How did you start playing piano? 

Well I have to give credit to my elder sister for this. When we were kids, she wanted to have a keyboard to play on so badly, so my parents bought one for her. It just turned out it wasn’t her thing, so I started hitting on those black and white keys for fun and little by little, I eventually discovered a passion for playing piano. 

 

 

So did you take lessons at an early age? 

No. I’m a self-taught musician. You know, the great thing with being your own teacher is that you won’t give yourself bloody assignments that you’d hate and be tearing your hair out for. You only do what you like. I mean of course there’s discipline and hard work (a LOT of it) but for the most part I was truly enjoying the process, and I still am. 

 

 

But you know how to read music, right? 

No, I’m musically illiterate. So basically, I don’t know what I’m doing, but I know it's not nonsense. 
I might do something about it though, if it allows me to grow in the direction I want.

 

 

How did you teach yourself? 

I first tried to play whatever melody I liked by ear. There’s quite a satisfactory sense to this once you manage to find the correct notes, so I’ve been doing it for years. Then I developed a deep interest in the process of creation in music. I started with an electronic keyboard, my compositions sounded like video game music, although that’s not how I intended them to be...

 

 

How the hell do you remember all these pieces by heart
if you can’t read music ? 

Honestly, there's no big secret, and it's true for many musicians. Let me develop.

Part of what I play is based on improvisation. The great thing with impro is that you can interpret the same music differently every time. And you know, to me that’s how it’s supposed to be: the way you express yourself (musically or otherwise) is influenced by your current emotional state, your mindset, your inspiration, etc. It’s like giving a speech that comes truly from the heart, you wouldn’t use the exact same words, phrasing and intonation every time. Similarly, I don't have to play the exact same notes every time I perform. Plus they're my own compositions, so I give myself the freedom to do whatever I want with them.
The second part of the answer is that when I compose and when I’m in the process of recording, I play the pieces SO many times, sometimes playing the same part 100 times in a row. And even after this whole process, I still have to edit the mixing, so I’d have to listen to it again hundreds of times in a row… So at some point I just know it so well that I hate it :) 

 

 

How does your composition process look like? 

When I think about it, most of the time it unfolds pretty organically. At first, I sit in front of the piano and dive into a travel with no destination, just enjoying the current inspiration. And like any travel experience, you make encounters that change the course of your journey and that might give them a whole different meaning. Or perhaps it’s like meeting with someone, noticing something interesting or intriguing about them that grabs your attention, and little by little digging into knowing them and getting into developing a whole relationship with them. That’s how I go about composing most of my pieces.