Ever since getting his hands on a set of belt-driven Numark turntables at the age of 12 for Christmas, downloading a fruity production software shortly thereafter, and having always curiously toyed with the piano and other instruments to make strange sounds – Stefan Lawrence Janik has been enraptured with the world of music and art ever since he can remember. Be it attending daily dance and theatre school in Glasgow throughout his teen years, DJing on BBC Radio One at 15 and as a consequence;Ibiza’s notorious Westend and Cafe del Mar when he was 16, to then going on to play to a crowd of 5000+ at Scotland’s late T in The Park festival three years in a row, and supporting dance acts like Annie Mac, Example, and Hannah Wants across the country: he has always straddled a loving but deeply contrasting dichotomy: these electronic hard-hitting techno and housey disco hardcore DJ roots, and that of the softer more emotive and expressive contemporary classical and ambient or theatrical side; spurred on by his discovery of artists like Nils Frahm, Philip Glass, and Olafur Arnalds at around age 17 as well as his earlier training in musical theatre. It was the later (encouraged by his piano mentor) that led him to pursue a BMus Undergraduate Composition Degree at the London College of Music (finally graduating from the Conservatorio of Rovigo, Italy, in March 2023 after transferring abroad. In this time, he has also worked on several film, theatre, and commercial commissions outside of his studies around the UK and in Europe. He has started a masters in Film Composition, or “Musica Applicata” at the same Conservatorio “F. Venezze di Rovigo” now studying under prominent composer and maestro Marco Biscarini (former student of Ennio Morricone). With plans to move to Berlin in the summer of 2023 and continue blurring the lines between drum machine and orchestra, dancefloor and playhouse, the future ahead looks set to proceed for Stefan as powerfully as a distorted 909-kick drum or a delicate Chopin prelude at dawn.
Featured Transmission(s):
- Aired on April 14th 20:30 CEST 2023
- Broadcast from Factus
- Genre: Experimental
- Duration: 15 min
2023