Layla Clark Went Viral for AC/DC. Her Favorite Song to Play Is by Elvis
The viewer who graded Layla Clark’s “Thunderstruck” gave her an A+ for performance, passion and skill. That made an easy report card for the video most people know. When Clark was asked about the music she likes to play, her answer opened up a different side of the story.
The Thomas Jefferson High School percussionist told Axios that “Thunderstruck” is her second favorite song to play. The one she put first was Elvis Presley’s “Viva Las Vegas.” She had been playing mallet percussion for about five years when she spoke about the attention the AC/DC clip had brought.
It is an interesting pair of songs for a listener to imagine at the same instrument. “Thunderstruck” makes an entrance with a repeating guitar figure, giving the opening a clear identity before the rest of the song arrives. “Viva Las Vegas” comes from a different musical world, with its own driving pulse and a melody built around a vocal line.
Clark did not need to explain her choice for the comparison to be revealing. The clip gives strangers a single example of what she can do. Her preference points to a much broader life in music, one where a piece that makes millions of people notice you can still be second on your list.
The field video shows the version viewers graded. Clark takes a figure that many of them know by ear and gives it a shape they can watch, strike by strike. The Jaguars then add the rest of the sound. You can hear how satisfying a part like that would be to play inside a group.
That is worth keeping in mind before returning to the clip. You are seeing one musician through one arrangement, at a moment when her part happens to be the one the phone can follow. Once you know what else she likes to play, the performance feels more like a glimpse of a repertoire.
The other song on her list
There is also a difference between the song an audience wants back and the song a player looks forward to playing. The audience has a memory of the first surprise. A player has the repeated experience of working through a piece, hearing it with the people around her and making it sit inside a show.
Clark gave her bandmates credit in the same interview in which she named her favorite. That makes sense of both sides of the story. The video shows one part clearly enough to make it famous. The musician who plays it still hears it in relation to the group.
The A+ card captures how viewers reacted to the performance they had in front of them. Clark’s own ranking gives them something else to listen for. What would that same attention to timing sound like when she gets to play the one she likes best?
