Interviews (219)

• February 20, 2024
• Colleen Johnson
• 239
• 0

 

(photo credit: Michaela Watkins)

 

In something a little different for us,  I sat down with LIMINA recently, otherwise known as Tyler Durham, for a chat about his upcoming debut full-length, “Coming Home,” as well as how his solo project came together for him. Starting it off in the early dark days of the pandemic, Durham has now been pursuing a solo body of work since 2020. As well as balancing it with an impressive list of film and TV credits as a film composer/sound engineer, the tunes coming out from Durham scream for a meditative hour or so. His first body of work, “Hidden Places,” dropped in 2021 and is an excellent holdover to what is pure magic from the upcoming aforementioned, “Coming Home”. You can find my chat below with Durham, where we talked about how his solo project first developed, as well as the education journey he pursued as he began his career and much more!

Keep your eye on upcoming news from this talent at his website here, and “Coming Home” hits April 23rd! The debut single from that project hits today with the single, Sanctum. You can also stream Durham’s first release, “Hidden Spaces,” here!

 

New England Sounds: You’ve been producing music for so long, composing music for so long. But you’ve started this;  I don’t know if I want to call it a solo project, but you started this in 2020. When did you start considering doing your own releases as LIMINA? 

Tyler Durham: It kind of came out, well, I’ve spent so much time working on films and something I love, which is collaborating on stories and telling other peoples’ stories and figuring that out. I realized I had this moment where it was; I wanted to develop, just as an artist, this sort of home base. For my own voice, my own sound, and that’s where the idea came about. I wanted to create some solo releases, and I wanted to start working on my own. Just focusing on this is what I want to say as a creative. And in film, I can say that to a degree, but as a film composer, you’re serving the picture. So, stepping into a place that’s just fully for myself and fully for my creative expression, that’s where it came from. 

 

NES: Perfect, and then the first single for this new album that’s coming out in April, “Coming Home,” I know that hits in like two weeks now. I was listening to the first release (“Hidden Spaces”),  but when did you start working on this one? From looking at your credits, I know you’ve been working on movies in the past year or so or two years. But when did you start working on this new piece of work for you? 

TD: The album, “Coming Home,” started a year and a half, two years ago? I’m fortunate enough to stay pretty busy with my film work. So, for the album, I would just be able to work on it for two-week periods, then have to jump to another project. Come back, see what ideas I had created, throw them out because I didn’t like them, and just build them up that way. Sometimes, when I’d even be on a film project, I’d hear a new sound, or I’d just be playing with something. And think, “Well this didn’t work for the project,” but this is something I could maybe use for my album. So it was just diving into actually creating the album. I just had this massive session of ideas, and it was me just sorting through them. And going, what is the story I want to tell? How do I want to tell it? It was sort of throwing ideas against the wall and seeing what sticks, that sort of mentality, for a lot of it. 

NES: Then, considering this is something you have complete control over. I’m sure you’ve had jobs or secured jobs that you did have full control over, like an episode, or I know you’ve done a complete series before. But how was it to kind of not have any other people influencing this project for you? 

TD: That’s a great question because it was both so freeing, and because of that freedom, it became crushingly daunting to do as well. When I was originally writing it and stuff, there was no deadline or anything like that. That’s why I threw out so many ideas because if it wasn’t resonating, it was like, alright, I’ve got time. I don’t need to make this work. Where when I’m on a film, I have to make something work. You have a deadline. You have to hit it. So, honestly, the freedom was just an excellent tool for me to be able to practice as well in the sense of just becoming confident with my ideas. Again, when working with a picture or an image, I have feedback from directors. Saying this is working, this is not. And I know as well, but you get that immediate feedback. Where when you’re working on your own project and your solo voice, it’s crazy how much sort of Imposter Syndrome and all this negativity can get in your head. When you’re just creating in a vacuum, and honestly, this album just became sort of a confidence boost for me. And a way of just saying I have something I want to say and am proud to say. And I actually want to showcase that, and just getting to the end of the album and going, yes, this is what I was after. Just on a creative level, it’s a big achievement for myself. 

NES: And this is the longest album you’re releasing, right? The first release had six tracks. This second release, “Coming Home,”  is eleven or twelve. Is this considered the debut album for you, or do you consider “Hidden Places” the debut? 

TD: Yeah, this one I consider my debut album, full feature. 

NES: How important is that to you? Is this something where you’re going to potentially play it out in a live show setting, maybe even touring? Or is that something you haven’t thought about yet? 

TD: I’m actually discussing that with my record label, Sonic Ritual. We’re kind of figuring out how we want to just go about all of that. And honestly, I would love to take it and play it in live shows and get into that scene a little more. But right now, it’s in the early stages, so we’ll see how that all develops. 

NES: Yeah, and I’m sure you’re busy with many things right now. Then maybe it’s crazy to think that we’re in 2024, entering another presidential cycle since the world shut down. We’ve come a long way, but was this something that, before the pandemic, you kind of always worked in your home studio, or did the shutdowns kind of change everything? 

TD: I’ve worked in other people’s studios, like composer’s studios, when I first moved out to L.A., but ever since I’ve been writing on my own, I love working from home. I love having a home studio and the sort of convenience of that. That is certainly a privilege to work from home, but once I started, there was no going back. 

NES: And then I know for this one, you had an amazing opportunity where you recorded with the London Philarmonic Orchestra. How was that experience, and how did that come about? How did that conversation first start coming about? 

TD: Recording in AIR Studios has been a dream of mine for a long, long time. And just being in that space alone was such a gift. Then being able to have musicians from the Philarmonic play on the album was incredible. And it worked out very conveniently because there was actually another session that was happening with a larger orchestra at the time. We were able to grab some of the musicians and have them stay overtime and work on the album. We had separate sessions, but it worked out to get fourteen players to capture the more intimate sound that I wanted for the album. And working with them, their level of musicianship, it really is extraordinary. The kind of nuanced notes and ideas of expression that you could give them, they will just receive it with grace and give it back to you, with just perfection. I remember this one note, some small textures in the album, some very fragile moments, and I remember telling the violinist that I want this passage to feel like you almost can’t play it. Like the string is breaking, like that’s how fragile it is, and they just hear it and go, “Yeah, I got it!” Then, the next take, it’s gold. And it’s incredible how they can translate words into their own language. 

NES: Then I wanted to ask, from at least what I can tell, this is over a decade that you’ve been working in composure and sound production. Did you go to school originally for music? When did you realize this is what you wanted to do as your career?

TD: Yeah, I started getting into film music when I was a sophomore in high school. I had always been the kid who kind of just improved on piano. That was like all I did, and I never really sat down and formerly wrote music. But I got really into the Immenience orchestra; they’d play video game soundtracks and a lot of anime soundtracks. I remember just getting so swept up in that world. Once I got into that, it was just an explosion of me exploring every film composer, Jerry Goldsmith, James Newton Howard, James Horner, I mean, everybody. Once that happened, I started scoring my own videos. I’d take clips that hadn’t been scored and just try out everything. So, high school, and then I went and got a composition degree from my undergrad, Missouri State, and then actually got a film scoring degree masters at Columbia College in Chicago. 

NES: Then to maybe end it off, I know you may not be able to say much, or I’m sure lots is going on, but maybe any focuses or goals for you? This album is still about two and a half months from being released to the public. 

TD: Yeah, I am working on some new projects right now, and unfortunately, I can’t say too much (laughs). But yeah, just kind of a good test of my creative skills in orchestration is coming up. So, I’m just excited for that challenge. I wish I could say more. 

NES: Oh no, of course, and I’m sure it’s nice to return to work. I’m not sure how much you were affected by the strikes, but I’m sure there was some effect. 

TD: Yes! It is nice to be back, for sure.