Dive into Daniel Inzani's Rich and Diverse Sonic Landscape

A pivotal figure in the Bristol music scene for many years, Daniel Inzani’s sonic world is rich and diverse, intricate and exquisite, vibrant and playful. Ahead of his upcoming twelve-piece performance at St George’s this April as part of his Selected Worlds tour, we caught up with Daniel to talk connection, opening up classical music and so much more.

This season guide is themed around the concept of ‘strength in togetherness’. What does this mean to you?

Togetherness is the first thing that seems like an obvious connection to my music. In order for the projects to work, the musicians have to have a sense of community. They have to enjoy the music, enjoy the experience and we need to have a scenario where people have a creative input and have their set parts but we need to perform together and keep that community. Friendship is also important in this process. The strength comes from that community. It’s a great honour to play with musicians like that and it gives me strength having that network of players and friends.

Going back to your beginnings, when did you first begin to experiment with sound and form the foundations of the sound you create today?

I have a bit of a back-to-front upbringing in the way I’ve gone into music. A lot of people who play classical or chamber music were learning their craft from a very young age but I didn’t really start learning until I was about 16 and I’m a self-taught pianist and composer so I learnt on the job really. I’ve just always played with other people and learnt that way. When I was 16, I met someone who was obsessed with The Beatles. So when I had these recurring health issues and needed to stay in hospital for long periods of time, I would listen to the full discography he’d lent me on my Walkman—chronologically while on a drip of morphine! That sort of changed my perception of what music was. From then, I just played with other musicians as much as possible and as many different types of music as possible.

Like your musical influences, Selected Worlds is rich and diverse in nature, moving through an exquisite array of soundworlds over the course of three discs. Can you tell us a little more about the narrative of this album?

I feel like these are the three distinct sides to our musical personality, from the more formal first disc to a soundtrack for the imagination in the second and a more contemporary jazz style in the third. With other projects, I’ve struggled to talk about narrative because I almost don’t like to give much away. You might try to capture the feeling of a moment or plot or story—a melody might represent the way in which a character might say something and the harmony that is put against might make that seem anything from ironic to strident. The rhythmic element and the soundscapes can represent landscape or movement and when you put it together, I feel like each piece is a journey where it’s up to the listener’s imaginations to fill in the gaps. I’ve often had people after a show share their interpretations and I often see where they’re coming from and I’m pleased I didn’t give much away about what it meant to me because I feel like it would compromise the beauty of the listener’s experience.

How have you found the music scene here in Bristol and how has it affected you over the years as an artist?

It’s had a huge, huge impact. I live in Stroud now—I moved here a few years ago—and it’s highlighted what the Bristol scene is like, being a little further away from it. From the outside, when people think of Bristol music, they might be a little side-tracked by its reputation for festival music, party bands and music of that nature. But I started finding these more experimental, underground musicians, I realised there’s this whole semi-connected network of alternative musicians who are around and creative. Here in Stroud, there aren’t quite so many events—I mean, it does punch above its weight!—but it’s not like Bristol where almost every night you can find yourself at a gig, you influence each other and end up in someone’s garden at two am talking about music. Having a scene like that is so wonderful. No matter how you might express yourself as a musician, you still need to live your life in a way that is inspiring to you. Nature has also been that for me but in Bristol, that network was crucial because it was so important to be surrounded by such amazing musicians and everyone’s creativity. And I am still a part of it, just slightly further away!

Here at St George’s, we’re shining a light on music’s capacity to bring people together and pushing for the spaces music creates to be open and accessible to all. What is your experience of this and how does it influence the music you create?

I have had wonderful experiences of this and have been quite educated along the way. Since moving to Stroud, I joined the Hidden Notes Festival and Hidden Notes Records team that curates that and it has always been important to Hidden Notes as an organisation to present modern classical and avant-garde music in a very accessible way and a way in which you may not expect to see classical music in particular. We programme back-to-back experimental music of this nature with a bar, where all ages are welcome, with a festival atmosphere and accessible pricing. We recognised how important that was and the atmosphere that creates compared to some of the other venues and scenarios we’ve played in. Without that, you can feel that weird boundary between audience and performer. For me, it’s crucial to have that—I don’t feel comfortable unless the performance feels accessible.

What can our audiences expect from your performance here at St George’s?

This will be the first time that I’ve had the entire gang. It will be the full twelve-piece ensemble that can perform all works from all three discs—a string quartet, horn section, woodwind, guitar, drums, tuned percussion, bass and piano. It’s hugely exciting for me. We’ll just keep adding musicians until the second half where it’ll be the full twelve-piece!

As we look ahead into this new year, what are you most looking forward to?

For the next few months I’ll be working on a soundtrack but I’m not supposed to say any more than that! But I’m so pleased to be doing that. In a way, Selected Worlds works quite well as a portfolio because I’ve been wanting to write music for soundtracks for a long time. Then I’ve got tour dates—some with solo piano and all the way up to the twelve-piece. It’s very exciting to the starting the new year with this music I’ve made being in the real world—it feels a bit like a fresh start. Then all being well, I might even be able to sneak out a solo piano album at some point along the way!

If you could leave us with one desert island track what would it be?

Ravel’s String Quartet in F. It changed my life a little bit. I hadn’t truly appreciated the impressionist era of music until someone recommended I listened to that and it absolutely blew me away.

Experience Daniel Inzani: Selected Worlds at St George’s on Thu 17 Apr, 8pm.Book your tickets now.

Words by Louise Goodger