By Erica Eades, Staff Contributor
Owen Pallett is not your average violinist. As a graduate of the Honours Bachelor of Music for Composition program at the University of Toronto, he knows a thing or two about music. But Pallett’s undeniably unique style is something that can’t be taught in a lecture hall.
As he walked on to the stage at St. Matthew’s church, it was clear Pallett needed no introduction. The noisy, bustling audience grew silent as the musician carefully tuned his instruments and checked his mics. Without saying a word, Pallett broke out in to his first song. The audience responded with an eruption of energy.
Pallett, who is more commonly known by his former stage name, Final Fantasy, has a sound that is truly unmatched in today’s musical realm. During his performances, he plays his violin into a sampler that he controls with foot pedals. He then loops back one or more of the previously played tracks, while playing additional parts simultaneously. The resulting sound is that of multiple violins playing at once, as opposed to one lone instrument.
Pallett is also a classically trained vocalist. His voice has a haunting, yet captivating quality to it that mixes seamlessly with the instrumentation. By combining his soft melodies with occasional bursts of screaming, he creates a sense of anxiety and anticipation; the audience never knows what will come next.
On his current world tour, Pallett has broken away from his standard one man show. For the past year, Thomas Gill has been providing backup vocals, percussion and guitar for Pallett’s live shows. In an interview with Exclaim! Magazine, Pallett said, “I was lonely on stage by myself, so I wanted somebody else up there with me.”
Although the two musicians’ on-stage interactions were minimal, Pallett and Gill were totally in sync for the duration of the show. Gill’s percussive contributions were often quite subtle, but his guitar riffs had an impressive flair that quickly captured the audience’s focus. Together, the two musicians were nothing short of extraordinary.
Pallett has long been recognized for his collaborations with many notable musicians. However, he has stressed in numerous recent interviews that his current goal is to make his own albums, and tour as much as possible. With the release of his latest album, Heartland, Pallett has been able to play shows throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. In the interview with Exclaim! he explained, “I’m 30 years old and I’ve got 10 years of touring before it starts getting back-breaking.”
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