Luke Janela
Wed Oct 3
Red & Black Café
When my best friend began studying classical composition, he felt an initial detachment from the music. He lamented that he couldn’t hear it as a whole anymore, that he could only hear it as a sum of each separate part. For awhile, the impact of learning theory and orchestration turned music into more of a mathematical process than an artistic one.
Luke Janela, a Portland transplant from Ukiah, CA, experienced a similar dilemma. He’s studied the cello for years, playing his favorite composers like Bach, Beethoven, and Dvoràk, but he also plays folky, finger-picked songs on his guitar. “I’ve always had both,” he says. “Up to this point, it’s been a nice balance because my guitar and songwriting are totally intuitive. The cello, I’ve been studying rigorously and intellectually and technically. Finally, I’ve finished my music major–I was so fed up with it–and now I can play the cello for what it is. It’s easy, very freeing. Suddenly I can just play what I hear and not what’s written. I know where the notes are.”
Luke’s music is a heartfelt patchwork of gorgeous, melancholic cello, acoustic guitar, and his thick vocals that sometimes crack from the back of his throat. But part of the reason I love it so much is precisely because he pulls so much of his classical influence and plops it into a more modern repertoire. The Beethoven influence is definitely apparent, but just when his progressions start to become familiar, he starts making wild, scratchy noises with his bow. That, and he sets it all to a drum machine.
“I’m allowing myself to be more open to influences, like making noise for the sake of sound,” Luke explains.
Since classical music is not exactly the preferred sound of youth culture these days, it’s really important that people like Luke continue its legacy and experiment with modern instruments. But another great thing about Luke, is that he maintains a predilection towards folk music while still sounding honest, yet not hokey. His music is pretty accessible, but it’s also compositionally sophisticated, and he’s not afraid to try different things even if they are simple. And then there is the sound of the voice and the cello.