10 Questions with Brandon Ridenour

CLICK TO PRE-ORDER | Live from New York, it’s Sybarite5

1. Where did you grow up?
   Haven’t fully accomplished this yet, but I was in Grand Rapids then Kalamazoo, MI until the age of 17.

2. What made you realize that music was your path?
   I was 14 and everyone in my high school band was moved to tears at the end of our final concert together. The music brought it out. All of my extra activities were music related then and most of my friends we complete music nerds. I was one with them.

3. How would you describe the music that you typically create?
   Probably influenced by the things I’ve been listening to most recently. It’s much more in the jazz and pop worlds now compared to how I was writing 10-20 years ago.

4. Who are your biggest musical influences?
   Compositionally - Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Brahms, Gershwin, Bernstein, Ligeti, Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Quincy Jones, Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy, Bird, Clifford Brown, Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Radiohead, Chicago, Queen, Tower of Power, Earth Wind and Fire, Tuneyards, Dirty Projectors, Jacob Collier, Punch Brothers, Chris Thile, Wulfpeck.

5. What makes your music unique?
   It’s a recycling and meshing of all the music I like most, and nobody likes exactly what I like.

6. Has there been one particular moment in your musical career that you're most proud of?
   Maybe in the future one will stand out.

7. What made you want to write?
   It feels good to let go of your creativity and see how it lands. 

8. What is your favorite thing about the NuPac Kanon you wrote for Sybarite5?
   I know Sybarite5 just wants to rock out, so I wrote them a piece where they could do that... if they want.

9. Where did you get the idea for this piece? 
   Oh boy…I’m afraid it’s personal, but here we go anyway... 

   When I wrote the piece, I was feeling an intense, looming weight and pressure to get married. Unfortunately, the time and situation just didn’t feel right. I felt immense conflict. I also frequently questioned the concept of marriage and if it’s the right thing for everyone. I thought constantly about other human traditions and those who break away from them. This served as the initial spark of the piece and the rest followed.

10. What’s the next thing for you?
    My group, Founders, is going to release a double album - Songs for the End of Time. 
    Part 1, a new arrangement re-imagining Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time”. 
    Part 2, original songs we’ve written in response to this and our current time.
    It’s heavy.