Jerry Fochtmann is a composer who releases his avant-garde and neo-classical solo piano music under his own name on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, and all major streaming services. He's a songwriter, singer, pianist, composer, and producer, and a member of several pop and rock bands/projects, but is also an insightful and talented composer in the classical style.
The upcoming project Jerry is most excited about is called "Uprooted", which is currently being edited and mastered. It is a three album set of modern classical solo piano. Jerry describes the project like this:
Uprooted is my pet project—a personal solo piano indulgence from my heart. It is my musical explorations of the devastation from a completely life-altering event, which quite literally uprooted me from life as I knew it.
But the title has a secondary meaning as well. Since the music reflects my feelings and emotions of that time, it includes many segments of dissonant, atonal, polytonal, ostinato-laden, and odd-metered music. And, in terms of music theory, there is little focus on having a "root tonality" to the pieces, so the music itself could also be described as uprooted.
But it's not loud or brash music for the most part—there's actually a certain peacefulness to letting oneself exist in the midst of what some might call soothing chaos. If I had to relate to well-known composers, I'd describe it as being born of the unique Twentieth Century composition techniques of Bela Bartok, especially his ballet suite, "The Miraculous Mandarin," and the repetitive phrases and shifting layers of Philip Glass' minimalism.
I'm hopeful that other people who have been through something that uprooted their world may be able to relate to the disjointed and disonnant parts of this three album set.
You can find Jerry's music under his name on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming services. Artwork for some albums and single releases is below.
Contact Jerry through his Instagram, Facebook, or Lonely Monday Records.
