Leopold Ross on collaboration, creative independence and finding influence beyond the music

On this special episode of The Composer Magazine Podcast, our host Charles Steinberg sat down with Leopold Ross one sunny LA afternoon to find out what makes the acclaimed composer and artist tick.

Exploring his early days assisting at a London studio and making the move to LA, the creative dynamic with his brother Atticus Ross, a mutual love for the "wordless music" of Mogwai and much more, the pair track Leopold's sonic journey which has led him to becoming one the of most in-demand and exciting composing talents of this generation.

It's not the notes, it's the space between the notes. That sentiment has definitely informed my aesthetic. I've always been a 'less is more' guy.

Leopold Ross: I'll often have a situation as a composer where I'll just be banging my head against the wall with something. Maybe for a day, maybe multiple days, I'll be banging my head, but then I'll step away from it. I'll go to the lake with my dog and kind of step away, and come back with some new perspective. Quite often what needed to be done becomes much more apparent just having disengaged, having had a little bit of space. Because I allowed myself to think about something else and my mind to wander.

Track listings as heard in the interview:

Intro

Possibilities Are Endless - The Defiant Ones

Body

1. Letting Go - Dispatches from Elsewhere (Music from the Elsewhere Society)

2. Still, On The Water - The Girl from Plainville

3. All Men Can Be Broken - Shōgun

4. Fated - The Defiant Ones

5. Lost Time - Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

6. Fredwynn Knows - Dispatches from Elsewhere (Music from the Jejune Institute)

7. A Dream Within a Dream - Shōgun

8. Family Business - Monarch: Legacy of Monsters