Travis Laplante - Sunday Interview ~ The Free Jazz Collective

Sunday, September 1, 2024

Travis Laplante - Sunday Interview

Sunday, September 01, 2024 Sunday Interview No comments

Photo by Jan Gates

What is your greatest joy in improvised music?

Improvising has taught me how to heighten my senses so I can respond more fully to life in a given moment. This goes beyond music-making. It is this feeling of presence in the unknown that makes me feel more alive, vulnerable, and joyful. Improvising has also greatly assisted me in how to love others through listening, responding, and finding points of human connection.
What quality do you most admire in the musicians you perform with?

Although I admire the unique qualities that each musician carries, the attribute that’s probably most important for me in a collaborator is the ability to give oneself to the collective sound and put the music and connection between each other before themselves. I admire people who perform without the desire to prove anything or impress other people. I gravitate toward working with people who carry a serious devotion and keep the music itself at the core of their being, regardless of external recognition.
Which historical musician/composer do you admire the most?

I could name so many, but the person who comes to my mind in this moment is Hildegard Von Bingen.
If you could resurrect a musician to perform with, who would it be?

I don’t want to resurrect the dead!
What would you still like to achieve musically in your life?

I mostly practice the philosophy of “a day at a time” without thinking about external achievement, and instead do my best to trust life and follow what I feel most passionate about. These days the main “achievement” for me is to have time, space, and energy to keep going deeper into the bottomless well of music, keep opening my ears, and to continue learning. In this way I hope to have more to offer to others as I get older. Perseverance itself is a great achievement. I also hope to give all that I know to at least one person before I die.
Are you interested in popular music and - if yes - what music/artist do you particularly like?

I enjoy many different kinds of music, including popular music. My earliest musical memory is listening to Queen while I was in a crib. I also listened to a lot of Genesis, U2, Super Tramp, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, etc. before I began playing music. These days I don’t feel connected as much to popular music compared to when I was a kid but I still listen to the current hits for my own awareness.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

The one thing that I might wish to change the most is my relationship to time. This is something that I have been working changing for some time but it still needs work! I often feel like there isn’t enough time which feels disrespectful to life and I would like to remedy this. I would like to step outside of my all-too-aggressive relationship to time and instead have a relationship that is more in alignment with the deeper rhythms of the Earth, the seasons, and myself. I feel like if we were able to live more in accordance with the rhythms of our creativity, this could yield music that is closer to the heart. It’s very difficult as an artist to leave the belief and collective illusion that the busier we are, the more successful we are. Most of us are struggling to make a living so this adds another component to spreading ourselves too thin, but I find that our relationship to the music can sometimes suffer because of it. I realize that there isn’t a magical solution to this externally, but I feel like there are other possibilities within myself. On the other hand, I often have an abstract sense that I still have a lot more work to do and that I don’t want to die until it’s complete. This feeling creates a general sense of urgency in my life. Although I think there is truth in this feeling and that it’s good to live life as if one isn’t going to live forever, there is a fine line between this and living in fear and stress that there isn’t enough time.
Which of your albums are you most proud of?

I’ve released albums steadily, with an average of one album every year since 2010. However, this hasn’t been influenced by external superficial voices that I need to keep releasing things to stay visible or relevant. Each project has carried meaning and has been something that I’ve worked extremely hard on. The few exceptions have been fully improvised albums Tunnel to Light, Ancestral Instrument and Secret Meeting . These albums were simply documents of exceptional improvisations that I wanted to preserve through time and share with others. I usually feel most proud of whatever I’ve most recently completed since it feels the most relevant to where I’m at the given moment.
Once an album of yours is released, do you still listen to it? And how often?

I often obsessively listen to my albums during the mixing and mastering process, which I’m almost always involved in. Once an album is released I’ll listen to it once or twice and then usually have to focus my attention elsewhere. I revisit older albums now and then.
Which album (from any musician) have you listened to the most in your life?

There was a period of about a year while I was in high school when I listened to John Coltrane’s Transition on repeat every night while I slept. I can safely say that I’ve listened to that album over a thousand times.
What are you listening to at the moment?

I’ve been listening to a lot of emo and post-hardcore music lately like Thursday, Saves the Day (early albums), Pool Kids, and On The Might of Princes. I’ve also been listening to Edgard Varèse’s symphonic works, Juri Seo’s Toy Store, and the Stories for a Living Future Podcast. In addition, I listen to Guy Gavriel Kay’s books on tape while exercising.
What artist outside music inspires you?

One artist who I greatly admire outside of music is artist Sarah. H. Paulson. I’m biased since she’s my favorite person in the world, but she’s genuinely inspired me by her uncompromising relationship to her work and how she gets out of the way for the brush strokes or words to move through her, onto the page. She has the ability to self-reflect and critique her own work in an extremely honest way, and she only creates work when she feels called to. Sarah has managed to exist outside of most of the superficial aspects of the art world while still maintaining a rigorous practice that is continuously evolving. Check out her work www.sarahhpaulson.com