Behind The Music
This EP feels like a big step forward for me as an artist. I've loved electronic music since I was a kid and I finally feel as if I am discovering my voice while writing it. For a long time, the piano has been the centerpiece of a lot of my music. It still is to an extent, but this is me branching off into new territory, challenging myself and really starting to create the type of music I've always wanted to make. The core elements of the EP revolve around my Juno-60, Moog Minitaur, Korg Minilogue and MS-20. I really embraced experimentation when writing this EP. Many of the tracks were born from playing with these synths until I found a little sound that sparked some kind of creative flow. I really leaned in to the concept of not over complicating the ideas, and recognizing when an idea is grabbing me and sticking to it. This took quite a bit of restraint, as there are always countless ways to expand on ideas. Sometimes though, the more you expand, you can lose the plot of the original idea. Writing this music taught me a lot about trusting my instincts and taste as a producer. I'm really excited to share this new chapter with everyone.
Palms
Palms was one of the last tracks I finished for this EP and it really happened almost by accident. The main element of the track comes from a sample. I had stumbled across Laura's (La Louve) piano recording on YouTube and fell in love with the performance. I chopped some pieces of it and put it into Ableton, but couldn't quite figure out how to get things to work in the context of a full track. So, it wound up sitting on my hard drive for quite a bit of time and went through a number of revisions and edits. I really wanted to make sure that I gave Laura's original recording the justice it deserved, while also turning it into something brand new. Finally, things fell into place after about the 10th crack at it and I'm really excited to share it with everyone.
Here are some screen shots of the session file.
Here are some screen shots of the session file.
Check out La Louve's full performance.
A very special thank you goes out to Laura for allowing me to use her beautiful playing in my track. Her performance here is stunning and it immediately lit me up when I first heard it. Thank you again, Laura. Your talent really brought this track to life.
Changeless
Changeless was a track I originally started writing on the piano. The main riff originated from me just playing that same melody over and over again, which is actually how a lot of ideas are born for me. I ended up taking the riff and playing it through my Moog Minitaur, which was a bit of an odd choice since that synth is primarily used for bass sounds. I wanted to make a challenge for myself on this track and find a way to make this same riff interesting throughout the length of the track. Once I had the track arranged in a way that made sense, it was all about small edits and adding little points of interest throughout. I like making small challenges like this when I'm working in the studio. With all the tools available to us now, sometimes you can run into 'decision paralysis.' When that happens these challenges really help me to focus my creativity on the main idea of the song.
Here's a quick look inside the project file.
Here's a quick look inside the project file.
From a basic idea to a full arrangement.
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Winged: Out 1/19
Winged was the first song written for this EP and a track that really came together quickly. I like to write a lot by making a drone and then just improvising on my piano over it. The piano and arp really carry the track and once those fell into place, the rest of the track really came together quickly. This is a track I'm really proud of. I've loved electronic music since I discovered it back in about 5th or 6th grade. Obviously my background in making music really has centered around the piano, but this was the first beat driven electronic track that I made on my own where I really felt I was starting to tap into the music I want to make.
Here is a look inside the track:
Here is a look inside the track: