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Mainly Piano
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David Hicken is a classically-trained
pianist, originally from Wolverhampton
in England, but now living in Hawaii.
He has given solo
performances at major Cathedrals in
Europe, and has been the featured
soloist with symphony orchestras. A
piano teacher for almost 20 years, David
has also directed choirs and orchestras,
and has been the Director of Music at
several prestigious churches. A world
traveller, David lived for a while in
Thailand and Sri Lanka. Now settled in
Hawaii, David teachers music in an
all-girls school. The release of
Faeries completes the trilogy of themed
recordings (the others being Goddess and
Angels) all of which have been met with
critical acclaim, including Piano-Heaven
awards. David kindly took time out of
his busy schedule to talk to us.
Enjoy the interview...
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S.C.
Congratulations, David, on your trilogy of
recordings which I am enjoying very much.
Faeries, Angels and Goddess-
it's very much a trilogy with a common theme. Is
this an area which holds some fascination to
you? What started your interest?
D.H. A few
years ago, I took a break from music to pursue
another passion - scuba diving. I became an
instructor and went to teach in Thailand and Sri
Lanka. It was a marvellous experience for me,
and I learned a lot about Buddhism and Hinduism.
I visited some amazing temples and I think that
the idea for Goddess was born there. Last
summer, as I began writing this trilogy, I
decided to create a theme for each CD and I
chose the names of Goddesses that “spoke” to me
and then allowed the music to write itself. I
was so pleased with Goddess that I just
kept writing, and Angels seemed to be the
next logical step as well as Faeries.
As well as being very beautiful, your music is
consistently relaxing and calming. Even when you
are composing music to represent one of the more
"lively" Goddesses, for instance, you never
stray from your gentle approach. I am wondering
if your style of music reflects your own
personality? I know you are a teacher- do you
find that music such as your own helps your
students to de-stress? Does a calm approach to a
problem facilitate it being resolved in class
and beyond? And I must ask you- with every piece
of yours that I have heard being "gentle" and
"soothing" do you ever "let-rip" on the piano-
i.e. is there another side to David Hicken's
piano-playing that perhaps the listener does not
get to hear?
I am an
easy-going individual and I enjoy a stress-free
and simple life which I think is reflected in my
music. I meditate daily and I really do live a
blissful life. I work at an all-girls school in
Honolulu and many of the elementary school
teachers play my CDs to their students at the
beginning of class. They have all commented on
how it calms the students, even after they come
in from recess. Many of the older students
listen to the CDs while they do their homework
and they all comment on how it helps them. One
teacher at the school has suffered from insomnia
for years, but after listening to Goddess,
she claims that she has found her cure, as it
always puts her to sleep immediately. I
certainly do “let-rip” on the piano and the
organ, but with classical pieces rather than my
own. A couple of weeks ago, I was the soloist
with an orchestra and played Bach’s fifth
Brandenburg concerto, which is quite a workout
with many fast runs. I love playing Beethoven,
Liszt, Chopin as well as many composers of organ
music whom most people would never have heard
of.
I notice that you're originally from my own
country of England. Apart from the stunning
scenery, glorious weather and beautiful women,
what first attracted you to Hawaii? Does your
local environment inspire you creatively? Are
there any tracks which have originated as a
result of some natural source on the Island?
I think you’ve
hit on all the points that attracted me to
Hawaii. It really is like living in paradise and
I feel very fortunate to live here. I was also
drawn to the laid-back lifestyle, and the
kindness of the local people. There is something
called the “Aloha Spirit” which is hard to
describe, but it is a beautiful energy that is
inherent in all who live here. My studio
overlooks a beautiful park with views of the
ocean and the mountains. The park was once the
site of the most important ancient temple on
Oahu and although nothing remains today, it has
a wonderful energy that has certainly influenced
a number of my compositions - particularly for
Faeries. The magic of this site can be
heard in many of those pieces, as I could
imagine Faeries dancing in this area in ancient
times.
Let's go back to the beginning. When did you
start piano lessons? Did you come from a musical
background? Were you formally trained? At what
stage did you "break-out" into composing your
own music?
I began piano
lessons with my mother when I was three years
old. She was a piano teacher as well as
headmistress at a local school, and she put me
in for examinations as soon as I was capable.
Her goal was for me to get all of my grade 8
diplomas with distinction and she succeeded,
because at the age of 15, I had five with
distinction. This carried a lot of weight later
on and I was offered many scholarships to major
private schools. I attended Stowe School in
Buckinghamshire when I was sixteen and I took
lessons with Nicholas Danby at the Royal College
of Music in London when I was seventeen. I left
for America at seventeen to attend Peabody
Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. My father
was a singer with a fine tenor voice, although
he never received formal training. My
grandparents were also musical - my grandfather
played piano and my grandmother had a wonderful
voice. They performed regularly in local clubs.
When I was eighteen, I purchased my first
synthesizer and I started composing right away.
Less than a year later, I signed my first record
contract.
I notice from
your web-site that a portion of your sales go to
an organisation entitled "The Sole of Africa",
which I gather aims to remove land-mines and
helps teach the local population life-skills to
become financially independent. How did you get
interested in this worthy cause, and what can
readers do to help?
I
have been very blessed, and every day I realize
just how lucky I am to live in one of the most
beautiful places in the world and to be creating
music every day. I felt that I needed to give
back in some way and after coming across the
website
www.soleofafrica.org,
I was saddened by what was going on over there
as well as relieved to see that something was
being done about it. Children are being killed
and maimed by land mines every day and yet with
advances in technology, it doesn’t cost much to
detect these mines and safely dispose of them. I
encourage all readers to check out the website
and find out more about this wonderful
organization that is really making a difference.
Many Hollywood stars such as Brad Pitt are
making a significant contribution to the
organization which also helps a lot. My daughter
is able to run around outside in complete safety
and I wish the same for other children in the
world.
I believe you also play the organ and the
clarinet. Your three current releases are all
solo-piano. Have you considered using other
instruments in your recordings in addition to /
instead of the piano, or do you feel that
solo-piano works best for you and the listener
with your chosen subject matter and aim?
I haven’t
played the clarinet in a few years, but I am
also an organist and in fact, that is my primary
instrument. I have recorded two CDs of organ
music, although not my own compositions, but I
may write some organ music in the future. I have
also recorded two CDs of my own compositions
using many instruments, although they were all
synthesized. The current trilogy of CDs worked
perfectly for solo piano, but much of what I am
writing now is very “symphonic” in scope. It is
a lot more time-consuming to write such large
scores, but it is even more rewarding in the
long run. I average about two minutes of music
per day when scoring for orchestra versus about
six to eight minutes of solo piano music. I am
currently working on a Requiem which is
dedicated to the memory of my father. It will
feature full choir, full orchestra and organ, as
well as soloists. It will be performed in the
Cathedral in Honolulu next year.
Let's talk about the composing process. Are you
someone who tinkers with a melody until you are
happy with it, or do you have a more
improvisational approach? I notice that your
three albums were composed within a very short
time-frame. Would it be fair to say you are a
prolific composer? Do you compose most days? Are
you like Vangelis, and the audience only gets to
hear a tiny fraction of what you actually write?
I will constantly
revise a melody until it is to my liking. I do
improvise at first, but then I will find
portions of of the improvisation to work with
and very often, the end result is quite
different from what I started with. For me, the
problem with an improvisational approach is that
the composition suffers from lack of form. So
much music that I hear is pleasant, but meanders
and seems to go nowhere. I think it is difficult
for people who mainly improvise to dissect what
they’ve done and reconstruct it in a better way.
I did write these albums in a very short period
of time - about six weeks and I don’t really
know how it happened. I was really in the “zone”
and the music just kept coming. This is not
always the case for me, but yes, I think I am
fairly prolific. I keep busy with many other
things which prevent me from composing as much
as I would like. I work as an accompanist at a
school, I have a very busy piano teaching
schedule as well as being organist at a church
and a director of a children’s choir.
I'm interested in the role of technology in
music and how you feel about it. You've moved
away from using synthesisers with this trilogy,
but do you see software and hardware as a useful
tool for composing? How would you respond to
purists who would frown at the use of technology
in the process of making music? Do you use
software such as Sibelius? People say that the
Internet is responsible for falling sales and
closures of record shops, etc. but do you
consider the Internet to be a friend or foe?
I absolutely
love technology and I always want the latest and
greatest gadgets. Software and hardware are
extremely useful tools for composing, but they
can’t replace the real thing. A “real” composer
should still be able to use only a pencil and
paper, but technology can really complement
their work. It’s so nice to be able to hear all
of the instruments in your composition played
back simultaneously, even if the sounds aren’t
that authentic. What a luxury that would have
been for great composers of the past.
Samples are
getting better all the time, but will they ever
truly replace an orchestra? I don’t think so,
but they certainly have their place. There are
many excellent documentaries with great music
scores which are all done electronically and
many people don’t even realize that it’s not a
real orchestra. The only problem that I have
with technology is that it is making it so much
easier for more people to create inferior music.
I have met people who consider themselves to be
composers who only put looped samples together
in programs such as Garage Band. I use Sibelius
for music notation and I used it to produce all
of the accompanying songbooks for this trilogy
of CDs. I also use Apple’s Logic Pro software
and the piano was recorded using that software.
The internet
is definitely a friend rather than foe. The
major record labels have run the music world for
so long and they have influenced what the
consumer listens to as well as paying the artist
very little for their efforts. The internet
allows the consumer to have access to more music
from more artists which is all accessible
instantly. They are now able to buy directly
from the artist who in turn can continue to
create better music. It is a win-win for all
concerned and although it has affected record
shops and sales, it is really just a shift that
is taking place and musicians and salespeople
will still benefit. Even though illegal
downloading of music files is very prevalent, at
the end of the day, I don’t believe it hurts the
artist or the record company as much as they
would have us believe.
Are you enjoying the challenges presented by
releasing your music independently? Are you happy
with the response (both in terms of sales and
reviews) to your albums? I believe you are planning
to tour in Asia. There seems to be a real market for
your style of music over there- why do you think
this is? How have you gone about setting up a tour
over there? Any plans to visit your homeland again?
I am enjoying
marketing my own music very much. I have had record
contracts with three relatively large companies, but
I realised that nobody will put as much effort into
marketing me as myself. It is a lot of work and VERY
time-consuming, but it is all worth it. I am
delighted with all of the reviews that I have
received and I’m happy to say that I haven’t
received a negative one yet. I am pleased with sales
also, both from downloads and physical CD sales. My
songbooks could be selling a little better, but of
course, not everyone plays the piano, and I must
admit that some of the pieces are very challenging.
They are ideal pieces for advanced students. I’m not
sure why this type of music is so popular in Asia,
but maybe it’s something to do with the whole “Zen”
experience. I have contacts in Japan, Korea,
Singapore and Thailand and I’m looking forward to
performing in those countries. I don’t have any
immediate plans to visit England, but I would love
to take my daughter when she’s a little older. She’s
now three and a half. I do miss England very much
and oh what I’d give for a good Shepherd’s Pie!
Finally, three mini-questions rolled into one.
(a) Who, if any, are your musical influences?
(b) In twenty or so years of recording, how do
you think you have changed as a composer?
(style, approach, etc.) and (c) Aside from the
tour, what next for David Hicken?
I have so many
musical influences, but top of the list would be
Bach followed by Saint-Saens, Durufle and
Rachmaninov. I also love the film scores of Hans
Zimmer, John Williams and Alan Silvestri. When I
first started composing, I really didn’t know
what I was doing and just put together snippets
of music that I thought sounded good. I have
learned a lot over the course of twenty years
and although I will never stop learning, I am so
much better than I used to be. Simply gathering
life experiences makes one a better composer. My
approach to composing has improved in that I can
now sit at the piano with pencil and paper
rather than relying on technology. My style has
become gentler and yet deeper. As far as what’s
next? I will finish my Requiem as well as
several choral pieces which are being published
by Hal Leonard. I will then be pursuing film and
television work.
Thank you,
David, for giving this wonderful interview.
S.C. |
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Read the review of Goddess
here |

Read the review of Faeries
here |


David
performs every Sunday from 12 - 5.00pm
at ‘Byodo In Temple‘ in Kaneohe, Hawaii. |

More
Information
David Hicken's
Website
David Hicken on
MySpace
David Hicken's
music on
YouTube
David Hicken's
music is available to buy from
CD Baby
and other retailers. |
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