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1.) We’re super-excited to have some time today with acclaimed composer and performer Liza Bec; greetings and salutations Liza and thank you for taking time off from a very busy schedule to speak with Vents Magazine! Before we dive down the Q&A musical rabbit hole, how is 2025 finding you and yours?
Salutations and greetings! Hasn’t it been a whirlwind? Currently coming to you from a rather lovely hotel in Tallinn gearing up for Music Week as part of the Keychange Leaders Talent Development Programme, which I’m lucky enough to be a part of. We are three hours earlier than the UK here, so it’s been a jet lagged email morning which I’ve been trying to combat with a fierce interval workout, a sauna and a large cinnamon bun.
2.) Major congratulations on your upcoming eagerly anticipated debut album The End Times which is set to light up record charts across the globe when it drops this April 25! Starting at the tip-top, can you talk about what inspired this ambitious and sublime LP?
The End Times is music for fantasy fans- the sonic gateway to a fictional dystopia. It’s the recorded journey of a band of musicians tracing the path of an epic story, live and unedited. By listening to The End Times, you can walk beside the characters and live their experiences in real time.
I am a big fan of the work of Ursula Le Guin and her constellation of dystopian tales within an expansive universe. This includes the soundtrack album she made with Todd Barton. Todd is a genius composer who I’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with on an upcoming episode of my podcast Spiral Dial.
My last two EPs started with me writing a short story, and this time I felt I was ready to step it up to a full length novel and album. I just needed the right idea and the right place for it to fit into my own creative world. So my brain was on the lookout for a hook.
The very first kernel of a musical idea came to me on a long car journey from Wales where I’d been working on a new music project with Ty Cerdd. When I was a child we used to holiday in Anglesey, where it rains an awful lot of the time. I’d come out of the caravan and scribble on the freshly cleaned slate. I absolutely love the sound of it. I remember saying to my brother, I want to make a piece about the sound of chalk on slate. I think his response was ‘Hmmmm’. But the idea stuck!
The story came to me separately on an unexpected last-minute trip to a college reunion. It was that magical moment when you walk back into a place with so many memories and your past and present self are suddenly superimposed on each other. So a flood of all the emotions, really. Chatting with a member of staff about their most unusual alumni-related experiences gave me the ideal idea for the novel.
I decided to stay there for a couple of weeks to finish the book. During this time the slate somehow metamorphosed into a blackboard. I’ve always liked blackboards. While I was at college, I had a small blackboard in my room on which I would compile to-do lists. They never got done, but I found the process of scribbling on them soothing. I really related to the idea of a blackboard being an interface of possibilities.
3.) The End Times LP is notable not only for the exquisite sounds which you achieve, but also in the creative ways in which you produce that sound! That being said, what can you tell our ever-inquisitive readers about the ‘Roborecorder’ and the magical and musical blackboard which played a part in the new LP?
Both of these ideas come from one concept: making music with affordable everyday objects and instruments. I remember arriving at music college and being told that I had the ‘wrong’ instrument. It was a perfectly functional clarinet which my previous teacher had kindly gifted me, but it wasn’t the standard orchestral model. I had to take out a large loan to buy the proper one, get a new mouthpiece and completely re-learn how to play. It was a total waste of time. It’s not necessary to spend a lot of money to make good music, unless you’re trying to sound exactly the same as someone else, that is.
Now I choose to play on a plastic recorder. It’s practical, indestructible, you can easily solder on circuit boards and other gizmos, and it sends a powerful message. Basically, none of the gear, but all of the ideas.
The roborecorder itself was designed as a representation of my glitchy brain while I was writing my EP and short story INNERVATE. It’s based on my experience of developing music-triggered reflex epilepsy, a one in 10 million dose of bad luck. The circuitry enables me to control settings on the computer via MIDI.
The blackboard on the album is a real small wooden blackboard which we ordered online. It has no special powers in the real world, but once equipped with a contact mic and several layers of electronic wizardry via Ableton, it can make all sorts of magical noises! We mainly used chalk to make the sounds, but there may have been some whacking with larger objects to create some of the more intense sonic moments.
My collaborator David Ryder Prangley was in the booth in the Wood Room at Real World studios operating the chalk. Meanwhile I was in the main room playing the roborecorder and operating the electronic half of the blackboard. So when he was using the chalk, he never quite knew what sort of sounds were going to emerge. It was as if it changed into a different instrument on each track.
4.) The End Times is being released via the fine folks over at BMV Records! What makes BMV the best home for you and your music?
It’s extremely important to me to have full creative control over my work. Operating my own label, BMV Records, enables me to do that. As creative director I am able to collaborate with amazing artists and bring large scale projects like The End Times and Spiral Dial, our monthly podcast, to life.
The paradigm in the music industry is one of being ‘discovered’ by some great creative Brain who is usually, but not always, a man. I’m lucky enough to be working with an amazing team to challenge that perception.
5.) We’re big admirers of the tune The Roof which can be found front-and-center on The End Times album! What’s the scoop behind this gem of a ditty?
The Roof is inspired by a rather beautiful secret spot above the Lodge at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. I’d tell you to go and see it sometime, except that it’s strictly out of bounds. I wanted to capture that morning-after feeling of clandestine pleasure.
This was the very first take of our recording session at Real World, so I wanted it to be the first track which came out too! The Hammond organ on this track actually blew up straight after it was recorded and started emitting flames. Let’s hope that’s not a premonition!
6.) In the wake of the April 25 release of your debut LP, can fans look forward to catching you on the touring/performing circuit?
Yes, indeed! Expect movement, music and magic: we will be travelling from a classroom into a mysterious world.
Along with blackboard and roborecorder, the live show features a rogue xylophone, trumpet and a three dimensional tapescape, all choreographed by the amazing Becky Namgauds. The initial development of the live show was supported by Paraorchestra. We have been lucky enough to receive support from Arts Council England to finish it over the next couple of months.
Dates for your diaries so far: the National Opera Studio in London on 22nd June, with tickets released on 24th April, and Middlesbrough Town Hall on Sunday 8th June. We customise the show for each space so each performance will be a unique experience.
7.) In your humble opinion, what differentiates The End Times album from the distinguished Competition on the 2025 music scene?
Most commercial music now is extremely artificial. Atmos mixes are painstakingly reconstructed from the stereo mix, often recorded track by track in deadened booths and edited down to precise fractions of every syllable. Each element is then placed within an artificial room. Hooks, Tik Tok and Spotify are at the top of most producers’ priorities. We are living in an Orwellian world where AI is churning out sound-a-like tunes to calm the proles.
The End Times may be music from another world but it is, above all, real sound played and recorded live. I wanted to make music which sounds completely different to everything else out there. Music which can’t be used to tick a genre box. Music which won’t be playlisted on Peaceful Piano.
How did we do it? We recorded it completely live using a custom mic array to capture the real sound of the Wood Room at Real World. We didn’t have to fake anything on this recording- it all just slotted into place. So when you listen to the Dolby Atmos mix, it’s as if you are in the room with us.
It also forms a gateway to a larger universe. You can experience the future of one of the main characters by listening to my monthly podcast, Spiral Dial, and dive deeper and deeper into that world. So in all, the very opposite of a 15 second Tik Tok meme.
8.) Can you introduce readers to the talented musicians who contributed their own distinct and indelible musical prowess into making The End Times a full-fledged reality?
I’ve been blessed to work with many incredible collaborators on this musical journey. First and foremost, David Ryder Prangley, a rare creative soul who I’ve been working with for well over a decade. As narrator and chief blackboard operator he really brought the magic of The End Times to life. He also narrates Spiral Dial, so he has been a huge part of developing my musical universe.
The End Times was recorded while on a year-long residency at Paraorchestra and had so many fantastic creative brains to bounce ideas off, in particular Lloyd Coleman and Charles Hazlewood and the brilliant production team with whom I had monthly meetings during this journey and many cups of tea.
For the album sessions, we worked with Katie May at Real World Studios. She is an incredible recording engineer and took this leap of faith with us. The combination of musicians on the album was a one off, all recorded live with no rehearsal. The drums on this album were played by the incredible Dave Smith, whose feel really brought the tracks to life, and Hammond Organ was played by the brilliant Alex Veitch. Both of them stepped into this story with openness and real generosity- I think we captured some wonderful moments. Not to mention we played pretty much every object in the Wood Room, from the railings to the staircase!
Finally I mixed the album with Adrian Hall, a fantastic Atmos engineer who works with Tori Amos, one of my musical heroes. He also has some absolutely beautiful cats and rabbits who very much contributed to our creative process.
9.) Can budding music artist possibly use some of the techniques themselves which you pioneered for The End Times LP such as your musical blackboard? Is this something which might be accessible for the journeyman musician?
Absolutely! Grab yourself a contact mic and a laptop and you can start right away. To make things even easier, you can order your very own Liza Bec blackboard on my Bandcamp together with a copy of The End Times album. Also suitable for compiling to-do lists and any other chalk-based activity.
We are going to be running a blackboard workshop in Middlesbrough to start young musicians down this very path of electronic mayhem. I may release some Ableton templates at some point in the future if there is interest.
10.) At the end of the day, what do you hope listeners walk away with after giving many-a- listen to your beautiful debut LP, The End Times?
An appreciation of how to find magic, and music, in the minutiae of life. And a blackboard!
