Composer Logan Larson Let’s Us In On His Latest Mastery, “The Monster You Made”

A warm welcome to BuzzMusic Logan Larson. We loved "The Monster You Made," we had to ask! What was the inspiration behind this project?

The album and the genre it encompasses started over a decade ago from my love of the classical arts and Electronic Dance Music (EDM). My background in dance tied music and movement together for me. Developing a love for classical composition and EDM in my late teens, I wanted to find a way to combine them into something new.

I did three degrees in classical composition to learn everything I could about orchestration, counterpoint, and music theory. Equally, I learned as much as I could about EDM production from various sources. There are things I love about each of these worlds and things I believe are missing. My goal with the genre that is showcased on the album was to fill in the gaps of what I saw needing to improve in any prior fusion music of these two genres.

For classical works with electronics, the electronics created the sound world but were always in the background and never got their chance to shine. In EDM works that added classical instruments, I have often felt the instruments were only mimicking parts of the EDM and not supplying anything original.

There was no contrapuntal complexity or actual virtuosic passages for the players. My solution to this was the Bass Complexity genre. It's a true 50/50 split of what makes both genres great. Classical music's complexity of contrapuntal lines, orchestration, mode mixture, and church modes combined with the visceral synths and drums of EDM.

What was your favorite part of bringing your vision for "The Monster You Made" to life, and do you have a favorite track from the album?

My favorite part of this album was working with exceptional musicians to create this music. Additionally, learning about mixing and production greatly benefited my development as an engineer and producer. Some of my favorite tracks are the third movement of We Are The Unbroken, the third movement of Forgotten Faces (Space Bound), Turn My Heart To Stone, and At My Pace.

What does music mean to you, and do you have any particularly fond musical memories you'd like to share?

Music is my life; it is my everything. One of my favorite musical memories occurred during my live premiere of the four movements of "Forgotten Faces" on the album. The conductor, Dr. Matthew Smith, told the audience about my passion for combining classical music and EDM, and there was audible laughter from a specific part of the auditorium at the notion that someone would attempt to create such music.

When the piece finished, the people who had laughed approached me to get my autograph. These people were in their 70s and 80s and commented that as soon as the piece began, they knew they were witnessing something special. My musical goals have always been geared towards inspiring young people, but seeing that my work can translate across generations made this memory truly special.

If your listeners could take one thing away from your music, what would you want it to be?

Acoustic, classical instruments, and heavy EDM synths can combine, be complex regarding musical lines, and make something unique.

What's next for Logan Larson? Can we expect to hear more new music soon, and is there anything you want to say to your fans?

I'm going to keep making more bass-complexity music to continue to inspire the younger generation to attend and participate in more classical music events. To my fans, thank you for listening to the album, and I'm looking forward to continuing to make more music for various instrumentations for you all going forward.

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