This instalment in the Earmark series features Luis Ramirez! Devoted followers of the CMC Ontario blog might recall a recent appearance from Luis and as you might expect, he gushes about Jacob Collier (a bit!), but we also hear about Stravisnky and disbelief, tango, and Youtube accompaniment.

CMC: What got you excited about music at a young age?

Luis Ramirez: Disney’s Fantasia probably was an unconscious but extremely influential film when I was six or seven, since all of that film’s music is deeply engraved in my brain.

I think the biggest factor that got me was the “magic” in music, its mystery… not fully believing that what I was hearing was possible. I can be more specific—I remember that the beginning of “The Glorification of the Chosen One” from Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring drove me wild. I was so confused—how is it even remotely possible that a combination of instruments is producing this? I was just a child, but I was convinced that this sound was magical and originates beyond this world. It was a visceral reaction, and I was infatuated with the rawness of this musical gesture.

I guess what really got me into music was skepticism: not trusting that these sounds were at all possible. Turns out they are, you just need to be Stravinsky.

CMC: What is an important music concert/event you attended?

LR: Seeing Jacob Collier live in Toronto in June of 2019 was one of the most inspiring concerts I have ever witnessed. I was already fascinated by his musical eloquence and eclecticism from watching his YouTube videos, but I had to see it with my own eyes. His live performance confirmed that it is possible to possess masterful musicianship, combined with incredible technical skills and a charming personality. During that performance I had a sense of wonder akin to the magic that I got from Stravinsky, and I think Jacob is one of the best magicians out there right now. It is my vision as an artist to strive for this sense of magic in my compositions and performances.

CMC: What have you been listening to lately?

LR: I have been listening to a lot of tango. A lot. I was introduced to it by my Tango Quintet Amarras and it has been quite a journey. I started with the golden age tango classics: Pugliese, Troilo, D’Arienzo. Now I am trying to find my place in the contemporary tango scene. It is a niche community but I find some of the music to be extremely powerful in its emotional content. As a group we perform a lot of Julian Peralta’s contemporary tango music, particularly from his album Quilombo, and his music is a big influence in my own exploration within this genre. I find this environment a phenomenal space for expanding musical boundaries, plus I have a patient band that is willing to try out weird things for me!

Not too long ago I wrote a blog post about my experience listening to music, here is the link in case anyone is interested.

CMC: How do you define your musical/artistic community?

LR: I am so fortunate to have so many dear friends who are also fantastic musicians. I met most of them during my studies, and others through festivals and music-making opportunities. Although they are scattered across Canada, I am so happy that I am still able to contact them and coordinate concerts when our schedules allow it.

In fact, my dear friends Jesse Plessis and Theresa Thordarson started a small music festival in Lethbridge, Alberta. We are discussing the possibility of replicating something like that in the future, so I am looking forward to that.

I recently moved to Toronto. While it was hard at the beginning to get a sense of belonging to the community, I have been slowly getting more acquainted with the local performers and musicians here and I am very excited to see what opportunities arise.

CMC: Tell us about a project of yours that you are particularly proud of.

LR: Definitely My First Vlog for cello and YouTubers. I started working on this composition in late 2016 and it took me until the beginning of 2018 to release it in the music video format that I envisioned. It was painstakingly crafted from short audio excerpts of more than 40 videos on YouTube, and the video editing was equally overwhelming. I focused on vloggers and their obsession with numbers in terms of views and likes. To be fair, that attitude is driven by YouTube’s unfortunate lack of transparency behind their recommendation algorithm, but with my piece I focus on the perpetuation of this superficial need for validation and its influence on younger generations.

The darker subtext in this composition is noticed by the decreasing ages as the music goes on while maintaining the exact same narrative of wanting likes and subscriptions. The ending of the piece always creeps me out, because sadly it was not that hard to find videos where parents are exploiting their children in order for them to make money. In fact, shortly after the premiere of my piece there was the case of the YouTubers from the DaddyOFive channel who got charged with two counts of child neglect, resulting in a loss of custody of two of their kids.