th reunion, he said he always thought that I was the talented one and would be the one to go on into music as a profession! And, the very next day after that encounter I flew to Los Angeles (from New Jersey), and appeared with Linda Ronstadt playing my glass armonica on Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show. So I guess he was correct! Why do you think the audition for Atlantic Records went nowhere? Oh, we were terrible — a typical high school band really playing just to meet girls. What is one of your funniest stories about performing? Well, not in performing, but in studying with my first “serious” teacher, Leonard MacLain in Philadelphia. There was this one lesson when he told me the story of Louis Vierne, the famous 19th c. French cathedral organist, who was felled by a fatal heart attack while playing the organ during a service. He’d collapsed down onto the keys and so the organ roared out a cacophony of organ pipes playing simultaneously at full volume. So, they had to send someone up the little access stair path to the organ loft to pull the body off the console. And Leonard said to me, “Now, THAT’S the way we organists all want to go!” Well, he’d told me that story. The very next week I walked in the downtown Philadelphia studio entry door for my lesson. There was Leonard slumped over the keys of the Hammond electric organ! I knew he had been having heart problems. By then always taught with a little wheeled and mask-equipped portable oxygen tank by his side. So, his head was down on the keys. I ran over to him and shook him. He sat up and drowsily said, “Oh, uhm, sorry . . . I fell asleep.” Such drama! Do you have a favourite concert that you’ve performed at? I guess that would be the story of my very first “big” solo concert. My teacher did finally have a really big heart attack that slammed him into the hospital. This was just before the Fourth of July in 1967. He was scheduled to play a major solo concert for a national convention of pipe organ enthusiasts in Detroit. So, Leonard decided to send me out in his place. Now, I hadn’t seen a theatre organ except for a brief encounter with one in a residence installation when I was nine and hadn’t really played one yet at all. So Leonard had me brought into his hospital room, and we sat together with a little hand slide viewer, and he showed by photographs what were the controls on a full-scale top of the line custom four-manual Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ. He would say “now this thing does this, and when you set this then you better do that.” and so forth. The last thing he said was, “and when you arrive, put this pedal here on the far right side all the way down — the crescendo pedal that puts on all the stops without they’re actually being set — and then you put down all the way the shoe next to it — that one opens all of the chamber shutters”. And then he said to play a full double-hand chord on next to the bottom row of keys (the Great manual), “That’s the very first thing you do.” The point here was to let this little 16-year kid know what he was getting into. I did exactly that and nearly flipped back off the organ bench to the floor in fright. Such a sound, such power! You talk to any adolescent boy organist and you’ll find out it’s all about the power, and Leonard knew exactly what was going to happen — he was preparing me, and he did a really good job. I’m in Detroit and I’m supposed to play a two-hour recital, and I could only play for 40 minutes because that was everything I knew how to play at the time. The presenters quickly scrounged about and asked visiting professional New York-based organist Lee Erwin to fill in for the second half. And it all went very well — so that began my career as a performing professional organist. What appeal do performances such as yours have compared to the originals? The appeal for my work, I think, comes from the recognition of historical-cultural authenticity. I am a historical preservationist and my work is actually in continuity (as opposed to historical revival) for I perpetuate the professional scoring methods for silent films just as they were first conceived and performed by the originators of the art in the 1890s through 1930s. Most major productions had complete, written-out and orchestrated published scores played by instrumental ensembles ranging up to 60 and more players. The film studios made and released enough films so that the local cinemas could change their programming two or three times a week. And because there was no way to fully compose, disseminate, rehearse, and synchronize these large scale performances of that much music, what wound up happening is that, for many performances, each theatre’s staff keyboard musicians built up giant individualized libraries of music— pre-existing classical music, current popular tunes, one-steps, two-steps and foxtrots, hymns, marches, folk tunes, the entire gamut of music suitable to be repurposed towards film scoring. Beginning with Max Winkler who introduced the careful synchronizing techniques within compilation scorings, the main music publishers hired talented genre composers to compose specific mood-music cue fundamental resource material. The organists and pianists would have stacks of music organized by prevailing key and emotional content. When there was a chase scene, for instance, they would usually modulate into d minor and construct a sequence of published so-called allegros, hurries and agitatos as chase music. When there was a love scene, they’d go through their collection of romances and plaintives to play. It was this carefully tailored assembly kind of music scoring technique that was heard both from the solo keyboard players in the theatres and on an expanded scale, existing right along with through-composed newly composed scorings for fully rehearsed instrumental ensembles. Why is historic preservation important to you? I’ll rephrase that one — for those to whom it doesn’t matter, why ISN’T historic preservation important. For me, it is the center of my activity and basis for all of my endeavours. What are your opinions of the industry in the music industry? Well, I think the late Hunter S. Thompson said it best: “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.” How do online platforms like YouTube or YouTube impact the music industry? Well, in my particular specialty corner of the music universe, the impact has undermined my pursuing a professional career by giving equal access and referential instant comparative status permitting the unfortunate display of untutored, unprepared, minimally talented amateur and enthusiast activities. Do you think that the internet could improve in that aspect? If the general culture attention goes through a major shift, then, yes, likely the Internet could improve. The information needed in support of historic preservation efforts, though, is already there and readily available, and I don’t think the Internet itself has any bias one way or another in such usage. What are some of your fondest memories throughout your music career? It was 1969, and I was back in Indiana at college for my sophomore year and one night I was sitting around joking with my college roommate. A new Schantz-built concert pipe organ had just been installed in the school’s 3,800 seat I. U. Auditorium. There was a lot of talk about it in the department, and I was really eager to play it, so I came up with the idea to suggest showing this old silent horror film my dad had told me about, “Phantom of the Opera,” that he’d seen when it first came out in 1925. I figured I would do the Gaylord Carter bit I had seen in that Philadelphia “The Mark of Zorro” screening. Then I would get to play that new organ along with it. At that point, I was still in contact with New York based silent film organist Lee Erwin who had been summoned to share my 1967 Detroit debut performance. I’d played everything I knew as the first half of that program. Lee filled in to play the balance of the assigned program. Lee flew out from New York two weeks before this Halloween “Phantom of the Opera” event I’d connected to teach me his approach towards how to score silent movies. He loaned me some of his own written scores to study that he brought out with him from New York, and stayed at his own expense in a local motel and met me each day after regular classes. At the time I didn’t think it was all that unusual what with so much happening and me having gotten to the point of thinking musical friends just did things like that. It’s so odd now to think about these various important people. They are in this field of obscure endeavour. And showed up in my life right when I needed them. I would go to classes and come by after to meet with Lee. We’d talk about what I’d learned at school about that day. Then we’d have dinner, and he would teach me about film music. This was happening during a major peak of the Vietnam War protest era. There were all sorts of news coverage of some of the events at Indiana University at that time: the campus taken over and shut down by the students, ROTC building burnt down, and other more serious war protest events. I decided there was a real need and opportunity for some sort of comic relief. I provided it with my silent film scoring debut. Then, I went down to the student craft shop in the basement of the Memorial Union building. Then, I printed up 400 tickets by hand. I stamped them out on the craft press. Then I developed a rather clever campaign that included posting the phrase “The Phantom is Coming!” all over campus; little posters hung on the trees, chalked on vacant blackboards in classrooms throughout the day, pasted on stickers under the toilet seat covers in all of the dorms. It went on and on. And then on Halloween Day a front-page article in the school newspaper explaining the event. We’d sold only some forty tickets in advance and were prepared for an abject failure. However, to my great surprise, over 4,000 people turned up, and we had to resell those 400 tickets over and over again at the door. Wearing a cape and mask borrowed from the theatre department. I went on that night and began to play that newly composed score I had prepared with Lee. The energy of the occasion was so great, and I was so inspired. I almost immediately abandoned my carefully prepared composition to improvise something ever so much more appropriate to that event on the spot. Quite the thrilling way to begin what has turned out to be a full-length career. What are some of your upcoming events? 2019-2020 MUSICA CURIOSA & SILENT FILM CONCERTS October 31, Winspear Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 8th annual Halloween program presented by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Conrad Veidt in Hands of Orlac with the Duo Filmharmonia performing the debut of an all-Chopin scoring featuring Piano, Organ and Theremin November 2, Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland Cinematheque presents: Lillian Gish in True Heart Susie November 3, Historical Society Museum, Athens, Ohio 3rd annual Halloween silent film program: Lon Chaney in Hunchback of Notre Dame with solo classical organ scoring November 8, Glimmerglass Film Festival, Cooperstown, New York Silent Film Concerts debut: Last of the Mohicans directed by Clarence Brown with solo piano scoring EUROPEAN TOUR November 12, Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria 13th Annual Silent Film Concerts series: Lon Chaney in Hunchback of Notre Dame with solo classical organ scoring November 13, Tanzmeistersaal in the Mozart Wohnhaus, Salzburg, Austria Glass Armonica program for “Week of the Museum” Mozarteum presentation series November 22, Venango Museum, Oil City, Pennsylvania Holiday Concert plus silent film Big Business starring Laurel & Hardy December 5,7,8, Jones Hall, Houston, Texas Glass Armonica performance in new symphony composed by Jimmy López Bellido December 20, Polk Theatre, Lakeland, Florida Silent Film Series: Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik Could you tell me a bit more about the upcoming event at the Winspear? This year’s Halloween night film at the Winspear is the 1924 Austrian silent horror/psychological mystery film Hands of Orlac. A new score is being performed by my film scoring duo: “Duo Filmharmonia” – Piano plus Organ. There are two performers, me playing Organ plus Theremin. I tour this with worldwide with Valencia, Spain-based concert pianist Dr. Michael Tsalka. We recently debuted at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. We presented another silent film project, Janice Meredith, scored with all Colonial American music. Also, we had a sellout presentation of another, our Silent Halmet film project (with all Sons of J.S, Bach music scoring) presented in the 2300 seat Elbphilharmonie new concert hall in Hamburg, Germany. Hands of Orlac deliciously twisted thriller that blends Grand Guignol ecstasies with German Expressionism. Based on a novel by Maurice Renard, it charts the mental disintegration of a concert pianist named Orlac (Conrad Veidt). His hands are amputated after a train crash, then replaced with the hands of an executed murderer. When Orlac’s father is murdered by the dead man’s hands, Orlac begins a steady descent toward madness. Made in Vienna, the hotbed of psychoanalysis, this 1924 Austrian bubbles over with sexual innuendo and Freudian imagery. Duo Filmharmonia bridges the worlds of film appreciation, musicology and historical preservation to revive works of art; timeless experiential recreations that transcend transitory fashionable alternatives emerging in silent film exhibitions today. Duo Filmharmonia’s loyalty to the original silent-period filmmakers’ visions may at first seem as anachronistic. He has become the emergent typical 21st-century experience of the historical film: a presentation visual art form begun in 1895 accompanied by musicians in live performance. Rather than overpower the delicate preserved images with the now-prevailing flamboyant, grossly popularized performer display foisted scoring impositions and mocking conversions for trendy ‘hip’ presentations, Duo Filmharmonia carefully provides authentic period-revival soundtracks. These truly support exquisitely restored silent films being presented in the manner the filmmakers themselves originally intended. The original audiences actually experienced. Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years? Touring the world just as I have been doing for the past 50 years.

We’ve talked with Dennis James about his experiences as an organist and as a student learning to play the organ. In the interview, he told Switching Styles a humorous story about one of his first teachers, Leonard MacLain. Organist and teacher Leonard MacClain is a household name for his skill and improvisation. It all started in Philadelphia, where MacClain started and continued doing what he loved best: music. Also known as Melody Mac, he was known for his melodies, especially with decades of experience as a theatre organist. His name didn’t stay only in the States. Melody Mac’s music with Epic Records gained him international fame. Some of his prominent compositions include “Days Without You are Endless”, “Smile Darn Ya Smile” and “Where You Are Concerned”. That’s not all his works, however. There are countless more in albums such as Choice Christmas Carols (1952), Theater Organ in Hi-Fi (1956), Joy to the World (1956), Operetta for the Theatre Organ (1957), More Theater Organ in Hi-Fi (Epic LN-3655) (1960), and Theatre Organ After Dark (1960). Throughout his musical career, MacClain was a music teacher. As such, He passed on his skills and knowledge to young musicians, one of whom was Dennis James. James is well-known as an organist and a historical music preservationist. The organ is the main instrument he uses, and he mainly preserves orchestral music. Much of his success, and arguably his passion, stems from MacClain, one of his first teachers. During one of the lessons with James, MacClain told a story about a famous French cathedral organist, Louis Vierne. Vierne was a French organist and composer at the end of the 19th century. While playing during a service at Notre Dame, Vierne had a massive heart attack. His body landed on the keys with a deafening roar as all the organ’s pipes played simultaneously at full volume. Vierne died on stage. Turning to James, his mentor said, “Now, THAT’S how we organists all want to go!” The next week after MacClain shared the story, James walked into the studio for a lesson, expecting to see his teacher waiting for him. Instead, he saw MacClain slumped over the keys of the Hammond electric organ. In a rushed panic, he ran over to him. The story about Vierne’s fate was still fresh in James’s head. Fearing the absolute worst, he shook him. MacClain groggily sat up and said, in a still drowsy voice, “Oh, Uhm, sorry . . . I fell asleep.” “Such drama!” James exclaimed, remembering the incident. There were unfortunate parallels between the two organists, MacClain and Vierne. MacClain had been having heart problems. At the time, he was using a portable oxygen tank and mask. The story seemed to be more foreboding than either realized. Later, MacClain had a major heart attack that landed him in the hospital right before the Fourth of July in 1967. He was scheduled to play a major solo concert for a national convention of pipe organ enthusiasts in Detroit. Certainly, he wasn’t able to make the performance. MacClain sent his student in his place to perform at the concert. The only problem is that the young 16-year-old James had never seen a theatre organ save for one short encounter when he was nine. He had never played one. To overcome this, MacClain provided lessons from his hospital room. Luckily, he had quite the experience with organs, including the Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ that was being used for the concert. Using a little hand slide viewer, he showed James the controls and techniques for the full-scale, top-of-the-line custom four-manual Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ. He went through each of the controls and explained from his bed how each of them worked. The last piece of advice he gave was to put the crescendo pedal down (the crescendo pedal that puts on all the stops without them being set), then do the same thing with the shoe beside it (the one that opens all the chamber shutters), and finally, play a full double-hand chord on the second last row of keys (otherwise known as the Great manual). This, he explained, was the very first thing you do. “The point here was to let this 16-year-old kid know what he was getting into,” Dennis explains, “I did exactly that and nearly flipped back off the organ bench to the floor in fright. Such a sound, Such power! You talk to any adolescent boy organist, and you’ll find out it’s all about the power.” James played the first 40 minutes of the two-hour recital, leaving visiting professional New York-based organist Lee Erwin to fill in for the second half. James describes, “It all went very well — so that began my career as a performing professional organist.” And it’s all thanks to his teacher, MacClain. His lessons were priceless to his students. He died later that year. During his 68 years on earth, he inspired his audience to grow as music lovers and musicians. An obituary in Theatre Organ Bombarde Magazine reads, “His passing is a genuine loss, not only for his many personal friends but also for the theatre organ world. But ‘Melody Mac’ has left us some superb theatre organ recordings and a long history of accomplishments on behalf of the instrument and the music he knew and loved so well. That he continued his contribution up to the closing hours of his life may be seen”. Vierne went out the way all organists want to – in a dramatic performance of their art. MacClain didn’t go out exactly as Vierne did, with a powerful roar from the organ keys. Instead, passing on the love of music to his students was much subtler and sweeter.

Switching Styles is excited to introduce the amazing musical work of FreddeGredde. Started by Fredrik Larsson, FreddeGredde is a stage name for his musical work. FreddeGredde is a Swedish musician known for his medleys of nostalgic cartoons, television themes, video games and so much more. Introducing FreddeGredde For this Swedish musician, it seemed to start at a young age. He had influences from family members, including his father. His father always encouraged Fredrik to develop his talents. With a childhood surrounded by music, it was just natural to dabble in it. Growing up, he never took music lessons though his brother ended up taking music lessons. Regardless of the lack of lessons, his love for music didn’t falter because of that. It worked out for the best that he never took lessons. He wanted his music done his way and not dictated by another person. “I don’t like being told what to do and what is the right or wrong way. When I learn things, I want to experiment and do it at my own pace. I might not play in the traditional ‘proper’ way, but I do believe it opens for more creativity and originality if you figure things out on your own.” Starting on YouTube, Fredrick simply posted a couple of videos that just happened to gain a lot of popularity. Fur Elis was his first video on YouTube, back when YouTube was relatively new itself. He noticed a gap for guitar covers of Fur Elis. There weren’t renditions of the entire song, just sections. Over the years it’s slowly gained nearly 3 million views. Being on the internet as a musician has opened a lot of doors for him, as it has for many other musicians. The dream of making it big is no longer only in the hands of labels. All someone needs now is a microphone and a computer to create any kind of music they want at a professional level. Creation, distribution, promotion, performing, are all accessible and free. The internet provided a huge contrast to the music industry where producers and labels have quite a bit of control including the profits. They were the only option musicians had due to the limited access to technology. In the 50’s all the way up to the 90’s label companies were the only ones with the ability to make albums and promote the musicians. Fredrick doesn’t agree with the traditional model of musicians making it big saying there are a lot of horror stories from musicians. This kind of profit-driven model seems to be an aspect of all industries. Using the internet allows musicians to have complete control over their music, in every single aspect allowing for more musicians to follow their passions. FreddeGredde Music Career On his YouTube channel, he has quite the range of medleys. The process of making a medley, once it’s decided upon, is a lot of improvising. It starts with testing random notes, and cords to find something that sounds good. The melody comes frost and then the lyrics come at the very end. For Fredrik, the melody itself is the most important part of the music whereas the lyrics are not as vital, “I like to hear creative and experimental details, something that shows that the composer tried something new. But of course, it also needs an emotional component, like a chord change or melody that attempts to move you. Otherwise, it’s kind of pointless.” There are also original songs uploaded to FreddeGredde’s YouTube. These allow him to compose something entirely new whereas covers and medleys are taking songs that are already there and putting them into a different context. These original songs fill up three of his albums including Thirteen Eight (August 2011), Brighter Skies (July 2014), and Eyes On the Edge (May 2017). Of these, his Brighter Skies album is his favourite as it was an album full of music that he personally enjoyed without worrying about how it would be perceived. tracks 1, 2 and 7 are his favourite within the album as “There’s a lot of things going on in them, new themes introduced and subtly returning in different ways like the songs are their own adventures,” he explains. As a project, FreddeGredde has been successful over the years. With 248,784 subscribers, 6 albums (3 original, 2 medleys, and 1 cover), and over 30 published videos, his music has spread across the world. Starting on YouTube in 2008, he has created over 30 songs. A sample of FreddeGredde Music Here are just a few highlights from his amazing collection of medleys. Let me know what you think of FreddeGredde in the comments below!!

Let’s dive deep into the music passion in this Rhaeide Q&A between Alvaro and Dylanna Fisher of Switching Styles. Known offline as Alvaro Arizcun, Rhaeide creates piano arrangements of pop culture themes. These include games, TV series, movies, band covers, and original compositions. Examples include The Goonies, Beauty and the Beast, The Christmas Piano Medley, Les Miserables, Hearthstone, and League of Legends. The genre of epic piano arrangements encompasses Rhaeide’s style, and embraces the variety of the piano. Cover genres typically change one particular aspect of the original song. Rhaeide does his best to keep the music intact, merely written for the piano. Rhaeide Q&A How did you get started in music? Well, I was 5 years old. So I definitely started at a very young age. A family friend was -and is still running- a small music school in Barcelona, so I started receiving piano and theory classes there at that time. My first piano teacher was apparently very methodical and demanding, so I didn’t like her. I eventually found another teacher. She was much more flexible. She let me learn some other music aside from classical. What was your first experience with music? As well do you mind if I know the name of the music school? When you say music, you mean in general? As a listener, or musician? For both. I remember music was always playing loud at home when I was a kid. My mom used to have plenty of old cassettes and vinyls full of a multitude of different styles that let her sing and dance along. Also, my step-father was and still is the trombonist in ‘La Vella Dixieland’, a classic old-school jazz band from Barcelona, so I guess travelling to many of their gigs around the region shaped me somehow too, although up to this point I’ve never had the drive to learn to play jazz music. As a musician, I would say my creativity started developing at the age of 14. At that age, I bought my very first Yamaha keyboard for €300, and I found myself spending endless hours with its 256 voices and its 6-track song recorder trying to create my own stuff. I’m still very fond of those creations because I had creativity that came from nowhere, in the sense, it was different from everything I managed to listen up to that point. 4 years later I found my passion as a listener, which is Progressive Rock, and I could see that what I was creating years before was in fact kind of close to that genre! The name of the school is ‘La Antártida’ How did your family influence your music career? Basically by letting me do whatever I wanted at every point. They never pushed me into playing or practising except for this one time when I was around 10 years old and I found myself not wanting to go to classes anymore and determined to quit. They found a way to convince me through the pressure of having bought the upright piano that we had just so I could practice and learn properly. Also, I was always told of how good I was for my age, so I had the extra pressure to live up to the expectations. What are their thoughts of you as a musician presently? They have always been supportive here in Barcelona, although they’re not that expressive about it. My dad, on the other hand, has always embraced it with endless devotion, pushing me into making more videos, reacting to them passionately, promoting me and being my number one fan. I definitely got my creative side from him. I should add just after that: All that from the distance since he has always lived far away. That’s so very sweet of him! What’s the distance between the two of you? 600 km, the distance between Madrid and Barcelona. What is the story behind the name you chose as your musician’s name? It happened in a time when I was an avid fantasy reader, I liked to develop adventure stories in my head when I went to sleep. One of those stories, that lasted for several months, had Rhaeide as one of the main characters, a kind but powerful conjurer that helped in the quest of saving a child that was bound to a powerful prophecy. Anyways, for the story development I took inspiration from Tolkien and Dragonlance, for the looks and personality, Baldur’s Gate 2, and finally for the name, ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’. I really liked the names of some of the Targaryen members, like Rhaegar or Rhaenys, so I chose my own to be similar. It just came to my mind. That’s so cool. What’s the proper pronunciation of the name? At first, I only cared about the Spanish pronunciation. But many years later, several English speakers started to ask me about it and I found I didn’t have any idea of how to pronounce it in English. If it ever reached the point of having to be pronounced somewhere, I would say something similar to “Raid” or “Raidy”, but for me, the Spanish pronunciation is the one I’m familiar with. Any other just sounds “weird”. Out of my own curiosity, did you ever publish those stories? As for the stories, I thought of writing them at the time of the development, but unfortunately, I never did it. How would you describe your sound? I never thought of describing my sound, I don’t even know if I have one! Since I’m specialized in arrangements, I would say it’s flexible and faithful in that regard. And when it comes to my composing, which I hugely explored in my early stages but since then I’ve hardly made a noticeable progression, I would describe it ever-changing, but mainly uplifting, since the way I do create is by following my emotions, and I can only play and find inspiration if I’m in an uplifting mood. That’s pretty fair, it’s a fluid kind of music. Who inspired your music? As an arranger, I first need to listen to the song and then the ideas of how I could arrange every part start flowing in my head. The result often meets the expectations, so I keep trusting my intuition. I like the challenge and overcoming the difficulties that often appear in the way. But the actual inspiration comes from imagining people liking it and wanting to learn it. That’s why I tend to arrange pieces that don’t have many covers or at least approach them in a way that people find unique. As a musician and more specifically as a composer, I would say all the music that I’ve listened to through my life is suitable of inspiring me without even acknowledging it. But beyond the music, I would say what inspires me the most is the artist itself and its drive to create, to grow and to leave a legacy of any kind. Why do you do piano arrangements specifically? I’ve attempted some orchestral and instrumental arrangements in the past, but I’ve never felt enough motivation to get into music production, and since I don’t play any other instruments I’ve ultimately stuck to piano. I eventually learned that there’s a huge deal of people wanting to play their favourite pieces on piano, and it happened that every time I examined official sheet music books of any kind I found them to be very basic and boring. So tried myself and I found that I was capable of doing it. Do you have an arrangement that sticks out as a favourite? That’s a tough question because I have favourites for different reasons, so I’ll mention a few. My favorite arrangement to listen to myself is the Dead Silence theme because I believe I was able to transfer the soul of the movie into my recording and I really feel the chills every time. The arrangement I’m most proud of is The Avengers theme; I still remember the amount of blood I sweated to solve the puzzle with that one. On the other hand, I consider the Baldur’s Gate 2 theme to be the most beautiful I’ve played for the memories it personally brings. Also, because it was my first ‘viral’ video and because I was able to perform it in a wonderful Steinway & Sons piano. Finally, the one that has brought more satisfaction in terms of public response is undoubtedly the Beauty and the Beast Prologue, it’s the fan-favourite. Some other special mentions: The Goonies theme for its difficulty and energy, the Christmas Piano Medley because it always brings my mood up, Les Miserables for being the most emotional one, and of course, the Horror Medley Part 1 since it’s the one that put me on the map of Horror music on YouTube. What’s the process for creating an arrangement? Is it different for each one? No, it’s almost always the same and it’s pretty simple. Basically, I try to respect the original version as much as possible, and since most of the orchestral soundtracks offer more than a single piano can perform, the challenge lies in finding ways to fit the most of it in an adequate manner. For that, I never change the bass nor the main melody, and for the rest, I tend to fill the right hand with chords or secondary lines, and the left hand with rhythmical pulses and occasionally chords support or parts even part of a melody when is inevitable. How do you choose what songs to create piano arrangements for? The basic rule for me in order to decide if I want to play a piece or not is that I like it. So the ones that come to mind first are the ones that are personal favourites of mine. I also listen to suggestions that come from subscribers or friends, but in that case, they have to meet the basic rule. Another way is accepting a commissioned arrangement that comes from people who want either the sheet music to play it themselves or to watch myself play it in a video. Why did you start posting videos to the internet on platforms such as YouTube? I don’t remember what or who exactly triggered it for the first time, but I started only 3 years after YouTube’s release, it was the novelty, so I guess I wanted to see how would it be to share my recordings with people from around the world like other artists were doing at the moment in a very fast-growing platform that YouTube was. What are your thoughts on YouTube? I’ve always liked YouTube as a platform, so as a regular consumer since its inception I’ve never grown bored of it. It’s true there are things that I don’t like or haven’t liked in the past, but I’m a person that always chooses to focus on the positive aspects of things when the negative aren’t in my hands to solve, so in the case of YouTube I’ve enjoyed it a lot, both as a consumer and artist. How does it compare to other music platforms? I can’t really say because I’ve never tried any other music platform. For example, I didn’t know until very recently that in Spotify I have a bigger number of listeners than many of the artists I listen to on a regular basis! When it comes to listening to music I’ve become old-fashioned as I still my phone as an MP3 device or just a music player on the PC. I also follow a lot of different artists on YouTube, because I like to see with my own eyes other people’s creativity, not only listen to it. That’s a good way to do it. I still have all my music on my phone! In general, how does the internet impact the music industry? It has changed it completely. Now you don’t need a label to be listened to or promoted because you can do everything yourself and be fine. It has broadened the possibilities for everybody and because of that, the overall industry has grown significantly. How has the internet impacted your music career? It has made it possible, as simple as that. I don’t know if I would have developed it if it wasn’t for the Internet and especially YouTube. Now for an overall question, what is one of the largest obstacles you’ve had to face in your music career? Well, 6 years ago I started developing a wrist injury, and since then my music life has become much harder. I’ve gone through a good number of doctors, physiotherapies, healers, a surgery, all of it without significant results, and so far I have no other choice to accept it and overcome it through mental strength. I still have faith in finding someone that finds a way for my wrist to heal. That’s really rough, I’m sorry to hear that. How do you overcome it? So far I haven’t been able to overcome it successfully and that’s why I have barely been active for the last 2 years. But right now I’m on a personal quest to get back on track. I feel I can play through the pain and I have the motivation, although I know that’s not enough, I also need the constancy. So will see how I perform in the next months. What advice would you give to cover artists just starting out? Invest in decent equipment, it’s very important to offer decent quality, both audio and video. Focus on covering songs that you’re in love with and be a perfectionist, seek for the best take possible. Learn a bit of video editing, it will make your videos much more pleasant to watch. Be patient if you don’t get recognition right away, it often takes time, which you also need to get better. Do you have any concerns with copyright? Well, copyright is a serious matter for artists like me that mainly do covers. I cannot monetize my covers unless the Content ID System detects them as songs with copyright, and only then they may allow you to share a small amount of the profits, which is basically nothing. I have also had issues developing my sheet music, which forced me to stop that activity and are issues I’m still trying to solve. It is sometimes a difficult matter to understand because every country approaches it differently and there is a big mess when it comes to not making mistakes if you want to avoid getting into trouble with the law of who knows which country. What solutions have you found to work through those concerns? I haven’t found any that fully satisfies me yet. I tried purchasing licenses individually, but it’s a pain in the neck. Years ago, I tried to join Musescore but I didn’t meet the requirements somehow, I should try again and see if they have made it easier for artists like me to join. Also, I have had a few offers from several independent sites, but so far I am not fully confident in making that move. What would make it easier for cover artists like yourself? I think right now we have more opportunities than ever to develop and grow successfully, so there’s no excuse not to try and find your way. But to say something, it would certainly help to have a better copyright system on YouTube, because right now it barely does the job, and many people are still abusing it to make a profit from other content creator’s work. What do you see for the future of your musical career? I don’t really like to foresee the distant future, and I don’t have a specific goal that I want to achieve. Instead, I prefer to focus on the present, which includes recording the pieces I have been preparing and work on preparing the next ones to come. I will see if in time I have other motivations or opportunities, for which I’m always open to considering. Could it be composing? Or joining a band? Or performing around the world? Time will tell. That’s a good way to put it. Do you have specific projects that you’re working on? I have a bunch of pieces that I’m planning on recording soon, and also some ideas for the upcoming Halloween. Aside from that, I want to make tutorials of some of the most requested songs on my channel, and lastly, I have a couple of collaborations in the spotlight that can be fun and challenging to assemble. My last question is, is there anything that I didn’t ask about that you want to share? Well, since this will be the last answer, I would like to thank everybody that is supporting me right now, especially my girlfriend and my closest family and friends, it means a lot. I also want to thank my followers and fans. Some of them have been there for years already, waiting patiently for me to come back and deliver more content. I can’t wait to start making progress again, because this is my passion and I’m in debt with myself. Last but not least, thanks to you, Dylanna, for the interview; it was fun and even therapeutic!