The Laconic brings a fine selection of prog rock from the studio to your ears. Here is an artist who has expanded his palette to something he might not be able to identify at this point. All we know, is that it has elements that are constantly evolving and growing to make an epic story that is made of dreams. This is his second full length album, Amor Fati.
The bold themes of The Laconic
What are the visuals you aim to conjure with an album like Amor Fati?
I don’t aim to conjure visuals, but emotions. The idea is that if you’re constructed like me, a human who has come, over time, to associate certain kinds of melodies, harmonies, and timbres with certain moods or emotions, then by writing music that evokes in me an emotional story, it may have the same effect on you. In a sense, I don’t play the music, I play how you feel. But it’s only going to work if we share some musical context.
The emotions I aim to conjure with Amor Fati are: joy, acceptance and defiance, courage, wonder, and excitement. There’s not a lot of anger or sadness; there is some anguish though.
Now, if I could conjure visuals with Amor Fati, a few would be: a dancer leaping in the sunshine; Ozymandias, king of kings; a swashbuckler engaged in a swordfight on a tightrope; a bullfighter swirling his cape; a man screaming at the heavens; winter turning to spring.
Series of sounds
Opening with Fate, the collection of instruments and their desired effects is incredible. Like an Opeth alternate, there is a confluence of guitars, drums, pianos and cocoon ambiances that make it heaven to experience. It is like listening to an experience of nature study, observation of its glory. As a song, this is more than perfect for the kind of opening that an album that is spreading its wings would want. Marvelously strong start.
While creating a narrative through rock in a broader spectrum, on what basis do you switch from one kind of rock to another?
There is a story that develops in my head as I write music, and as I hear the music, the story develops. Now, I don’t use lyrics, so I can’t tell you what story I have in my head–not through the music, anyway. But the story has an emotional content to me, and I can write the music in order to evoke that sequence of emotions in myself, and if you hear it, it will (hopefully) evoke the same sequence, to which then you can fit your own narrative. And that’s the magic of music. It’s always personalized, even if the writer doesn’t know you at all, and that’s why we get so passionate about it.
So to the original question: I switch when doing so supports the emotional narrative. This was an important part of writing Amor Fati.
Understanding the narrative
Nona explains itself as a brilliantly written interlude. With polyrhythmic beats and synth sheets claiming the silence, it creates a bed of sound that is surreal to imbibe yourself into. Saber is introduced next. As far as instrumental prog rock goes, it even dips its toes into the kind of melodies Genesis liked to study. The metaphor for the blade it carries is felt in how it is forged, reached the fertile grounds of war and discord. Decima boards itself to be some of the best rhythm plays heard till now on the album. The play constant dynamic change between the instruments, flooded in instances by deeper, sustained notes.
While writing these melodies, how is it that you maintain a cohesive oneness to the compositions?
Something has to carry over from one section to the next, and preferably later sections will reference earlier ones in some way. Often it’s a phrase that’s altered, or appears in a different context, so that it might sound quite different but it is recognizable as the same thing if you pay attention. But it might be an instrument with a distinctive timbre that glues different sections together. Or, obviously, the key or the tempo, if unchanged, will give you some cohesion.
As Dust comes on, it explodes into notes and leads that point somewhere. I was reminded of scenes from Peaky Blinders, especially the arpeggios. It is one of the fullest, unique tracks that I have heard textures being combined and spliced into each other for. The country essence is retained, with the chords and notes as well. The chugging of the Westerns is established by the percussion, the power swerving within the composition.
Distance between projects
How far do you think you’ve traversed since Integrals?
Many leagues. I love Integrals still. I’m always surprised when I listen to it, because I expect it to sound immature or naïve to me, and it just doesn’t. But the compositions on Amor Fati are a level up; generally longer and more complex, with more parts. For example, “Refuge” is nearly 20 minutes long, with around a hundred tracks.
Another feature that sets it apart from Integrals is the extensive use of guest musicians, all of whom made astonishing contributions. Integrals had all programmed drums, while Amor Fati has nearly all real drums, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Juan Dahmen’s drumming, Gary Husband’s keyboards, Aralee Dorough’s flute, Tim Gardner’s and Erik Emil Eskildsen’s touch guitars, Christina Ruf’s cellos, Colin Gatwood’s English horn, and my brother Scott’s guitar, all combine to produce something well beyond what I could have done alone, or even imagined.
The Laconic then proceeds to create an illusion of time through music. One of the most popular ones has been Pink Floyd’s depiction, which is most commonly used. Here, creating the hourglass and ticking hour effect draws something unique and preserved, in its own light. It lays the foundation to what will become Mirror. The result is a digital paradise, the dynamic dissonance almost discombobulating. It unfolds with incredible creativity, having an industrial touch to it. You would almost imagine Trent Reznor having a touch of his composition in this.
Remnant memory and what it does
What vision do you have for The Laconic’s future music? What aspect do you think people instantly connect to?
I think people instantly connect to the melodies. If you’re anything like me–and I know a decent-sized sample of people who are anything like me–the melodies will take up residence in your brain. It’s not unpleasant.
As for future music, I started a third album while the second was being mixed. I’m planning fewer but longer pieces, something not unlike Tales from Topographic Oceans or Incantations. Four songs, each around 15-20 minutes. More cinematic, and more orchestral. I wrote Amor Fati at a breakneck pace — nearly everything was written and recorded in about nine months, and I am not a full-time musician, but a data scientist, so it was like having two careers. I’ll take more time with the next one, maybe twice as much, and take more responsibility for every note.
However, none get you the experience that The Laconic brings with Refuge. An 18+ minute epic, it is a story that has its many twists, turns and straights. All expressed through the miracle that is the instrumental approach. The kind of solos that express themselves as protagonists will blow your mind to bits. It would have been enough to end the album with that. Equinox comes in to do that service. A soothing, beautiful melody is what cuts the silence. The delectable choice of notes will make you wonder, what kind of energy might a composition like this take out of you?
Protagonist and plight-The Laconic
If his 2022 album Integrals was level 3, we jump to a 9, progressively. The quality and expounding effect the music has on you is miraculous. Many of these songs would be great in the BBC documentary, HyperNormalisation (2016). I would prefer if a movie of this prog rock album could be made, as nothing could be more accurate in terms of scene transition. Follow The Laconic and listen to these incredible tracks here:
