Q&A with Composer, Innovator and Modern Musical Renaissance Man, Sleeping At Last
There’s a mantra commonly repeated in writing to “show, don’t tell.” Sleeping At Last creates music that doesn’t just tell us stories, he shows us the warmth and emotion behind them. His anthology-inclined discography is a study in musical storytelling concepts, from the 36-song year-long ‘Yearbook,’ to this year’s ‘Atlas: Year One,’ a compilation of pieces from his ‘Atlas’ series of EPs.
Perhaps it is his propensity for narrative through music that’s made Sleeping At Last a favorite among TV and film producers. “Turning Page,” the absorbing declaration of love that appeared in ‘Twilight IV: Breaking Dawn – Part 1,’ is a perennial favorite of Musicnotes musicians, as is “Sun,” which appeared in the trailer for ‘The Fault in Our Stars.’
The man behind the music (Chicago-based singer-songwriter, producer and composer Ryan O’Neal) graciously took time to share with us a bit about his songwriting process, how TV/movie placement works and his advice when it comes to writing music to be featured on-screen.
Listening to your music, and playing sheet music you’ve written, it’s clear that there is a genuine passion behind the notes. Where did your love of music stem from? Is there a clear moment when you decided you wanted to make music your life’s work?
S@L Thank you so much! My love for music began when I got my first guitar. I was 13 years old and my parents gave it to me as a Christmas gift. I taught myself how to play and eventually started writing my own songs. Sometime around 15 years old, I completely fell in love with the craft of songwriting. In listening to albums that I loved around that time, I started to understand and appreciate that a song, at its best, can be so much more than just a song. It can move people deeply and personally. It can even make the hair on your arms stand up. Once I realized that, music became so much more to me than just something fun to do, it became the thing I wanted to spend my life doing.
Similarly, your songs are loved for their emotive and thought-provoking nature. Where do you pull inspiration for your song writing?
S@L In general, I pull inspiration from all sorts of places; nature, travel, photography, movies, tv, books. But I like to think of my songs as my audio journal, so I pull a lot of inspiration from my own relationships and life experiences. That’s where most of it comes from. Lately I’ve been enjoying telling stories in my songs. Some true, some fiction. That’s been really fun and different for me to try my hand at.
Would you mind walking us through your songwriting process? Do you start with music and add lyrics, or do you know what you want to say ahead of the composition?
S@L Every song comes about somewhat differently… but I’ve learned a few practices and routines and that at least keep me busy until a decent idea appears. I do a lot of collecting. Every day I collect words and musical ideas… for words, I have an app on my phone called Day One, and it gives me a daily reminder to write a journal entry. Throughout my day I’ll write down a few words that sound interesting to me, or a string of words, or some random idea I have… it’s all very disconnected, but the idea of collecting all of these little half-thoughts ends up being very helpful to me down the road.
Musically, I do the same thing – I use the voice recorder app on my phone and make a habit of sitting down at the piano or with my guitar several times throughout a day and just play around. I’ll record whatever sounds decent and forget about it. When I set out to write a song, I’ll dig through the random recordings and journal entries I’ve made and just see what stands out. Most of it is no good, but usually there’s something that sparks an idea, or fits together in an interesting way. So that’s sort of how I approach songwriting. Do little bits of it every day to find a spark, and once I find one, put in the hours of hard work to turn it into something.
You’ve had the opportunity to perform and collaborate with so many other amazing artists. Is there anyone you were especially inspired by?
S@L Getting to work with Van Dyke Parks was a dream come true! His musicality and songwriting is on a level so far beyond anyone else I know, it’s staggering! So to get to work with him was truly a treat! Working with Billy Corgan early on in my career was also a huge inspiration and dream come true.
Even before “Turning Page” was featured in ‘Twilight’ and “Sun” appeared in the trailer for ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ you had songs on popular TV shows including ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and ‘Bones.’ How did that television soundtrack relationship come about? Is TV different than film placement?
S@L The folks on the music team at Grey’s Anatomy have been an incredible support over the years! They first placed a song of mine in an episode in 2006 and have since been kind enough to let more and more of my songs be a part. Eventually that lead to other shows being interested in my songs as well, which lead to the films I had the privilege of having music in too.
The Film and TV placement world are very similar to one another… The only notable differences are that TV has a much quicker timeline than a film. A song could air on a TV show with only a week or two of notice, where as a placement in film could take over a year in some occasions. But overall, very similar experiences. I grew up absolutely in love with movies and TV, and I still am, so the privilege of getting to make music for these amazing projects has been such a treat for me!
When you compose/write for a show or film, is your process different than when you work on personal projects? Do you know what the mood or scene that you’re writing for is, or do you write the song first and someone else determines where it’ll be used?
S@L When I’m invited to write a song for a specific scene or project, I’ll get an email with some general notes on the mood, or some musical references. From there, it’s just a matter of researching the project and knowing more about the story and trying to get into the headspace of what kind of song it should be. Ideally, I’ll get to see the footage of the scene I’m writing music for, and in that case it’s just a matter of playing around until something musically makes sense of the visuals, but in my experiences – it’s not that common to get to see the scene I’m writing a song for.
When I’m hired to write the entire score of a TV show or film, as the composer, then I always get to see the entire thing and write to the footage, but writing a song or two for a project tends to be more about a general mood and lyric direction, than specific footage. But for general song placements, a TV show or film will typically choose a song you’ve already written and released and you’ll receive a request to use it and cross your fingers that it’ll make it into the project!
Would you have any advice for musicians wanting to get a song placed on television or in movies? Do you see any benefits or drawbacks to focusing on placement?
S@L Write and record as much music as you can! I say that for a few reasons…
1: It’ll make you a better writer.
2: Having new music consistently available in this very cluttered digital age of music will only increase your chances of having it heard by more people, including by folks looking for music for TV and film.
3: Because if music is your passion, making more of it will only make you happy. Focusing on business opportunities will do the opposite. It will drive you nuts and you will lose the authenticity in your music by trying to chase after success.
Your moniker is so very unique. Would you mind sharing with us where the name Sleeping At Last originated?
S@L Many years ago I was in a book store with a friend and I picked up a book of poetry. I jokingly told my friend that whatever page I turn to next would be my new band name. I flipped the page and there was a poem called “Sleeping At Last” right under my fingertip. I actually liked that a lot and felt that it fit, so I went with it!
Finally, what’s up next for Sleeping At Last? (We’re patiently anticipating Atlas: Year Two.) Any little tidbits you can share or ideas of what we can expect?
S@L Thank you so much! This Fall will be a very busy season for me… My wife and I are expecting our first child, a little girl! I’m SO very excited to get to be a dad! Around the same time, I’ll be announcing a brand-new business that I started and am super excited about! And of course, I’ll begin Atlas: Year Two, which will be a series of new music, about 2 dozen songs, all revolving around the theme of Life. I’ve also got my fingers crossed for a few TV and film projects I’m hoping to be a part of too!
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We’d like to thank Sleeping At Last for his time and for sharing such valuable insights! Be sure to check out his website, and see all downloadable Sleeping At Last sheet music here!