Rising Stars: Meet Dalton Attig of West Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dalton Attig.

Hi Dalton, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I first got into music by taking guitar lessons when I was 12. At the time, I wasn’t interested in playing an instrument, but my mom was adamant that I give it a shot. Despite my initial apathy, I quickly fell in love with it and while my interests within music have changed over time, I’ve ultimately never looked back. After two years of guitar lessons, I started playing in bands, took on the piano (now my primary instrument) and attempted to hone my abilities as a vocalist. Throughout this journey, my primary focus has been writing original music. I’ve never been interested in doing cover songs or anything like that. To nurture this interest, I learned how audio recording equipment worked and started making my music recordings at home for fun.

One might not think it, but the drive to create original songs made things a struggle in this era of life where I was playing in bands and gigging. It might have just been the nature of the music scene in my small hometown and its surrounding cities, but it seemed like concertgoers were not interested in hearing bands play original music. Performing was exciting, but it was also somewhat demoralizing to hear comments after a show such as ‘You guys were great! I wish you played songs we knew, though.’ Thankfully, there were still many positive moments to be had during the days of performing. For example, my band was able to play shows with other bands that shared the same interest in writing original music as us. Eventually, I began offering recording services to these bands since I had garnered a fair amount of experience in recording music from my past at-home experiments. That experience was fulfilling to me because I was able to help the original music scene by assisting other bands in bringing their songs to life.

Around this time, I was about to graduate high school and needed to consider what I would study in college. I decided to major in audio recording, not necessarily because I was more interested in recording than writing music, but because I thought recording would be a more viable career path.

While in college, a seemingly random/unrelated experience drastically impacted my life as a musician. I discovered the animated series Attack on Titan, and while watching the show, I was completely blown away by the music of Hiroyuki Sawano, the soundtrack composer for the series. How his music was integrated into the show was so impactful that it could not be ignored. I remember feeling so many different emotions while watching; the soundtrack was part of the reason for that. After that experience, I began to pay close attention to music usage in all forms of media, and before long, I wanted to write soundtrack music myself. It was quite the task to shift from writing music for a four-piece rock band to attempting orchestral composition. My first couple of handfuls of attempts were truly laughable, but I kept with it, and (hopefully) I’ve improved a bit since then! I’ve been hyper-fixated on soundtrack composition since about 2015, and it’s been my most fulfilling endeavor in music. This is partly because soundtrack music is a world where original music is truly valued, so that itch has finally been scratched for me.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As mentioned before, there were a lot of struggles in trying to pave the way for finding a community that values original music. While I have found that community, I’m still in the middle of the road regarding my career path.

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a music composer, my favorite type of music to write is orchestral. I’ve written a lot of music exclusively for orchestral instruments, but I also  enjoy writing music that includes instruments that wouldn’t typically be found in a live orchestra, such as synthesizers, guitars, and eclectic instruments like the otamatone. This can all be summed up as ‘soundtrack music,’ but it’s also the type of music I like to write even if the result is not being paired with visual media. I’m always trying to think about new combinations of sounds that I want to try, and I get excited when I stumble upon a combination I haven’t explored much before. One of the most challenging parts of my journey as a composer has been wrestling with the thought of not feeling up to par in quality in comparison to the composer I admire. There are many composers that I aspire to be like, and sometimes, the ability of said composers is unattainable to me. I listen to their music and think, ‘This is such a perfect composition; how would I ever be able to create something like this?’ When I have those thoughts, I remind myself that even the composers I admire are just human, and they are imperfect as well. And while I might not be able to see those imperfections, others will. I first had this thought during a composition lesson when my instructor was heavily critiquing the music of one of my favorite composers. After hearing his critique, I thought, ‘Oh wow. Musical opinions are truly subjective.’ That seems so obvious to me now when I look back, but at the time, it was difficult for me to fathom that a composer whose music I viewed to be flawless could be imperfect to the ears of another.

How do you define success?
I think success is a pretty hard thing to define. But for me, success is when you find a balance between being happy doing what you’re doing and being able to support yourself and your family.

Contact Info:

• Website: daltonattig.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalton-attig-98b188126/
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/attigdalton
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@daltonattig9382
• SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/Ukhuz1UQSF1VQHtS9

Image Credits
Maria Gabriela Bueno, Jennifer Lubbs