Meet Colton Weatherston

We recently connected with Colton Weatherston and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Colton, really appreciate you joining us to talk about a really relevant, albeit unfortunate topic – layoffs and getting fired. Can you talk to us about your experience and how you overcame being let go?

I lost my dream job in 2003, so I went back to school to build up my skills. I wasn’t sure what was next, but I got a scholarship to get a Master’s degree, so I went for it. Turns out there were new “dream jobs” out there afterall.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I love to write music for orchestra musicians. I have a lot of experience with synthesizers and samplers, but…. there’s nothing like the real thing. One of the greatest thrills for me is standing in front of a group of musicians in a recording studio and hearing them bring it to life, up from the written page to the actual performance. I enjoy the whole process from sketching to orchestration to conducting- its like sculpting a piece of stone to reveal the form of the statue with light and shadow. For me, music is very visual with lines, shades, colors, and shapes creating drama and narrative. I love how orchestral sound can bring a physical presence to these ideas.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1) Studying Classical Guitar as a teenanger and young adult was very impactful. I gained a lot of the fundamentals that I use in composition from this experience. These include knowledge of music notation, understanding of melody, and how to shape the form of a composition with harmony and texture.
2) Playing Live Music for everyday social functions. Apart from classical music, I have performed as a guitarist and vocalist in a lot of situations where I have been an observer of the human experience- weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, baptisms, funerals, besotten college parties, upper crust fine dining, family reunions, private house parties, late night corner bars, early morning music classes, old folks’ homes, pre-schools, K-5 music special, summer festivals, small medium and large venues. I’ve found music to be a relational medium for human beings of all walks of life, ethnicities, religions, economic classes, and family structures. I carry all of this with me as a sixth sense when I compose music to reflect human narratives.
3) Visual Art – I paint pictures, mostly of landscapes of cities. I usually use only three main colors- light, medium, and dark to create a dreamlike feeling of foreground, middle ground, and background. Then, I put light washes of color over these and a few highlights. My paintings are seperate from my music, but, in a very real way, they prepare me to tell narrative stories through music by revealing forms with lines, shapes, light and shadow. The calming impact of visual art helps me manage my focus with the nervous elements of music making- the social components and the rhythmic components especially.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

The most impactful thing my parents did for me was to provide a very secure home life. I consider myself very fortunate that my parents helped me become a life long learner. I modelled perseverance, quiet concentration, enjoyment of the arts, love for reading, love for social and emotional sharing of music, and persistence from both parents (and my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and my two sisters as well.) As I grow older and do my best to share these values with my son, I gain a deeper appreciation for the positive impact of family in the formation of socially and emotionally connected communities. This has been the key for me to connect and build bridges across my professional arts and musician communities.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @colt_music_art
• Other: I have a new music release coming out i. 7-10 business days. Can I update this section later?

Image Credits

Colton Weatherston and Martin Peters