48: Apply Your Style On & Off Stage
A Conversation with Fay Leshner
Part 2
Transcript Highlights:
Let's say a musician is at a moment where they're going to do their first real photoshoot or they have an important concert and they or they have it-- you know, they have something significant that's happening and they want to take a big step forward, but they don't know where to begin. What advice do you have?
What I use for any preparation for photoshoots is I create a mood board and I do this on Pinterest. I'm a huge fan because it, first of all, it's like just a base of every single image that exists in the world. But you can make boards specifically and group them into sections.
So what I would advise is just go on there like very loosely, and just start like looking up other musicians, look at how they're being portrayed. What images do you like? Start saving those. It could be even images of like paintings, just collect visuals that you are gravitating towards. And from that, like after you've exhausted the process, you step back and look at what you saved and you will notice your patterns like guaranteed, whether it's like a color pattern that you're like, you keep going back to or style that you keep going back to. And then from there you can kind of dive deeper into it and dissect like, okay, so this is more along the lines of what I want. And then from there, for like a photoshoot, I would say do your research with photographers, like find someone where you like the photos that they're taking, not just because they have a camera, because a lot of people have cameras and also save pictures from the ones that they've actually taken and ones that you like. And then when you show a mood board to a photographer, it gives them a better idea, like visual guidelines of like, okay, I see, this is kind of a better lighting for this person. This is the mood that they're trying to, to express.
Kellogg:
So in a field that feels a little bit conservative, what can musicians do that want to exercise a bit more creativity?
Leshner:
So I think, you approach your performance gear with a little bit more creativity. You start thinking of alternate ways you can interpret that. But within, everyone is aware of what formal wear looks like, what's been done. So look at what you wear off stage and kind of find what are the what are the parts of that that are consistent? What do you like best about it. Is it color? Are you really attracted like bold colors? Are you attracted to sparkles? And think about like, well, how can I bring that into my playing? So maybe it's wearing a suit that has like sparkles on the lapel, or maybe you wear like a pin that brings in something more of your personality or pop of color, pocket squares, things like that. So it doesn't always have to be like completely Elton John. You can you can trickle it in and get your point across. It's more subtle than you think.
I think you should absolutely express yourself on stage, and, it's okay to be simple and conservative because that guaranteed will probably be a part of your playing style anyway. Maybe you're more quiet and elegant, but there are people— I've worked with some of your musicians who are super into style and they, they really know themselves, and there's a fear of expressing that on stage. But I think if you're going to push the music form forward, you almost have to challenge that because, you know, the music has been around for hundreds of years and we're all playing the same thing, and it's beautiful, but like, how do you how do you make that relevant? It has to be about the musician.
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Start looking to other art forms as a way of like not only expanding like your audience, but also just future collaborations and possibilities where classical musicians could work with brands. Because right now it's like it's not really considered that much because it's such a narrow look, you know? Like pop-, rock stars, celebrities - the branding comes from them. It comes from how they're connecting to audience. And that's why companies want to work with them, because they want the people who are paying attention to them. So think of it like how do you reach more people? It's really just about connecting with people and like that's about expressing yourself and it can be beyond your instrument, which is really nice.
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If you're offstage attire is completely sweatpants and a sweatshirt, consider where you're going. If you're going to be at a place that is like, you know, more formal, maybe wear sneakers with your suit. I mean, that is completely acceptable. Bring some of that streetwear attire into something that's more tailored. It's about like being a little bit more creative about mixing media and not being afraid to do so. Full expression is great, you also still want to think about the impression that you're making and the audience that you're interacting with. So if you consider that whatever that means to you, it's like if you want to be taken seriously or you're speaking to donors, for instance, and you want them to feel a certain way, consider how you would feel if you were talking to someone dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt in that context. Take it out of your own head.
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Kellogg:
And when you go to a photoshoot, what sort of outfits do you bring and prepare? How do you represent those different parts of who you are?
Leshner:
So to make it easy to understand, think about it in three buckets. So one, what is the way you interpret like classical performance wear? So where are these going? Your pictures are going to be in programs. If you're playing at Carnegie, that's a more conservative venue space. What would you, what kind of photo would you want to show up in there? Then you also need photos for your website, you know, and I think second bucket is something that is of like a mix of your onstage and offstage, so that’s kind of mixing in like bit of your personality. That's where the mixed media kind of comes in. And then third bucket being what you wear off stage, something that's a little bit more personal to you for two reasons.
One, if you're doing your own programing and you want something a little bit more casual, and also chances are if you're wearing your own clothes, something that you are naturally fit and comfortable in, the photo will express more of you than any of the other photos. And especially in photoshoots, it's not a full editorial. The best photo shoots are capturing your personality. And if we can get that out of you because you're wearing your favorite t-shirt, then it is extremely effective.
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Kellogg:
Musicians need a team of people to support them in their career. They work with publicists, they work with somebody that helps them with the website, they might work with somebody that's helping them with photography and social media or how they're showing up in social media. Where does a stylist factor in to this team of support for a musician?
Leshner:
So I would recommend, if you've never worked with a stylist before, do it when you're going to have your photoshoot for either promo photos or an album release, something like that, because that's a great opportunity to like really think intentionally about what you want to look like, how you want to be represented.
When I work with classical musicians, I have a consultation before and we talk through all of this. It's almost like a bit of PR, like, what's your story and how can we represent this in pictures? And like, then we build a mood board together and it's like, just, I think, if you're going to invest the money, do it at a time where there is like a clear outcome. You know, you need to have these photos and you want those photos to last. So, and then going forward, if you, if you have like, if you're going on tour and you're playing or you're going to be at like very fancy galas, that's another time, that's good to bring in professional help just to have access to better clothes, like even if you're really good at what you wear, you might need something above your budget level and that can be borrowed if it's in the right situation where you're getting enough press and exposure.
So with classical musicians, I like to-- first, most of them are not that familiar with like how to approach styles, so I do an hour zoom and we go through a questionnaire and one of the questions on there is to consider their branding, like what are 3 to 4 high level words that you want people to associate with the pictures that they see. And in that way it kind of gives me like a setting of the mood. So from there, we'll discuss. We'll go through your closet, we'll look at things like what are your favorite things to wear? And we'll make outfits together over Zoom.
And then we'll build a mood board from the answers, from talking that person, I build imagery of what I think is the high-level style goal for this person. And that's great because it gives everyone a visual guideline and it opens up your eyes to like, Oh, I never considered that. And then with classical musicians to like, cater to their budget, I have them bring their clothes and I style them on set, so I'll mix and match clothing that they have, so by the end of it, they actually walk away with new outfits and if there's anything that's truly needed and they have budget for that, then I send suggestions for them to buy things to fill in those missing pieces.
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Kellogg:
Is there one really big idea you'd love for us all to take away?
Leshner:
Yes. Is that style is not an abstraction. It's not something that some people have and some people don't. We all have it. It is our most primal form of communication because it is like clothing is essentially protection, but how you choose those clothes, that is your style. And I think when you recognize that, when you recognize that this is something I already have and you just have to find a way to develop, it's something that evolves with your lifestyle. And as you mature, then it's not so out of reach.