Lunar Module with Devon Lee - Part 1

For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)
Episode 143: Lunar Module with Devon Lee - Part 1

Looking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!

In this week's episode, we continue our Lunar Module, a mini-series with the E4TT/ Luna Composition Lab Call for Scores winners and commissioned composers. Today we are joined by Devon Lee, who we spoke to in June 2024. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more, check out their music here: https://www.instagram.com/devonian_music/.

This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors, like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!

Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano),  in SF, CA on January 29, 2022
Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), in SF, CA on October 15, 2021

Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.
Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903729/episodes/16681027

Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness
Co-producer and Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann
Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes
Interns: Renata Volchinskaya, Sam Mason, Addy Geenen, Yoyo Hung-Yu Lin

Chapters

• 0:21 In this week's Lunar Module episode, we are joined by E4TT Luna Composition Lab, commissioned composer Devon Lee, who we spoke to in June 2024.
• 0:45 Please tell me about yourself, who you are, where you grew up, your background in music, where you're going next, what's important to you?
• 3:25 When you moved to the U.S., where did you move?
• 4:52 So you're playing the double bass. Does that mean you're interested in jazz and playing jazz, or are you primarily interested in classical bass?
• 6:11 What does being a composer mean to you, and what draws you to it?

Transcript

Nanette McGuinness  00:00

[INTRO MUSIC] Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists sponsored by a grant from the California Arts Council. I'm Nanette McGuinness, Artistic Executive Director of Ensemble for These Times. In this week's Lunar Module episode, we are joined by E4TT Luna Composition Lab, commissioned composer Devon Lee [INTRO MUSIC ENDS] who we spoke to in June 2024.

Nanette McGuinness  00:32

Thank you very much for doing this podcast with us, and congratulations again for being chosen from our call for scores.

Devon Lee  00:41

It's an honor. Thank you so much.

Nanette McGuinness  00:42

Oh yeah. So first, let's start out. Please tell me about yourself, who you are, where you grew up, your background in music, where you're going next, what's important to you?

Devon Lee  00:54

Yeah. So my name is Devin Lee, regarding, I guess my background in music? I... Well, I grew up in South Korea, and I, you know, I took some music lessons, but it was never really like a huge part of my life, until I moved to the U.S. in around when I was in third grade. I remember I started taking, I actually sort of randomly chosen in my elementary school to, like, take these kind of beginner composition lessons, just to hear about different types of sound. And I actually had the opportunity to have a short piece of mind played by some musicians, which was, you know, insane. It's crazy that kids get to do that. And I met a lot of like music programs can sometimes be like, it can be difficult, you know, especially with the pandemic, it can be difficult for can be difficult for people to continue those programs and education. But just like for me, at least that single program, it just completely changed my life. Like and since then, I've just been doing a lot of different things. I continue composing. I love writing. I've been writing a lot of chamber music. I've been wanting to explore more vocal music and orchestral music, maybe electronic music, even though I really don't have a background in that, I also I've been playing double bass for around four years, and that's another passion of mine. I started both bass and composition thanks to one of my mentors, Jon Deak, he used to be in the New York Phil, he was a composer. So, yeah, I'm kind of right now where I'm going. I'd love to expand my music and what, honestly, I'm kind of, it can be kind of stressful to imagine, like, oh, what's my brand? You know, what am I going to do, like, for my life's portfolio? So I've been enjoying, just like being a student, you know, working on, okay, what if I try this? How can I improve this and that? And also, of course, like, you know, exploring what my sound is, but mostly, just like not trying to get too existential about it, which I sometimes do, that's kind of where I'm at right now.

Nanette McGuinness  03:00

You're awfully young to decide your brand now. I think you should...

Devon Lee  03:04

That's true [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  03:04

I mean, not that my opinion counts, but you're how old right now?

Devon Lee  03:09

I'm 17 right now.

Nanette McGuinness  03:12

You're 17... So in fact, perhaps a bit of exploration to discover what you want to do before you put your stamp on a brand might be appropriate. [laughs]

Devon Lee  03:22

Yeah [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  03:23

That's great.

Devon Lee  03:24

Yeah

Nanette McGuinness  03:25

When you moved to the U.S., where did you move?

Devon Lee  03:28

I moved straight to New York City. That's where my mom grew up, when she came to the U.S. And so I've kind of, well, my childhood was kind of split between Korea, the city of like Seongnam, and then Manhattan. And those are kind of very different, different...

Nanette McGuinness  03:49

[laughs]

Devon Lee  03:50

I guess vibes, feelings, and so I was really lucky to, like, get placed smack dab in the middle of things, like, when I first came to the city, my first apartment was, like, right, like, two blocks from Lincoln Center. So I was like...

Nanette McGuinness  04:03

Wow

Devon Lee  04:04

...already, right? Able to see a lot of cool things.

Nanette McGuinness  04:07

Yeah, yeah, no, that's great. And you're in college now, right?

Devon Lee  04:12

Oh, no, I'm actually, I'm still in high school.

Nanette McGuinness  04:14

You're in high school? Wow.

Devon Lee  04:16

Yeah, I'm actually a Junior [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  04:17

You're a rising Junior?

Devon Lee  04:19

Um, yeah. It's been weird to be 17 and a rising Junior. It's because um... I came from Korean school where the year starts in, like, around January, so bit old for my grade, but um, yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  04:35

Oh no, my son was old for his grade, too. He went to a two year...

Devon Lee  04:39

Oh really?

Nanette McGuinness  04:39

...kindergarten program. Yeah, it's it just kind of depends on where your birthday falls and what's best for you. So it sounds like an anomaly, but when you explain it, it's absolutely not. It's totally normal. So you're playing the double bass. Does that mean you're interested in jazz and playing jazz, or are you primarily interested in classical bass?

Devon Lee  05:01

Um, well, I my, like, my immediate love is for classical bass. That's where I started, and that's where my passion and my training that all goes into that that's like, genuinely, one of my favorite, and like most spiritual experiences, is just being an orchestra and playing with other people. Orchestra and playing with other people. But God, like jazz has been kind of, like, I don't want to say, kind of with my white whale over the past couple years. [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  05:32

Ah, yeah.

Devon Lee  05:32

I always wanted to get into it, because not only, like, musically, it seems so challenging and exciting, but also feels like compositionally, really really not helpful. Like, obviously the whole like crazy field of jazz isn't just like a tool, but it feels like it would just infinitely open my eyes.

Nanette McGuinness  05:32

[laughs]

Devon Lee  05:46

But I've been struggling definitely with... but I think it's like not a talent, it's like a skill that you get through practice. I think I just need to work on that, but I am primarily a classical bassist. Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  06:04

No, that's great, and you do have time to explore. [laughs] So what does being a composer mean to you, and what draws you to it?

Devon Lee  06:15

Since I've been in a lot of different spaces for kids learning about composition, the first thing that people ask is kind of like, what is a composer? What is what is making music mean? And God, for me, I feel like, like I was saying before about trying not to get too existential. I feel like I used to think that composing was kind of like, you know, inscribing your name upon the world, like, kind of, you know, like the Great, yeah, kind of like Mahler-esque, just kind of like that. But um, I'm a Mahlerian, I don't know, but, um, I think for for me, it's for a long time, it was just kind of, like expressing this or that, kind of month to month, day to day, what I wanted to hear, and making that, and then it sort of Incorporated... I know a lot of people say this, but kind of like a creative outlet, or like emotional outlet to describe things that I just couldn't do words. I often struggle a lot with words. I always love creative writing, but I just, I'm kind of like a really, I get bashful very easily when sharing about myself. So instrumental music or setting someone else's words and putting my own meaning behind it, was really huge for me, and it made me feel like you feel like it gave me an in to expressing myself. And not that interesting music is any less exposed than creative writing or anything like that. But for me, at least, it felt like just the way that I think, was the right modality for me to share things. For me, I think being a composer, honestly, it's just anyone who wants to, like, write and share music. I don't feel like there should be that, like, kind of pedagogy or like fear behind it, of like, Oh, I haven't taken 10 levels of theory. I'm not a composer. But just anyone who's like, I want to write, make and make music.

Nanette McGuinness  08:17

Right. As opposed to some kind of towering Beethovenian figure...

Devon Lee  08:22

yeah

Nanette McGuinness  08:23

Yeah. What it sounds like to me, from what you're saying, is that writing music frees you to explore expressive modalities in ways that words get you feeling stuck.

Devon Lee  08:39

Yeah, I don't really know what it is. Maybe it's... I've recently, when I've been writing and just kind of living my life. I've been thinking a lot about, you know, kind of my background and how that influences me.

Nanette McGuinness  08:55

Yes.

Devon Lee  08:55

I think a thing about me growing up, moving between two countries coming from, like, I'm Korean, and I come from, like, an Asian background in America. You know, it can be kind of like a kind of stereotype that's kind of rooted in general culture is kind of staying a bit quiet, not just like overall, but also about the parts of you that you know you want to scream about, or the parts that are just like, I guess the most personal it can be that like, what, where does my story then kind of fall into, I always felt like it was too in between or too gray for a lot of expression. So being able to express that in a way that's already kind of gray and in between, and I think that's kind of how I would describe some of my music just kind of like toeing a lot of different lines was really cool for me.

Nanette McGuinness  10:04

You know, the thing about stereotypes is they don't fit everyone. That's why they're dangerous. So...

Devon Lee  10:10

Absolutely.

Nanette McGuinness  10:11

...yeah, and that's why they're unfortunate as well.

Devon Lee  10:11

Yeah, I speak about my experience with this, but that's, I think that's really personal, like, I don't think that this applies to, like, any of my Asian friends at all, like I think it's just something that I personally deal with, obviously, you know, I'm not going to be the one that stereotypes.

Nanette McGuinness  10:33

No, of course not. 

Nanette McGuinness  10:35

[OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure, and a special thank you to our guest, Devon Lee for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting about it on social media, and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT, our concert season online and in the Bay Area, or to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit us at www.e4tt.org. This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors like you. For Good Measure is produced by Nanette McGuinness and Ensemble for These Times, and design by Brennan Stokes, with special thanks to co-producer and audio engineer Stephanie M. Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts and tune in next week "for good measure." [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS]