Music Within is the project of Toronto based composer & producer Rob McAllister, who creates diverse original music to help tell great stories. Rob is a classically trained pianist with a curiosity and passion for learning new instruments and exploring new sounds. This has fueled the addition of many new sound pallets into his productions.
Music Within's ambient new single, "Equanimity", is the title track from his new album. The song evokes the definition of the word: calmness, composure, and evenness of temper. Take a listen to the new release and read our chat below!
What is the inspiration behind your new release, "Equanimity"?
Earlier this year I began learning a bit about stoic philosophy. Ideas spoken by Epictetus like: “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” Now I am by no means an exemplary person in this regard and far from it, but the concept struck a chord deep within me.
The word equanimity completely embodies this concept, and is defined as ‘mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.’ I’ve started repeating the word often to myself when I feel like I’m losing my composure. While it’s great to intend to be in control of our reactions, it can be so difficult in reality. We are all human and we react to the situations in our lives with a range of emotions. The 12 tracks on this album reflect those human emotions, ranging from moods of melancholy, sadness, and pain to love, awe, and inspiration.
How did you first discover your passion for creating the Music Within sound?
I’ve played piano since a young age and have always had a love for classical music. After completing a course in audio production, I was fortunate to get introduced into the world of music for picture, having opportunities to create music for TV shows, advertisements, and documentaries – which I still currently do. This of course led me to soundtracks and film scores. I became fascinated and blown away when I listened – the compositions, the use of sound, texture, ‘colour’, and the moods created. This broad category of music has since become a source of endless inspiration for me. Since no big film directors are calling me up to score their films yet, I figure I’ll create and share the ‘soundtracks’ that are growing within me.
What goes through your mind when you are crafting your songs?
I can’t easily answer the question because it isn’t always the same and depends on many things – what is happening in my life at the time, how I’m feeling, what I’ve listened to recently, and so on. But usually I do try to internalize why I’m writing this new piece. This answer can stay pretty broad or get very specific. But I find that just reflecting on the question helps me gain clarity. It helps me to eliminate certain options and at least find a starting point to begin chipping away at an idea. Then as I’m experimenting, I often ask myself if the elements I’m adding in help to convey the feeling I’m after.
For example, with ‘Solace’, the 5th track from the new album, I had just found out about the death of a loved one. I was feeling some very heavy sadness and loss. Deep down there was also some comfort in knowing that they were no longer in pain. This very strong and clear ‘why’ helped guide me forward toward what is now Solace – an emotional, slow-moving, gradually building piece, on piano and strings with a soft female voice.
What are your favorite venues to perform at? If you had to choose, would you choose the studio or stage, and why?
As of right now, Music Within is only a studio project with no performance part to it. I would like that to change in the future, but for the time being my sights are focused on composing and releasing more music.
What does your writing process look like? What is the process like? Does it take you days, weeks, even longer? How does the perfect piece come together?
As mentioned above, having a sense of ‘why’ is often, though not always, the first part of my process. Then I’ll sit at the piano, keyboard, or with a guitar to see what ideas surface. I can’t really explain this part other than to say that for me it really is just throwing a bunch of ideas against the wall and seeing what sticks. When I come up with something that I’m feeling good about I’ll record it into Logic – the music recording software I use. Song arrangement (repeating this section or that section) and song production (adding in a synth layer, or a cello line for example) happen simultaneously for me, as they each help clarify the other. Usually 2 or 3 days of focused effort will have a song in a pretty good place. If I’m getting additional musicians to play on it, creating parts and scheduling the session and all of that adds more time. I like to ‘finalize’ the song fresh in the morning after sleep and a break, when things are much more clear. I use quotations around finalize because sometimes I’ll end up making minor tweaks weeks later.
In a couple short sentences how would you define your sound?
Well first off let me just say that truly I’m still discovering my sound. But I think in essence what ties all of my music together is that it is cinematic and emotional. Whether I write a piece for solo piano, string quartet, or create an ambient soundscape, I want it to evoke specific feelings for listeners. I want my music to conjure memories, to underscore daydreams, to be a soundtrack to life.
What do you hope to accomplish as we head towards 2020?
As you know my new album, Equanimity, just came out. So a big objective over the next little while is to get it in front of as many people as possible. It’s some of the strongest music I’ve ever written and I want it to connect with others. Currently I hover around 40k monthly listeners on Spotify and I’d love to double that before the year’s end. I just found out that the title track Equanimity is featured in Apple Music’s ‘Sleep Sounds’ playlist, which is exciting. So more of that!
Of course I intend to keep writing new music and put out singles and EPs throughout 2020. I hope attract the support of a publisher who can push my new music further through their connections and sync placement exposure.
I also want to start doing some intimate performances of my solo piano material in 2020. Trying to tackle all of the layers in my music in a live setting is daunting for me right now, so I think going with just the piano for a while is a good starting place. Then maybe bring on a string player or two, see how it goes.
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