Kevin Bronson on February 27th, 2009

0

Meet John Wood. He’s Learning Music.

He’s 27, a profilic composer, a whiz-bang keyboardist, almost stupefyingly ambitious and, when it comes to making music, a communalist, if not a communist. He’s performed shows with as many as 15 or 20 musicians onstage without the benefit of rehearsals. And he’s ready to start his second season of Learning Music Monthly – he’ll make one album per month, available individually or by subscribing to the whole series, for the next year.

||| Download: “My Original Dictionary (feat. Readers)”

The series, which will be released through the local imprint Vosotros, get its launch Sunday at Machine Project (1200 N. Alvarado St.), when Wood conducts “Learning Music’s Music Learning Workshop” – a collaborative event at which participants are asked to bring a portable instrument. After an interactive lecture, the evening will culminate in a mass performance.

It’s not unlike how Wood has run his live “band” – and it’s a bit strange to call it that. “About nine or 10 months into the project, I thought about creating a band, something that couldn’t be recorded, something that would be different every time iwt was played,” he says of Leraning Music’s live performances, at which a collective of musician friends play from the composer’s minimal instructions.

“Recorded music has a monopoly on what we hear. But I feel there’s something precious about hearing music live and in the moment. I also feel that because of the collapse of the record industry, there’s not as much of a point on concentrating so much on making recordings. … I like the idea of something being communal.”

Wood, who has played keyboards on tour for Sebastien Tellier, Inara George and Obi Best, began writing after quitting his day job in film scoring. “I need to do something creative,” he says, accentuating the last word.

The music on LM’s “Greatest Hits So Far” – culled from the first year of albums – varies wildly stylistically. His March release for the second season, “Allegro,” leans toward electronic indie-pop. The April album will be acoustic guitar-driven.

“I don’t want to be pinned down; I like the idea that Learning Music can be anything,” Wood says. “In fact, I would mind being so not pinned down that I don’t have to be involved.”

Eventually Learning Music will be posting its sheet music, as well as song stems for other musicians to download and remix. Wood, who studied at CalArts, likes that his compositions can evolve. “There’s a little bit of throwing caution to the wind, and a certain [excitement] knowing that things will happen that are out of my control,” he says.

“I guess the real idea behind Learning Music is that we’re always learning new things, and whatever I make may not be perfect. The day after I cfreate something, my beliefs might change