“I’ve always loved music. As far back as I can remember the thing that moved me the most, and that always instantly grabbed my attention was music. As I was growing up, I was as into classical music as I was the hits of the day. I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s but listened as much to the music from previous decades as I did to the hits of the day.
Stu Last
As my taste in music evolved, I found myself drawn to rock music, although I kept my love of classical music. I have fond memories of the music of the ’80s and the rock bands of the ’80s and ’90s. I also have a soft spot for electronic music and, although this all might seem a bizarre mix, it’s led me on a path to where I am now.
My real love these days is for film music. The work of Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Burkhard Dallwitz and many of the current film composers use elements of all my musical passions to create modern masterpieces bursting with emotion and story-telling. I have no doubt in my mind that these beautiful compositions will be regarded as the classical music of our age.
A big part of my love for music is that even as a young child, I had access to musical instruments. Something I am immensely grateful for. Aside from the obligatory recorder, I’ve played violin, piano and organ; I’ve sung in choirs and taught myself to play the guitar. I ended up singing and playing guitar in a few rock bands, one of them relatively successfully though, thankfully, not famously.
It’s one of my deepest held beliefs that music should be shared and that sharing music is a fundamental part of our social and psychological being. Whether that sharing is from performing, composing or just saying to a friend ‘listen to this!’, or revelling in the joy of live music, it really doesn’t matter. The act of sharing music builds our social experiences, and impacts on our emotional state. To share music is to share a part of your soul with those around you.
I haven’t performed on stage for over 10 years now, but I’m still deeply in love with music and, over the past few years, I’ve found myself yearning for a new way to share the music I hold within me with anybody who is willing to take the time to listen. The influences of my musical journey, and those wonderful composers who help tell the stories of films, have come together in my desire to compose new, original music. This is the music that I want to share with the world.
As I compose, I am discovering aspects of myself I really wasn’t aware of until I came to put notes on the staff. Like many composers, those aspects of my soul, and the emotions I hold within become mixed in with the musical story-telling on which I’ve now embarked.”