Interview With Tom Orsillo

 

What are you working on now?

These days I am looking inward, please allow me to elaborate.

Every day, first & foremost, I work on my relationship (**) my marriage of 2 ½ years with my wife Brenda Lee (McNutt) Orsillo.

We both, mostly me, tend to take it for granted from time to time but almost by inexorable-default the fact that “we need each other to feel complete” prevails.

For years I was a self-diagnosed-manic, where I enjoyed euphoria followed by a state of anguish.

At times it got out of my control & I ruined many plutonic & intimate relationships.

In retrospect, I view these as personal failures and an embarrassment to myself.

Self-medicating is a poor choice my friends. We all must take responsibility for ourselves at all times, if not for each other.

Making the conscious, deliberate choice to becoming a burden to family & friends, indeed society, is not funny, it’s NOT cute, it is “cowardly”.

For me, the clinical solutions available to me at the time, sure they worked but they dulled my creativity. I needed to find a way without compromising my gift.

Growing out of my dilemma, involved my teaching myself to float in water & to meditate while doing so, and limiting sexual encounters and consumption of illicit substances gave me more time to mature intellectually & emotionally in a more natural way.

My soul needs time to recover after bringing the work to fruition (writing, arrangement, rehearsal, recording, let us not forget copyright.)

Though often rewarding it can be exhausting.

Footnote: I include my help; musicians & engineers alike on copyright.

My marriage to Brenda in some way has allowed me to reflect upon lessons learned over the past two decades, and I am sharpening my tools and the methodology I will make-use-of to set & attain new goals.

“Forever Endeavor,” there’s always original music playing in my head, but like a fine wine, I do not present a song until it is ready. Experience has taught me that doing so could cause irreparable damage to the work.

So, to answer this question, I am trying to get my music-promotional-campaign to a state where I can concentrate my efforts on song writing. Uninterrupted concentration is the ideal but rarely can it be the reality. So, this is where the boy has to be a man, slay his own demons & dragons, suck-it-up, be a good soldier and get it done, je ne sais quoi. (And please allow me to offer my humble & sincere thanks to our audience, to you and our engineers, THANK YOU ALL.)

Any future releases we can look forward to?

YES! Allow me this analog; Songwriting resembles culinary art. The quality of the meal itself and the presentation to our quintessential (beloved guests) is in the preparation of ingredients, the chosen method of cooking and other nuance, such as music, lighting exc. (*) However, you can prepare several dishes simultaneously!   This is something new to me, simultaneous development. I have a dozen or so (sets-of-song-lyrics) in draft. We’ll see in what direction MY MUSES take me; however, it is my sincere hope that the next time you & I meet, the topic will be about the new & interesting compilation of my work and the public discourse it is generating.

What Is Your Ultimate Goal In The Music Industry?    

I want to make music that will be enjoyed by all cultures for generations.

What Has Been The Biggest Challenge In Your Career Thus Far?

In short, dealing with temptation in all of its seductive forms to include promiscuous sex, substance abuse/misuse, dereliction toward my physical/mental state has impacted my struggle to become a better person, my ability to understand myself and our fellow man.

How do you go about writing a song? Do you have a melody in your head and then write the other music for it or what’s Your typical songwriting process?

What brings a popular song to life is adequate deliberation and selection of appropriate key components. We start with the love & respect we have for our audience.

For whom are you writing? Make it personal, be direct in the way you present it to the listener. Consider how you want the listener to respond to the beginning, during & at the end of your thoughtful presentation.

Just as a melody provides the musical structure for lyrics, rhythm provides the structural foundation for poetry, whether in the form of meter, rhyme, or free verse.

These terms should be embraced and studied by aspiring songwriters. It is my opinion that a ‘writer with a profound understanding of these constructs who creatively applies them to the “ABSTRACT” commonly referred to as a song will most certainly offer a more satisfying experience to the listener.    

Lyrics, melody, and chord progressions influence each other. The lyrics can inspire a melody, and the melody can guide the choice of chord progressions. Ultimately, the artist’s choices determine the overall arrangement of the song, including instrumental parts and vocal arrangements.

For me to write a song, involves understanding/knowledge of Phonics & syllabication.  For instance, clap the word syl·la·ble and then clap the word  en·cy·clo·pe·di·a.

The first word, syllable has three “syllables” while the second “encyclopedia” six syllables.

Now using Improvisation select a key and any melody that comes natural to you.

Now sing this line (lyric) as loud as you can … “syl·la·ble; …  en·cy·clo·pe·di·a … teach me how … to know you better.

Using the melody YOU just created, let that melody suggest the next line (lyric).

Foot Note: This is how I remember song- arrangement  as I play them. A musical-arrangement has an abstract 3D-geometric shape. This shape includes all nuance; it resides in my psyche alongside of my cache of dreams but on paper; (intro, verse, chorus, bridge, outro). 

How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?

The internet today is NOT the internet we had when Vice President Al Gore invented it in the 90’s.

Back then we wrote the score “on parchment paper”, rolled it up and slipped it into a coca cola bottle, and flushed it down the toilet and Sacrificed a goat to the god Oden that it would arrive safely to (SSR) , “Some Schmuck Records” or one of its affiliates.

Later we had CD burners, they took quarters and you pulled the handle and maybe “most” of your tracks would be faithfully recorded and there was no guarantee they would play on all available CD players. At least The experience was surreal.

Mostly though, we made wicked expensive beer coasters!

BUT! That was then, this is NOW!

Today, in spite of the fact that the internet, like it’s predecessor television, had an opportunity to educate the mind-of-HUMANITY in ways never dreamed before, instead, thanks to greed & corruption has led us down the path toward self-destruction BUT GOD DAMN-IT my music sounds GREAT!

Now weather or not I get buy in from all of those folks out there of whom I was taught to love & respect, today, I know they are out there because they let me know and might I add this younger generation has completely restored my faith in America’s future in spite of the BS we contend with daily.

I just hope I can repay you with my work. Please enjoy my music with those you are close to, as you share a fine bottle of wine with those you love. It really matters to Brenda & me.

List some famous musicians currently on your playlist?

Andre Segovia, Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli,

What Did You Do Before You Started Making Music?

 I retired from The Department of Defense (DoD) in 2015 after 30 years of service. As a Quality Assurance Representative (QAR) I had the final say as to whether or not “stuff” would be accepted into the inventories supplying our men & women of our Armed Services. I worked independently and as a member of a number of defense program management teams on NASA programs, Global positioning satellites, deep space communications platforms, land & sea-based weapon systems. I served US 1st Armored Division for two years in The Republic of South Korea (ROK), US/UN, Republic of Haiti, 7 months & US/NATO forces in the Balkans for 6 months. All of the while I was a Petty Officer 2nd Class, US Navy Reserve, my assigned billets included shock trial team of the USS Wasp LHD-1, USS Valdez (FF 1096) & SIMA New Port RI.

Would you have any advice for young people wanting to follow in your footsteps?

I hope that this interview & my music helps you in some way. Please, think about the probability you any of us hitting the lottery and then multiply those odds by a trillion. Now how is it you are listening to this broadcast and not someone in your place. “Do not squander your gift” means to not waste or misuse the talent, ability, or opportunity that has been given to you. It’s a call to utilize your unique strengths and potential to their fullest, rather than letting them go to waste.

If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?

The fact that I can make my own music & share it with others is very satisfying to me. It is my hope that my art will reach & inspire not just those, younger & better than I but ALL humanity now & in the future. I do pray however that it will be largely human driven, a platform of human expression but at last it is up to the fans and the choices they make. “Change for the sake of change alone is NOT always a good thing.” Move with purpose and conviction no matter your conviction.

How do you feel about originality?

I have complete confidence in humanity to be guided by originality (new technical solutions) but equally import is our ability to innovate and find new solutions to problems using existing technology. Perhaps philosophically they are both the same?

Is there anything else we should know about you? or Something that you would like to add?

Please allow me to say thank you to the ownership for being so generous with your time and please allow me to offer my humble and sincere thanks to our audience, to you and our engineers,

THANK YOU ALL.

Best Regards.