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Interview with Dave Flynn
February 16, 2011
Dave Flynn is a composer and guitarist. For information about his work, visit www.daveflynn.com.
Tibbetts: How long have you composed, and what made you decide to become a composer?
Flynn: When I was quite young, maybe 9 or 10, I composed a song based on the bass line of a popular song of the time, The Stray Cat Strut. I was getting a few guitar lessons at the time from my primary school teacher, Alistair McNeill, and he taught me that tune. I'd no formal lessons then really, so composition, including lyrics, just came out of me then.
I was 16 when I composed what I would consider my first formal 'classical' composition. It was a solo guitar piece I initially called Homage to Andy Summers, named after the guitarist in The Police; he was quite inspirational to me then. I've since renamed it Elegy for Joan in honour of my mother who passed away in 2001.
I was still self-taught then. I only got my first formal composition lessons when I entered my undergrad degree course at the age of 22. I still consider myself mostly self-taught, although Malcolm Singer was very helpful in encouraging me to find my own voice. He was my composition tutor when I was a Masters Student at the Guildhall School of Music in London for a year.
I didn't decide to become a composer; I just am one.
Tibbetts: What inspires you?
Flynn: Great music, great art, great scenery and great people.
Tibbetts: Of all you have done, what do you consider your best work, and why?
Flynn: It's hard to single one piece out. I very much like my String Quartet No. 2 'The Cranning' (2005) and String Quartet No.3 'The Keening' (2007), my piece Stories from the Old World (2008) for string quartet, Irish Uilleann Pipes, Irish sean nós singer and narration. My concerto for Irish fiddle and orchestra Aontacht (2008) is also very important to me, as is Music for the Departed (2006), a piece for Irish fiddle, classical violin and guitar.
I like all these works because I feel they represent the emergence of my own voice as a composer. Works written before this are more imitative of other composers. These works bring the worlds of contemporary composition and Irish traditional music together in a way that I'm very satisfied with. Unfortunately there are no studio recordings of any of them to date, but they have all been performed live.
Tibbetts: What is your 'typical day' like?
Flynn: I don't have a typical day. Some days I'm up early in the morning to attend a rehearsal or some mundane appointment. Other days I'm working late into the night on a new composition and don't go to bed until very early in the morning! I'm more of a night owl really; almost all of my composition gets done around the midnight hour.
Tibbetts: Do you have any words of wisdom to offer to aspiring composers and musicians?
Flynn: Three main bits of advice for composers which could also apply to musicians:
1. Follow your heart; compose what you really want to compose. Don't feel you have to fit in with any trends or follow any rules. If you're being taught that atonal, theory based music is the only way forward in modern music, yet you much prefer tonal/modal music, then compose tonal/modal music. If you really like off the wall, avant-garde music yet people around you don't understand it and think you're mad to compose it, don't pay any attention to them. Just compose what you want to compose. Eventually, if you're any good, you'll find an audience that will appreciate your music. For musicians, I'd say play what you really want to play; if you were trained as a classical violinist but really want to be a rock drummer, then learn to become a rock drummer!
2. If you want your music to be heard then do everything you can to get it heard. Keep sending it out to people and performers you admire, and set up your own ensemble to play your music. Again, if you're any good and you believe in yourself then eventually people will start wanting to hear your music.
3. Very importantly, this applies to composers and musicians: try to cultivate your own individual sound. The best way to do this is to immerse yourself in music of all kinds, and keep an open mind. If you hear something and you love it, learn about it and figure out why you love it. If you hate something you hear, learn about it too. Too many musicians and composers I hear sound like other people; often their teachers can have an overbearing influence. There's one renowned composer who has taught many students from around the world and I can hear his influence too much in all of them. You'll always hear traces of some influence in all composers and musicians, but the truly great composers and musicians fuse all their influences into a unique, new sound.
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