{"id":18465,"date":"2025-09-27T18:48:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T00:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/?p=18465"},"modified":"2025-09-27T18:48:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T00:48:11","slug":"interview-with-conrad-askland-bandleader-and-keyboardist-for-cirque-du-soleil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/interview-with-conrad-askland-bandleader-and-keyboardist-for-cirque-du-soleil\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Conrad Askland – Bandleader and Keyboardist for Cirque du Soleil"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Interview with Conrad Askland about his work as Bandleader and Keyboardist for Cirque du Soleil. Original article at: https:\/\/stereostickman.com\/interviews\/conrad-askland\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Taking time out from his busy schedule, Music Director and Ableton Live specialist Conrad Askland \u2013 currently touring the globe with the iconic Cirque du Soleil \u2013 kindly stopped by for an interview.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We talk everything from discovering his unique role in music, to achieving high-profile opportunities, writing music, staying inspired, building a presence on YouTube, the value of collaboration, and the lure of ambition. Here\u2019s the conversation in full.<\/strong><\/p>\n

* * *<\/h2>\n

Conrad \u2013 excited to talk with you, thanks for the opportunity! To introduce things, how would you describe your role within the music world?<\/strong><\/p>\n

On live shows I work as a music director and conductor\/keyboardist, and in music publishing I work as a music producer and composer. I am also an Ableton Live specialist, which is music software used in many live show performances.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Who or what first inspired you to develop a career within the music and creativity realm?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was very young I was classically trained as a boy soprano performing Early Music, Sacred and Baroque music with the Northwest Boychoir. This led to performing with Seattle Opera in many operas and eventually a title role. The start of it all was singing classical music and I was trained in a very old-school and strict classical style. It laid the foundation for everything that would follow.<\/p>\n

How did you come to work as a music director \u2013 where did that journey start, and what does this job entail?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was never my intention to be a music director. Truthfully I don\u2019t think I was even aware that music directors existed. I only knew about classical conductors. Because I was a strong piano player, sight reader and improviser \u2013 I always ended up being the one to \u201cput together the music\u201d and in time there was this slow realization that \u201cOh, I\u2019m a music director\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve recently been touring with the globally renowned Cirque du Soleil \u2013 how did you first get involved with this, and what does your job entail here?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I started with Cirque du Soleil in 2008 on their resident show in Macau, China called \u201cZaia\u201d. The job meant that I actually lived in China for 4 years while working as bandleader, keyboardist and accordion player for the show. After that I worked as bandleader on the touring show \u201cVarekai\u201d and now I\u2019m working as bandleader on the Cirque du Soleil ice-skating show \u201cCrystal\u201d. Currently we\u2019re performing in Sao Paulo, Brazil.<\/p>\n

The bandleader position for Cirque du Soleil means that you perform in the show, rehearse the musicians and run all the music cues during the show. Running the music cues is very important because so much of the music is tied to specific stunts that the acrobats perform and every show is a little different because we\u2019re performing live with all the other circus artists.<\/p>\n

I also do all the computer editing of the music arrangements that we run in conjunction with live musicians during the show. So the job is half performing artist and half computer geek and I love it all of it.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best thing about travelling the world so intensely with Cirque du Soleil, and conversely, what are some of the challenges?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Almost all of us love to travel or we wouldn\u2019t be working on a world tour. In the past two years we\u2019ve performed across five continents. I take full advantage of our different locations with city tours, seeing live music concerts and doing photography around most of the cities we visit.<\/p>\n

The challenge for any touring performer is the balance between work and our off time. One thing we all have in common is that we are extremely driven and focused on our work. It\u2019s very easy to forget that the down time is also an important element of our work-life tour balance. We use the term \u201cself-care\u201d a lot, meaning we need to remember to get outside and enjoy the local culture a bit wherever we are traveling.<\/p>\n

You come from a notably musical family, and naturally became a multi-instrumentalist. Is there a particular instrument and\/or genre that continues to be your favourite in terms of pure escapism and joy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Piano and the music of J.S. Bach. He is an endless source of inspiration to me and if I choose music just to listen to for enjoyment, it\u2019s almost always J.S. Bach. In my work I am always listening to new styles of music, practicing new music and learning new orchestration techniques. So the simple pleasure of just listening to J.S. Bach is something I never tire of.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re also an Ableton Live Specialist \u2013 what made you choose to master Ableton Live above all other DAWs, and what is it about creative production that draws such passion from you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

With recording I used all analog gear until I switched to ProTools back around 1997. I started learning Ableton Live in 2008 because it was the software that Cirque du Soleil uses to run its shows. The more I got into Ableton, the more I was comfortable and enjoyed the process. I went on to get Professional Certification in Ableton Live with Berklee College of Music and now Ableton is my go-to platform for producing music.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe passion comes from the need to get my ideas into fixed form. If I have a musical idea, it drives me crazy until I can put it in fixed form as music notation or a finished recording. I\u2019ve worked on shows and producing music my entire life so now I don\u2019t question it. It\u2019s just what I do.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You\u2019re crushing it on YouTube at the moment \u2013 what would you say have been the key tools in growing your audience?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I just started learning how to make videos in early 2021 during the pandemic. Video production had always been a blind spot for me so I just chose video production as a new skillset to learn. It\u2019s been a very long and slow climb to learn all the ins and outs of YouTube and video production. I\u2019d say it\u2019s just simply that I kept focused on it and learned as I went along.<\/p>\n

The difficult part for me is that my musical styles are so varied that it doesn\u2019t appeal to a single niche audience. No one will like all of my music but most people will like some of it. I have a very diverse and sometimes eclectic fan base. I like the quote \u201cbuild it and they will come\u201d.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve built a reputation for being incredibly eclectic as a musician \u2013 how does a creative session begin when there are no genre or stylistic limits; where do you start?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The hard part is knowing what you want to say. Once you know that, then how to say it usually presents itself. I like the Sondheim rule of \u201ccontent dictates form\u201d particularly when it comes to shows and musical theatre. I\u2019ll always start with the elements that I know \u201chave to be done\u201d. And once I\u2019ve done those things, then new elements appear that \u201chave to be done\u201d and I keep chipping away like that until I have a final product that feels right.<\/p>\n

How important is collaboration and networking, in your view, when building a lasting career in the music industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My experience is that there\u2019s two camps in general on that. There\u2019s the group that\u2019s really good at networking and there\u2019s the group that has a strong work ethic. I\u2019m more in the work ethic group. Put me in a large social gathering and I\u2019ll be the one in the corner staring awkwardly at people. But put me one-on-one with someone that has a good creative idea and I will be engaged for hours exploring that idea with them. I don\u2019t do networking but I do forge authentic creative friendships with people.<\/p>\n

Do you have a particular ambition or dream in mind for the next couple of years \u2013 something new or different you\u2019d like to achieve or work towards?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I follow the river where it take me and it\u2019s usually someplace unforeseen and fun.<\/p>\n

Is there anything else we should know?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would like to be on the production team for the world\u2019s next greatest show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Interview with Conrad Askland about his work as Bandleader and Keyboardist for Cirque du Soleil. Original article at: https:\/\/stereostickman.com\/interviews\/conrad-askland\/ Taking time out from his busy schedule, Music Director and Ableton Live specialist Conrad Askland \u2013 currently touring the globe with the iconic Cirque du Soleil \u2013 kindly stopped by for an interview. We talk everything […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,48,4142],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3C0LX-4NP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18465"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18467,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18465\/revisions\/18467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}