Electronic artist and harpist Lara Somogyi chatted about her new music, and being a part of the digital age.
How did you approach the song selection process for the new album “! (expansion)”?
I was excited to expand upon the compositions from my debut record “!” that came out last year and further explore these pieces and the sound worlds. I have such a deep love for exploring the harp’s sonic capabilities that adding to the original pieces felt very captivating. I felt like orchestral expansions, bringing in other artists to do remixes, and diving in deeper to expand on my own compositions on the harp could be really thrilling.
Creating orchestral versions felt natural as I have so much history rooted in the orchestra and symphonic spaces so creating orchestral accompaniments was very meaningful for me.
Cyrus Reynolds who arranged and orchestrated the strings has such a unique and striking symphonic language and I was honored to work with him — he brought so much beauty to orchestral expanses.
I also felt very honored to work with the absolutely brilliant artists who remixed pieces from “!” — Kinnship, CARM & Trever Hagen, and Joviale all have such incredible music and I’ve been a big admirer of all of their work for a long time.
Each of their artistry is so luminous, amazing, and palpable and they brought such incredible visions and reworking to the original pieces. It’s such an honor that they are a part of this expansion record.
For the harp and acoustic expanses, I wanted to dive deeper into the compositions and really sit with each of the pieces and allow them to bloom naturally out of my own expansive curiosity.
What is your personal favorite song on there and why?
It’s so hard to choose a favorite because each holds such a special place in my heart! All of the different expansions, and artist remixes bring such expression on the original compositions, and it was so exciting to hear each come to life!
“aviary ii” was a really joyous one for me to record and expand upon, as I was quite free with the wild and sweeping glissandos, electronics, and glitch fx.
There were no rules or second guessing or examination on that one, as it truly was physical in nature with the expressive gestures coming from the instrument in the moment that flowed right to the harp.
What inspires your music and songwriting?
The thing that inspires me most when composing and playing the harp, is actually the namesake of this version of the “!” album: expanse!
I feel most comfort in expansive sonic spaces when there are no rules and a pure limitless scope to write and explore sonically.
I usually start from a place of being very present with my instrument, almost like meditation, and then let my fingers and body take the reins rather than my brain. I really love and feel invigorated by new sounds/shapes/sonorities.
So what brings me enchantment when working on music is exploration and expanse.
How does it feel to be an artist and harpist in the digital age? (now with streaming, technology, and social media being so prevalent)
Being an artist and harpist in the digital age can be creatively very enthralling. Never before have we been able to have this many powerful tools to empower artists.
It can be sometimes challenging to balance the worlds of creation and music-making/writing with social media, however, I really savor and enjoy being able to visualize my music into different mediums (visual art, video), which further can inspire my music.
So sometimes, even before writing, I’ll create a visual board that will inspire the type of sound world I want to create.
I also feel merging contemporary techniques on the harp with the limitless tools of sound manipulation and technology, inspires me to continuously explore the sounds and my inner expressions on the instrument that I love so much.
What do your plans for the future include?
There’s a whole slate of releases planned into next year and I can’t wait to share them! I’m excited to share a short documentary of the ‘making-of ‘ this record soon as well as some live performance videos of a few of the pieces from “! (expansion)”.
I’m also looking forward to playing more of these live and maybe some programming with orchestras as well.
What does the word success mean to you?
Success to me is the presence of gratitude, joy, community, relationships, peace, kindness, and enchantment. Also musically, I love when an artist or piece can evoke a powerful change in feeling while I listen to their music.
If I could evoke a feeling within the listener, so that there is a shift and change within them, that also feels very exciting and successful. That is the entire concept behind “!” which can be defined as a marked shift in tone or expression.
I wanted to change the way people feel, about the world around them but also about the harp, which has so many connotations attached to it that I really wanted to challenge with this record.
This is one of the main reasons I insisted on the original “!” record and its many sounds being made only from the harp, whether it be percussion, atmospheres etc. With “! (expansion)” it’s very exciting to be able to add to that intention but by adding in other voices and hopefully new sonic expanse!
What would you like to tell our readers about “expansion”? (what’s the one thing you want them to get out of it)
“!” and “! (expansion)” records are about creating bold textures and landscapes on the harp, weaving vibrant and exclamatory sonic statements into an emotional tapestry using timbres, textures, ways of experiencing the harp and these expansions in ways the listener might not be used to hearing.
This album to me expresses a lot of my emotion on the harp and giving this instrument a new sonic narrative that makes me feel strongly. It’s an exploration of self and sound.
I hope this album evokes an emotion from the listener or perhaps stirs a change of feeling for them.
Her album is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
To learn more about Lara Somogyi and her new music, visit her official website and follow her on Instagram.
