Recently we were blessed to connect with Texas based multi-instrumentalist and composer Tanner Christian Gesek who released his debut EP, Charisma which was released on 28th June 2024.
A collection of some of the most stunning instrumental music you could ever hear, the EP radiates with Tanner’s love for music throughout. Inspired by such a breathtaking body of work, we had the pleasure of speaking to Tanner himself to find out more.
A very special welcome Tanner. Tell us a little bit about yourself and some of the things which have been making you smile recently?
Hey Thushara, glad to be chatting together. I’m from California originally but moved lots when I was a kid, spent some years in Chicago and New York City in my twenties, and moved to Texas a few years ago. Music’s always been important to me but I’d begun taking it much more seriously the past year or so – and in some ways this year’s felt like a retreat to minimalism and simplicity, so the things that have made me smile lately are super simple things: quality time with loved ones, the chance to travel quite frequently, spending more time reading and making music, stuff like that.
I want to congratulate you on your truly beautiful EP, Charisma. What was the most fun thing about bringing it to life?
Thanks, I appreciate that! Last year I’d been working on a bunch of new music independently but was given the opportunity by Heart Dance Records to do an EP together. So given those circumstances I wrote and edited the music for the EP relatively quickly, which made the creation of the EP a super dense but also super rewarding experience. I spent a short but intense amount of time deeply engaged with this music, and I think because of that intensity I feel really connected to it in a way that I don’t as much with some of my past work (probably given the experimental or ephemeral intent behind some of it). So, really immersing myself in the process was probably the most fun part.
We are seeing a real growth in more instrumental music coming to the forefront lately, how does it feel knowing that Tanner Gesek is part of the mix?
It’s really a terrific feeling. This might sound like a Boomer take but I think the Internet is such a miracle: the ability for thousands upon thousands of people to encounter work I’ve made, all across the world, simply by distributing it correctly, is still kind of a wonder to me, despite growing up alongside the Internet in the 90’s. Getting to contribute my twist to the world of instrumental music, as its popularity grows, feels really special in light of that immediacy and accessibility of the listeners.
Where did your love of music first catch its sparks?
I’ve been told by my family that I quickly took to music as a listener, but as a musician I attended lessons growing up, starting when I was four, focused on classical music, and I really – really – disliked that. In hindsight I’m super grateful for the foundation of training but, at the time, I really did not want to be spending my time that way. But later on I transitioned to a jazz instructor named Eric Scortia, and he helped me learn both improvisation (which is the core of the music I create) and eventually to find my own musical voice. I credit him a lot with not compressing me into a strict mold but instead enabling me to flourish in my own unique direction – which I’m super grateful for. Learning I had the ability to invent music that people enjoyed really effortlessly sparked my love of music in a fresh way.
You play the piano in such a stunning way, when you are playing what is the key to you fully feeling the true connection of the art which is flowing through you?
I really appreciate this question, and thanks for the compliment about my playing! I think it’s a balance between mindfulness and playfulness, if I can really try to be precise about it. I notice when things flow most easily and organically, without much in-the-moment critique, that music tends to be what sticks during the editing process – whereas if I’m too self-conscious while creating, the music ends up feeling a little stilted or duplicative or redundant. So to make the vital and vibrant music I want to make, I really have to get out of my own way, shelve my perfectionistic tendencies, and just create without wondering too hard what it will become.
In some ways knowing I have the patience and discipline to edit methodically afterward helps me create more freely, such that it really does begin to feel like, as your question put it, the music’s flowing through rather originating from. I’m sure others have much more precise descriptions of how this works for them, but that’s the best way I can explain how it happens for me.
Going back to the EP, were there any particular tracks which you were most proud of?
Listeners seemed to really respond to “Wonder,” which surprised me actually – because it’s probably the song I listened to least when evaluating the finished work. “Gift” is the one I really was happiest about, and still am happiest about and proudest of. I hadn’t been able to really capture the textures I wanted across the multiple pianos until creating “Gift,” which seemed to unlock that musically for me in a way that expanded to new music I’ve created since then (not-yet-published music).
With it being out there in the world taking on a life and blossoming, what has it been like witnessing all the different feedback not just friends and peers but also the Tanner Gesek community of fans?
The feedback’s been really surprising but also super rewarding. Actually if I’m being really honest the response has blown me away a little bit. I’m relatively insulated from a community of other musicians, and so my creation process candidly happens in a bit of a vacuum, which means I didn’t have a lot of feedback on the EP before it was released. So I’m really grateful for the kindness total strangers have shown with writing me emails and sending me really generous feedback about what the songs have meant to them.
When you first came up with the concept for Charisma, what was the initial vision you had in mind? Has that vision still remained or has it transform into something else once the record was mastered and completed?
The core concept for Charisma was the idea that there’s no law of nature dictating that piano works must be all moody, slow, waltz, introspective. As a relative outsider, it’s so apparent when styles become in vogue to the point of stylistic repetition – “fossilized inspiration,” I’ve heard it described in another context. So even though the goal wasn’t overtly to try to do something different, I still tried to remain confident through the writing process that there could be a space for the type of music I like to make, too – which happens to be quite different from what’s presently popular, but whose idiosyncrasies were really an accident of just aiming to stay true to other moods, other emotions, other stories.
How have you found your walk and journey as an artist living in 2024 and the evolving ways that music is being embraced and accessed in today’s world?
It’s all brand new to me, and ultimately what matters to me is the relationship with the listener – first through songs, than potentially an actual relationship (however mediated by technology that relationship is). So, I’m still exploring what avenues make the most sense for distribution and promotion (which is what I hear your latter half of the question asking about). At first glance, after much research and reading, there seems to be less and less of a strict playbook and much more opportunity for creativity in building those bridges between listeners and the music. So while I’m relatively early in exploring what this could look like, I like that there’s less rules than perhaps there once were.
For anyone listening to the EP for the first time what would your words of encouragement be?
I’d encourage first-time listeners to check-in with themselves while listening, to catch any glimpses inside of levity or lightness or hope or wonder: much more the moods I’m inspired by and aim to capture.
As you look to the road ahead, what makes you excited for the next chapter?
Long story short – I think the best is yet to come, and I’m really excited about the prospects of where this music can be heard and how it can resonate with listeners in fresh ways. This is the very beginning of this road, so I’m excited to keep making music and see how things evolve!
Wishing Tanner all the very best in the months to come. Charisma is available on all major platforms right now, don’t miss this opportunity to experience something truly special.
Stay Connected To Tanner Christian Gesek
Article By Thushara S. Chandrasiri
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