‘Departure’ is infused with an atmosphere that varies between acoustic and rock, and with it Laze has managed to combine elements of various genres, guided by an approach to fingerstyle acoustic guitar, bringing a collection of compositions that shine and emerge with a sound that it is all to be discovered.
Here the credit also goes to the articulation with which Igor argues the musical discourse. The progressive imprinting driven by the multiform, vast and refined arrangements is a real joy for the ears, while the voice and the lyrics supply the artistic touch that makes everything fascinatingly cloaked in an aura of evocative and moving magic.
Inspiring, clean, rich and dreamy, Laze surprised us with the fullness and organic nature that only an artist with years of experience like him can give us. Overall, after a little more than an hour of listening, what remains with us is a feeling of openness, of the breadth of the vision of things, as if we had just listen to someone tell a story as deep and passionate as life itself.
Faced with a release so dense with expressiveness and an artist of such great depth and talent, we could not exempt ourselves from wanting to know more. That’s why we tracked down Igor for a short interview. Read on to find out more about Igor Laze and his music.
Hi, Igor, and welcome to the Nova Music blog. Thanks for taking the time to do this short interview.
You come from the Canadian music scene. How is the situation there as a consequence of the worldwide pandemic?
Thank you for having me.
It’s pretty much just like anywhere else, everything is on hold and quite uncertain.
As an artist, how are you facing the current situation, and what impact does it have on you?
Just like any other working musician, all of my performances got either postponed or canceled. I am however trying to use the time at home for creative work on songwriting and practice guitar. Continuous promotion of the album is also a perpetual daily task. There are still plenty of things to do from home and we got to try and make the best of it until this global situation resolves itself.
Your music is deeply rooted in rock, blues and classical music, to which you add infusions of jazzy and progressive motifs. Where does your musical background come from and how do you manage to balance these genres and styles that, at least on paper, would seem very far from each other?
My musical background comes from Classic Rock & Blues because the bands/artists in that genre are the reason why I started playing guitar and writing songs. I love how those bands always have diversity in their music. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Queen, and Pink Floyd have such a wide array of styles in their songwriting and have always evolved their sound. Furthermore, I’ve always loved the raw energy and the authenticity of Rock N’ Roll. I am also a big fan of Classical music and Metal (mainly heavy and melodic, everything from Pantera to Kamelot), which has great attributes of technique, musicianship, and progressive elements. For several years now I’ve been getting into a lot of Jazz and Acoustic Fingerstyle guitar, influenced by Tommy Emmanuel, Chet Atkins, George Benson and etc. I believe every style of music has a magic to it or a powerful message and I always wasn’t shy of infusing different elements from different genres into my songs. I like to explore new music all the time as it could always be a great source of inspiration. On this album, a listener can hear fingerstyle guitar, riffs, keyboard and synth sounds, jazzy runs and pieces of the mentioned musical influences.
One of the peculiarities for which your latest album stands out is its sound: it clearly shows that there were very premeditated research and refinement work behind it, and yet at the same time it feels so genuine, vibrant and instinctive. What’s your secret?
When I set out to do this album, I wanted to keep it acoustic-based and see how far I can go with this approach. Because a lot of the songs on “Departure” could easily be turned into heavier rock/metal songs, but I wanted to experiment and showcase the power of the acoustic guitar. This was my first full album release as a solo artist and I found that this way, with an acoustic right by my heart, I could express myself genuinely. There are definitely some effects, interesting sounds, lush orchestrations, but the whole album is purely acoustic in terms of guitar playing. A lot of the tunes involve complex fingerstyle arrangements, some odd time parts, and the music just wrote itself hence making it real and honest.
Can you give us any anticipation about your next projects?
I am working on a few projects at the moment. I will be releasing an instrumental, solo acoustic fingerstyle album early next year. I will also be releasing singles in different styles continuously, ranging from rock, pop, country, and jazz.
Where can fans and people whose interest we picked with this interview find out more about you and your music?
The best way is through my Official website: www.igorlaze.com
And also these links:
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/igorlaze
Twitter: www.twitter.com/igorlaze
Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/7jZTWcAu99fKREUtfN0aUM
Thank you so much.
Please stay safe everyone!