Richard Green is an Italian musician/guitarist/composer, based in London since 2012. At the age of 12 he starts to study guitar at school. Academy interrupted after few years because he moved to London where he obtained an higher diploma as guitarist and a musicians degree. He made his debut with the single Dark Horses (December 2020), a track that served as the soundtrack of a video to introduce an artistic event in Piacenza. After few months, (August 2021,) he released his first EP, Color and Sound, a collection of 6 very different and original tunes.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey Richard Green, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
Well, i think this passion came from my father, he is not a musician but a big lover of music, he is a huge fan of The Beatles, indeed i grew up listening their music since i was really a kid, like 3-4 years old. Plus, I had the luck to study guitar during my secondary school and from that moment i never stopped to study guitar and the music in general.
How do you balance your time in the studio with other commitments such as a part-time job, family, admin?
Well, honestly speaking, i do not think too much about that cause from when i start to release music, almost 2 years ago, this is my priority, and it could happen that i spend 2 weeks just in studio( mainly home studio if i do not have to record some specific instrument as piano or strings or guitar)just seeing my family and some musician, on the other hand it happens that i take 2-3 days totally off from music in order to do other things of just enjoy the time with family and friends, but i can say that most of my time is for my music project at the moment.
Your latest release is 'A journey'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
The idea of it could sound a bit strange, but i met this incredible pianist some years ago and at some point i really wanted a collaboration with her( incredible pianist and really lovely person,) but she is a classical musician, something totally new for me, so i did this Ep where i combine element of classical music with more modern sounds, instrumentations and concept of the track are very classical but arrangements are more "modern"; and the unusual thing is that i never composed anything like that, not even close, because i used to play guitar in a funky rock band and my composition until that moment were more funky/rock and composed with my guitar, so A journey is not my debut Ep under a music label but it has my very first compositions of something "classical", better describe it as neo classical i think.
Where did you get the inspiration for this EP?
I think i just said where i get the idea of it, but, talking. about the meaning of the track, i can say that it s a kind of "concept Ep" cause all the track are connected, that s why i represented each song with a picture that are possible to find in a small book inside the CD, or, three out of five are the cover art of the singles released before release the full Ep, And, it s not a coincidence at all that the Music Ep start with the track called "A story".......Obviously it s very personal and i expect that it will be for every listener, that music Ep tells a story, the type of story is inside the listener. Every story are different but they have two very important common points, a begin and an end, this is why last track of "A journey" is called "Sea of memories".
How long did you work on the 'A journey'? Was it an easy process for you?
Honestly speaking, considering that it was a totally new music style for me, never used a full strings quartet before that Ep,it has been pretty simple and it surprised me a little, I mean, talking about the creation of the ideas, it took me 4-5 days of work to end each composition with the full arrangement edited 2-3 times. Obviously, that was just a part of the process, i needed to go in a music studio for the piano and the strings, and that it s take time ,but i m ok with that, i don t like work on rush.....but, still, i think 3 days of work to finish a composition like that is good, especially because i m not working just on that music project.
How do you know when a work is finished?
I can t tell you in words cause is a kind of feeling, really, i use to listen it while a compose and at some point i feel that it s done.
For example, i wanted to add something in one track recently, but when i was listen it, i just felt it was unnecessary add more and i close that track, that i took a week to listen the track 4-5 times randomly during the week (just 1 or 2 play each time , not more , ) and if i like it all the times means is ready for the mastering.
Can you write what was your best performance in your career? How do you remember it?
Well, I do not have a big experience with live performance ,i played in a funky rock band and i did some gig but always in a pub or small club in London,...
Also, considering myself as a composer instead a session musician, i can say that this Ep has my most important music collaboration done so far, cause Irene Veneziano is not in the mainstream cause she is a classical musicina, but she is seriously on of the most important italian musician, indeed she played in tokyo, New York and in many important theater.
How do you find yourself in the music business? When you started out in music, did you know it would be like this?
I can reply properly cause i considering myself very fresh, i just started to release music less than 2 years ago after many years of studies, so, maybe it s better ask me this in 3-4 years time;)
Who is your favourite musician?
As a guitarist,I grew up with Neil Rogers, talking about modern musician, Brad Paisley is surely my favorite one at the moment. But, as a composer, i like to remind Ennio Morricone, one of the greatest composer of all the time.
What are your plans for the future?
At the moment I m working on the sequel of "A Journey", other 5 compositions for piano and strings and i would like to bring both of the Ep live in some theater or similar.
If One of my dream was have a physical cd produced, another dream is see my music performed live;)
Last words, many thanks for this interview, your interest on my music is very appreciated.....hopefully it s the begin of a long collab.
Best thanks