Formula Indie Sessions : Interview with Robert Leonard
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
The earliest memory I can recall is the time I was about four years old and hearing my all time favorite song, Brooks & Dunn’s cover of “My Maria”. My parents took me to the store and we bought the CD of Brooks and Dunn’s Greatest Hit Collection, and played it constantly.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
I took music lessons from an early age and at the time I had no interest in creating music. I was being taught to play what was already written. My early teenage years I started to pick up the guitar and then started writing, trying to make things rhyme and fit in time, understandably at a very poor quality at the time.
Eventually, I learned to love the nuances, the smaller details that could shape the entire way a song is perceived.
I worked hard on studying everything I could about the Music Industry and earned my Bachelors of Science in Music Industry Studies with an emphasis on Recording and Production from Appalachian State University in 2015, and I’d like to give a huge shout out to The Great Professor Scott Wynne and all of my brothers and sisters in the program (former and current)..
What’s the story behind your current music project?
One of the most common sayings you’ll hear about Nashville is it is a 10 year town, and I’ve been in Nashville, Tennessee now for over 10 years. I wanted to be a part of writing music that spoke to people, that they could connect to, that told honest stories and reflected life the way I grew up in Nashville, North Carolina.
I wasn’t interested in writing hits for the club that would be forgotten in a year or two, I wanted to create timeless music, that you could listen to years from now and be able to still relate to it. The art is what drew me in, not the business. Staying true to that sentiment, I saved up until I had enough to fund the project fully as an independent.
It is my thank you to all of the artists who influenced me, to all the songs that reached out and touched my soul, and every musician and mentor who made me realize “you have to treat every note like it has a purpose”.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
I would have to say, it’s a conglomeration of many sounds that I fell in love with along the way, it’s honest country, trying to reflect the same kind that I heard growing up, and all the emotions and sceneries that came with them. It’s real life put into music. It’s not worried about hooks that sell or whatever the popular beat is at the time, it’s just an expression of the human experience.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
Every note matters, and each one is supposed to fulfill it’s purpose. Music is a language and the greatest advantage of songwriting is being able to give the words a background that “paints the picture”.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
My guitar and piano are absolutes. I use Pro Tools, Logic, and Luna. The greatest asset that I could have though is my whiteboard, it helps me be able to write things out and visualize all the details and plot movements I really want to achieve in the song.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
There’s so many…but I’m always excited to hear my buddy Adam Church and whatever he’s been working on.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
Greatly, I grew up in a small town in North Carolina called Nashville (ironic, I know). I was taught to love nature, be out in the woods for hours on end, spent time on the family farm, and just living life at a different speed and perception of what it is now.
I remember we had a small wooden shack we stayed in called the “woods house” on my grandparents land and the radio played constantly, that was it. Sit outside on the front steps, no phones, no television, nothing but enjoying the weather and the radio playing Country Music and hearing those stories and painting the pictures they were telling with my imagination.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
I hope that if they listen and find a connection to the world around them to any of these songs, that it will create a memory that can be brought back vividly when listening to the record.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
How to open up and express what I’m thinking clearly and effectively, as well as learning how to forgive myself of mistakes and do what I can to rectify them, learn from them, and work on being better.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
The Grand Ole Opry for sure, that is a dream I’ve had for 20 years. To be able to stand in the famous circle that so many of my heroes stood in and sing a song that people in the crowd and over the air have listened to and means something deeply to them, to be completely locked in on that moment, performer and listener engaged in a bonding moment…that would be fulfilling.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
I have to pick only one? (laughs). Honestly, I don’t know if I could. I’d say any of my musical heroes from growing up that would be interested in collaborating, It would be a huge honor.
….Maybe Ronnie Dunn, because I would be interested in seeing how he puts the emotion in his inflections of the words and his thought process behind those choices. Or Darryl Worley, pretty much for the same reason.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
The best way to find me is to go to linktr.ee/robertleonardmusic
All of my social platforms and my website are on there, as well as the links to streaming my album “Pieces Of Me”
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
I would love to collaborate more and work with artists/musicians who want to talk about life, not the club or worried about only writing a Number 1 song. Let’s tell a story, and make it a masterpiece.
Other than that, I go back to what I said earlier about playing the Grand Ole Opry, that would be a dream come true
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
I hope they see someone who does not care about fame, but only wants to keep the stories and lifestyle alive and can be someone they can say “He gets it, he understands.”.
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