Loc Schuster didn’t even think he could play piano properly when he started composing. For years, he’d piece together tracks by recording one hand at a time, not even imagining he’d one day sit and play his own music the way it was meant to be heard. Now, he’s got a debut orchestral piece, Ballet de Penzance, performed by the Sydney Youth Orchestra, and it sounds like something that’s been building for a lifetime. “I only really knuckled down to learn piano properly late last year,” he admits. “Shoutout to my teacher, Fonda.”
What’s wild is that Schuster, has been gearing up for this moment since childhood. He reckons his love for ballet started with Barbie. Specifically, those early 2000s animated classics like Barbie in the Nutcracker and Barbie of Swan Lake. “There’s a scene where she’s dancing in the bakery to the Swan Lake Waltz. That’s completely stuck in my mind. Every single song that featured in those movies is etched in there. I haven’t seen them in over 20 years, but if you played me any track from The Nutcracker or Swan Lake, I could tell you if they were used in the film or not.”
Ballet de Penzance packs a lot into its two-and-a-half minutes. It’s beautiful, clean, and confident. There’s no waste. And that’s exactly how Loc wanted it. “I don’t really give myself many restrictions when I write or aim for a certain length,” he says. “I let the natural flow of a piece speak for itself. This one came out pretty punchy from the get-go.” The result is something that can stand on its own but could easily morph into something larger if the right opportunity comes along. “I’d love to turn it into a full ballet one day.”
The leap from casual composing to working with the Sydney Youth Orchestra wasn’t something he really saw coming. At the time, he was studying at TAFE when he found out about a project giving a few students the chance to have their compositions arranged and recorded by the orchestra. “I submitted Ballet de Penzance and was lucky enough to be selected. It was absolutely surreal. When I originally wrote the piece, I’d envisioned it being played by an orchestra, but as you can imagine, having that actually happen is a whole different story.”
For someone who didn’t grow up in classical music circles, Schuster’s sound suggests years of experience. But that might come down to his unique approach. He started out teaching himself, picking up what he could from playing saxophone in primary school, writing by ear, and pulling inspiration from ballet, obviously, but also ambient pop and indie film soundtracks. “I think starting piano later helped me avoid a lot of the rigidity you see in more formally trained musicians,” he says. “It gave me a lot more freedom to follow my instincts.”
Ballet de Penzance has all the pomp of a big orchestra, but it knows when to hold back. “There’s this old adage, like, if everything’s covered in water, is anything even wet anymore? Same goes for composing. If the whole piece is dramatic and over the top, it all just blends into itself and becomes exhausting, even in a two-and-a-half-minute track. So I’m really intentional with what I push, and I break that up with quieter sections.”
His early demos on SoundCloud have quietly been picking up listeners here and overseas. “They haven’t exactly blown up,” he laughs, “but they’ve covered a lot of ground. Shoutout to the guy in Hungary who’s been listening almost every day.” Those tracks, though, aren’t just some separate experiment. “They’re in the same world as Ballet de Penzance. One of my next projects is an album of solo piano works. A couple of those SoundCloud pieces are getting rerecorded for it.”
That piano album is shaping up to be something special. His family recently moved an old 1870's heirloom piano into his place. “I’m planning on using that piano to record all my solo piano pieces. It gives the music a really personal element, I think. It’s a nod to the journey of the piano itself and, more importantly, my family.”
Loc isn’t slowing down and at the same time he’s curious about stripping things back. “Working with less can honestly be more challenging than wrangling a whole orchestra. I want to stick to just piano for a while, maybe a violin or two. I want to get comfortable with leaving space in the music, challenge myself to say more with less.”
For now, fans can catch Ballet de Penzance in rotation on Local Sounds Radio, sandwiched between some of the biggest pop and rock greatest hits. “It’s such an honour to hear it played alongside some of my favourite artists,” he says. “Tuning in and knowing there’s a chance my song might come on, that’s just incredible.”
Listen to Ballet de Penzance by Loc Schuster now on Local Sounds https://localsounds.com.au/song/loc-schuster/ballet-de-penzance
SoundVerge Editorial
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