NEO CLASSICAL COMPOSER VAGHY
Vaghy (Tamás Vághy) is a Hungarian composer and pianist entering the contemporary and modern classical music scene.
He learned to play the piano at five. Surrounded by his father's old tapes and vinyl, the love of music came naturally. He discovered all kinds of musical styles but rock and classical music were his favourite. He played with many bands in different styles (from rock to metal, from funky to pop) while he became a multi-instrumentalist during his teenage years: apart from the piano he plays synths, the guitar, drums and the flute. By the time he turned 30 he had played thousands of concerts from big festival stages to room and club concerts. While he was active in these formations (currently he is the keyboardist of the well-known Hungarian rock band Anna and the Barbies), he has always played classical and contemporary music at home.
A few years ago he saw a Nils Frahm video and he realized what he had been doing in his bedroom studio was a good way to express himself. His compositions were in the drawer and in his head so after that moment he felt it was time to take them out and finish them. These days he is experimenting a lot within the modern classical style, from chamber music to solo piano music and piano sounds with electronic essentials.
Vaghy, tell us about your greatest inspirations or influences.
When I started playing the piano my only inspiration was that there was a piano in my childhood room. As I started to get to know the instrument and music in a comprehensive way, I met artists who had a great influence on me. These were usually periodic flare-ups, inspirations that I could always let go of to look for newer influences. It was interesting to me that pianists were not always the inspirations. When I was a teenager, I was greatly influenced by the music of Jethro Tull, and as a result, I learned to play the flute, which I played alongside the piano for quite some time. Among the pianists, Theolonoius Monk, Keith Jarrett or Vladimir Horovitz had the greatest influence. Among composers, my absolute favorites were John Cage, Terry Riley and the recently deceased Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Tell us about your creative process with this new album " granum".
All material things come from a seed or grow from a molecular level and become whole. This actual creation from scratch, as something is born from nothing, laid the foundation of the granum album. I thought a lot about how I would write the songs, how they would build on each other and how the whole thing would come together. In the end, I didn't even start writing the songs because I felt that it was more at stake than making the album a series of songs, so I decided to record it for a playback without writing any songs at the same time. I prepared for this in my head, but I let something come up there and then that supports and strengthens my basic concept.
The recording procedure was very simple, I started the recording and just started playing. This artistic improvisation worked to such an extent that the recorded material is exactly what was said there and then in my studio. The arrival from nothing and the full birth was created on the granum album, which I am very proud of.
What does wellbeing mean for you?
For me, this means harmony with myself. Everything comes from that.
During my life, I have noticed that those who are in harmony with themselves achieve their goals much better and their personalities are more manageable. Of course, when it comes to well-being, everyone thinks of financial success, but for me these are not values and cannot be measured by the standard of success. In music, the happiest person is not always the one who sells the most records and earns millions from them. By getting to know yourself and controlling your consciousness, you can reach the milestones where you can fulfill and create your dreams. For me, well-being is essentially harmony.
Anything else you would like to share with us?
At the moment I'm not sitting on my laurels :) My two records released so far are entirely solo pianist records. In the future, I would like to deviate from this on a winking level, to experiment with new things. I have plans for collaborations with other instrumentalists or vocalists. Since improvisation is one of the cornerstones of my piano playing, it follows that I am an experimental type and I want to fulfill my desire for this. Together with my publisher, Theque Records, we are planning to release a next album during the fall. I want to bring these new materials to the stage next year, so I still have a lot of work to do there, since it will no longer be a solo performance but an orchestra. But of course I don't neglect my solo pianist performances either.