Scott Lawlor Interview

Introduction

I have only known Scott Lawlor for a few months.  I had seen his name around some of the netlabel communities, and a couple of labels but hadn’t had a chance to check out his work.  That is, until Scott asked me to check out The Madness That Lurks Within for possible review.  I liked the work so much that I did write a review about of the release.  Given how much I liked that work, doing a Scott Lawlor interview only makes sense.

Scott started composing music back in 1991, but took a break from it between 1997-2013.  It was only for this interview that I found out how much work Scott has done in the last two years.  He has released works on over fifteen netlabels: Treetrunk Records, Free Floating Music, weareallghosts, Aural Films, 45 Echoes Sounds, earthMANTRA, Buddhist on Fire, BFW recordings, Petroglyph Music, Nostress Netlabel, Dystimbria, Sound For Good Records, Happy Puppy Records, Sombre Soniks, Subterranean Tide and Webbed Hand Records.  This is a feat that I think few other artists (except maybe Tony Levin) could match.

This interview was conducted, as all the others in this series, via email a few weeks ago.  Since the time of the interview he has had a couple of new releases. To keep track of all his releases check out The Blind Flight, Scott’s website.

If you are an artist releasing music under a Creative Commons license, or a netlabel that releases music under a Creative Commons license and would like to be interviewed send me a message via my Contact Form.  Please include a link to your website, release pages, and whatever other information you think is appropriate and I will respond.

The Interview

Part One:  The Music

Introduce Yourself

My name is Scott Lawlor and I am an ambient musician as well as a stay-at-home dad of two little ones. I also enjoy broadcasting and have been doing that since 2008 and I’ve made quite a number of good friends on the internet as a result of both my music and broadcasting activities.

Do you have any aliases?

I go by “The Navigator” when I’m broadcasting, I thought it was a suitable alias because I navigate the listener through ambient soundscapes every week on the Blind Flight Show.

Do you focus on specific styles of music?

I’ve had releases that are light ambient, space, dark ambient, and concept tracks, some with spoken word as well as other instrumental works inspired by literature. I probably lean more towards dark ambient however.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on a couple of projects, one of them being a set of works inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy and the other work is a concept inspired by Saucerful of Secrets by Pink Floyd, one of my all-time favorite tracks by them. It’s not a concept in the literal sense, but when I listen to it, I feel like I’m going on a journey so I guess it’s conceptual to the individual listener, or has the potential to be.

What inspires you?

Mostly outer space and the planets, classic literature, and even politics, at least for one release that was put out this year.

Name an artist, place, event, that has inspired your work.

Artists who have inspired me include Steve Roach, Robert Rich, Pink Floyd, Merzbow, Klaus Schulze, Suzanne Ciani, and John Zorn to name a few.

What drives you to create music?

I have always wanted to play music ever since I was a child and it was when I was in graduate school that I acquired my first synthesizer and found out how fun it was to create music. At that time, I did mostly new-age and it wasn’t until much later that I discovered ambient and then tried my hand at it.

What role does community play in your music?

Community is very important in what I do because if it weren’t for all the net labels out there and people who were willing to release my music, I wouldn’t have an audience and I wouldn’t have made some of the great connections I’ve made on the internet.

Part Two: Netlabels and Creative Commons

How did you get into Netaudio / Creative Commons?

I believe my first encounter with netlabels was with the old Earthmantra site when it was run by Palancar back in the day, probably 4 or 5 years ago. I can’t remember who I first heard from the label, it was probably either Altus or Lucette Bourdin.

Do you release all your work under a CC license, and what was your first Creative Commons release?

Yes. My first release (since 2013) was a track for a compilation called 3m33s. [Ed: Scott’s track is number 12.]

Have you had any positive experiences with a release because it was under a Creative Commons license?

A friend of mine who also releases music, remixed my Dark Flow CD into a work called ‘Black Gravity’ and I hope it’s released soon.

Have you had any negative experiences with a release because it was CC licensed?

Not that I can think of.

Part Three: Upcoming Projects, Events, etc. To Promote

I don’t have exact release dates yet, but I have a 4 CD set with EugeneKha coming out later this year called Jupiter’s Cyclone, and perhaps a few more Drone Excursions releases.

In Closing

Scott Lawlor may be one of the most prolific netlabel artists I have encountered.  I can think of only one other netlabel artist that is anywhere near as prolific as Scott (who will be the subject of an upcoming interview).  On top of this, Scott is a family man, and seems like a really nice guy, the kind of person that makes me proud to run this website and give voice to artists in the Netlabel community.

If you are an artist releasing music under a Creative Commons license, or a netlabel that releases music under a Creative Commons license and would like to be interviewed send me a message via my Contact Form.  Please include a link to your website, release pages, and whatever other information you think is appropriate and I will respond.