Next to the Cracks and Scratches — Cellist Peter Gregson on Patina
Peter Gregson
Patina — Deutsche Grammophon Cellist · Composer · Bridgerton · Bach Recomposed · PatinaHe wants to bring you right up close to the instruments — next to the cracks and scratches of the bow on the string, the fingers on the keyboard, the breath in the room. These sounds are essential. Like your favourite shoes, worn soft and scuffed.
"The creased spine and well-thumbed pages. Your favourite shoes worn soft and scuffed. The stain on your table where your coffee cup sits. All essential to the intimate encounter Gregson is creating on Patina."
Your greatest inspirations or influences?
"I'm very inspired by visual art — I used to travel a lot with work and would love nothing more than a jet lag visit to an art gallery. The delirium of sleep deprivation and the visual saturation is probably what I miss most from regular travel."
"Sometimes people think that being a classically trained musician is snobbish — that technical knowledge shadows the raw emotion of the music. But I strongly disagree. I think it's like fitness. If you want to be strong, you don't just lift dumb bells. That's great if you want big biceps, but if you want to be all-round strong, you need to challenge your muscles and keep active, mixing it up."
Tell us about your creative process.
"I'm very inspired by sound — whether that's a cello technique, a synthesiser sound, a reverb. I like to explore sounds and keep going. Once there's a sound, that tends to suggest a melody or harmony, and once you've got a sound and a melody, you're well on your way."
"I love my audio hardware like reverbs and compressors — I'm not such a fan of plugins. With a physical unit there's a tactility, a sense of performance in using it which I struggle to recreate with the plugin."
"I feel very fortunate that my music gets used a lot in the ballet and dance world. At the end of September, Guillaume Côté is staging a new piece in Toronto featuring some music from my new record — I just wish I could go!"
How has the pandemic changed your approach to work?
"When I'm on my own projects, I only work in the mornings and spend the afternoons with my children. If I'm collaborating or working for someone else, like a film, that isn't always possible — but that's my new position, and I love it."
"I see the world being more accepting of work-life balance. Mental health is no longer such a taboo subject, and despite the incredible advances in technology, we really appreciate how reliant we are on real human connection."
An icon of our time, and what does wellbeing mean to you?
"Darren Aronofsky, the film director. Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan really moved me to want to work in film."
"I have two young children so I'm realising how important sleep is — and what the lack of sleep does to you. I love walking and listening to music, but I find when I'm in the middle of writing, I can't listen to anything. It goes into a part of my brain that is too active — very cerebral, and sort of unwinds the enjoyment."
You will also love
From the Antakly Projects archiveBrazilian-French cellist and composer whose music carries the same intimate, close-mic warmth as Gregson's Patina.
Read on Antakly Projects ↗ Cello · CompositionAnother conversation with a cellist-composer from the archive — a different voice, the same devotion to the instrument's intimacy.
Read on Antakly Projects ↗ Piano · Classical · UnorthodoxA conversation about classical training, personal vision and breaking the rules — the same argument Gregson makes about fitness and muscle.
Read on Antakly Projects ↗Antakly Projects — originally Ninu Nina — has been in conversation with musicians, artists, photographers and creatives from across the world since 2003. Peter Gregson's practice — warm, tactile, technically rigorous and deeply human — is exactly the kind of voice this platform was built to share.
And for the personal rants, opinions you didn't ask for, and the occasional existential spiral: follow me on Substack.
Next to the cracks and scratches of the bow on the string. ✦