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Interview with Sawyer G. (December 2023)
Back in September we shared Sawyer Gebauer's first release as Sawyer G., It'll Be Gone For A Little While, which is also his first foray into instrumental music. Here we get to dive deeper into his evolving practice.
1. What are some recent inspirations?
Lately, there's been a lot of experimental, ambient, techno, house, breakbeat, and glitch. The Berlin-based projects Nthng and S.W. stand out for their grasp of techno/house historical roots while weaving their uniqueness into the fabric of the genre. Nosaj Thing's album Continua (2022) has been my companion for the past month.
In literature, I recently completed the knighted historian Keith Thomas's work, Religion and the Decline of Magic (1971). This 800-page tome explores 16th/17th century England, offering a detailed account of the ebb and flow, as well as the reciprocal relationship between Christianity and the occult, much of which happened during the Interregnum period. My next instrumental album will play off of these themes, each song titled inspired by superstitious methods used during these periods to keep evil spirits away.
Visually, Paleochristian and Middle Age art and architecture have been fun to dive into further this year. The implementation of abstract form in exchange for naturalistic representation to pursue the divine is fascinating. Not to mention the symbolism in the storytelling that creates a mysterious aura. Iâve noticed there's been increased references to, and acceptance of, this period of art in contemporary culture. I wonder if it has anything to do with our own self-abstraction in search of a new space, a virtual space. A quest for transcendence to reach a higher plane through technology and our drive to escape the earthly realm for a brighter, more powerful, and convenient world.
2. As someone who has worked so much in the realm of song-based music (lyrics, melodies, etc.), do you feel that instrumental music allows you to express things that you canât in the song format?
Yes. It was freeing to break from word and structure. I made my most impactful and genuine work because of this freedom. My whole creative life led up to those moments making this album, and I found a piece of myself that was present, yet dormant. Now, I feel the experimental and the song-based format have been merging in really exciting and interesting ways.
3. Do you prefer to refine a composition over a period of time or capture something quickly and move on?
Itâs circumstantial. If there's flow between me and the song, and the space is right, I can work on a song for two weeks straight, 40 hours a week. However, if I step away from it too long, I find it difficult to return to the same creative realm that space once provided. At that point, I chalk it up as another step closer to the song that needs to be created later. Not everything I put time into needs to be a released product, or even a finished one. To be discerning and letting things go can make the future work better.
4. How do you like to get perspective on your work?
I have those whom I trust that will give constructive words to make the work better. Iâve been releasing music since I was 18, almost 15 years. Something Iâve realized is that as you get older and more invested in your passion, the need for praise to build confidence is no longer sought after. Instead, you want to know how the work can get better, and how much deeper you can go. Trusted external sources can help get you where you want to be, rather than getting lost in the false direction of expectation. If you're doing it right, you are making it for yourself and the ones around you.
5. When did you first start releasing music? And how has your relationship to the releasing process changed since then?
I was in high school when I released my first album O Lost!, inspired by Thomas Wolfeâs novel Look Homeward, Angel. When I graduated, I moved to Stockholm and signed to a now dissolved label run by an ex-pat from Canada. This was 2010, before Spotify was the gate keeper of music consumption that resulted in listeners becoming further passive in how they discover music, relying on playlist automation. Indie fans still found their music through blogs and Soundcloud. Thatâs not so much the case anymore. Through the convenience of technology that brings with it affordability, a lot of our art consumption is severed from connection or relationship. Like fast fashion, fast design, fast food, there is fast art. Easy come, easy go. Little is left with a lasting impact or impression. That seems to me like one of the biggest changes releasing music in the past 10 years or so.
6. How much of a role does improvisation play in the tracks that make up Itâll Be Gone For A Little While?
There's a good balance between composition and improvisation in Itâll Be Gone for A Little While. I try not to force things. I rarely have an idea of what I want to do with a song when beginning. Instead, I listen and feel where the song wants to go. This flow has worked well for me. I find that if I have too much of an intention or idea of what I want to do, there is friction, and it comes out feeling stiff and soulless. I've found that those initially intended ideas come out naturally when they need to.Â
7. Are there any particular pieces of visual art that inspired the tracks on the album?
Love that question. At the time, Lee Ufan, Pat Steir, Barnett Newman, Isamu Noguchi, Joan Miro. You can hear this in the album - Moments of minimalism and maximalism. At times it can be disturbing, peaceful, or contradictory, like tranquil chaos.
8. Youâve mentioned fragmentation being an important aspect of this new work. How does it factor in for you?
To come full circle from the second question. I was in the realm of creating in structured form most of my life. It's important to have a firm grasp on structure and tradition to break it down in interesting, provocative, and productive ways while acknowledging the importance of the past. Studying jazz, which then took me into realms of experimentalism and ambient, was imperative toward intentionally breaking down these forms.
9. Do you feel like working on this instrumental project has influenced your approach to Catch Prichard and your song-oriented music?
Absolutely. I have incorporated elements from both fields. Sampling, granular synthesis, ambient and experimental sonic space. It has come to a degree that, when beginning a piece, I donât know whether it will be a Catch Prichard track or a Sawyer G. song. The expression to be able to weave in and out, but also fuse together these themes, has been incredibly enlightening. I'm excited to see where it goes.
10. Words of wisdom you like to recall in times of need?
Creatively, do you. Trust your intuition. Let your work guide you where it needs to go, it only needs your help to bring it to its full potential.
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Interview with Golden Brown (December 2023)
Golden Brown is the work of Stefan Beck. This year, on Inner Islands, he released Weird Choices back in February and Wide Ranging Rider in September. Here we get to hear more about his creative practice and other musical endeavors from this year.
1. What are some recent inspirations?
I was lucky enough recently to see Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Zakir Hussain, and Rakesh Chaurasia play live. It was an absolutely mind blowing performance that I'll carry with me for a long time. Their album As We Speak has been a favorite of mine this year and it was such a treat to see this music live. Four brilliant musicians playing acoustic instruments, they create this amazing sound that is somehow greater than the sum of its parts, even though they are all absolute masters of their instruments. Zakir Hussain is a mad genius of rhythm and the most melody forward percussionist I have ever seen live.
2. You have been playing live a fair bit this year. How has it been translating your pieces into the live realm? Do you take a different approach from the studio versions?
It's been fun trying different approaches with live versions of songs. They do usually take on a different character than the recorded versions. With some of the Wide Ranging Rider songs, this has involved changing from acoustic to electric guitar and incorporating some effects. A few times I've experimented with weaving a few songs into a flowing suite if they are all in the same key/tuning. I try to do things a little differently each time, improvising and changing arrangements. One of my favorite gigs this year was opening for the River Arkansas at the Fox Theater in Boulder. I was lucky enough to have my friends Macon and Robin from the River Arkansas play bass and drums with me on a few songs. They are super talented, intuitive musicians and brought such a fun and different vibe to the music.
3. How composed vs. improvised are the pieces on Wide Ranging Rider? There are obviously strong melodic motifs in every piece, but are there also sections that are more freeform?
Wide Ranging Rider is the first Golden Brown album to be fully written throughout prior to recording. I usually rely on some of the serendipity of layering improvisations when making music, so this felt really different. Improvisation played into some of the arrangements with the additional textural elements of electric guitar and keyboards on songs like Ambergris and Dusty, but the fingerpicked acoustic guitar for each piece was fully realized prior to recording.Â
4. How do you write a piece like Wide Ranging Ride I or II? Is it following a feeling or trying to capture an image? How does it go for you?
I didn't have a specific image or feeling in mind when writing, but there is a certain energy that flows throughout. It's kind of tough for me to put into words, but there definitely is shared DNA between those two pieces as well as Little Rider and Withywindle. Similarly, Cobwebs and Sage and Scurvy have some melodic elements and vibe in common.
Wide Ranging Rider I has been something I have been playing for about 20 years, but didn't feel complete until WRR II came about. I was writing a lot in open G tuning (DGDGBD), and at some point realized that several of the themes I was working on were connected. Originally, WRR I & II were arranged into a single long suite, with WRR II sandwiched in the middle of WRR I. Eventually, I decided I preferred them split into separate pieces to open each side of the LP. But I may try and play the full suite live at some point.
Wide Ranging Rider I and II as well as Kirghiz Light are linear compositions. The form is something closer to ABCDEFGA rather than a more typical progression of like ABABCB or ABA.
5. Do you feel like your work with the guys in Prairiewolf has influenced your solo work at all?
I do! It's been really wonderful making music collaboratively in addition to my solo pursuits. And I am lucky to have Tyler and Jeremy as bandmates who I can bounce ideas off of. The most apparent influence is on some music I'm working on for release in 2024 hopefully - it's kind of my version of a Bill Laswell style ambient dub album. I used a drum machine for a few of the songs, a first for me as Golden Brown. I had a lot of fun running the drum machine through my effects and kind of live dubbing the rhythm track as I recorded it. And Jeremy was kind of enough to play some synth and keyboards on one of the songs. It's pretty different in sound from most of what I've done before, though High Tide at Gold Beach (2012) is probably closest. The end result I think will be the most Prairiewolfish I've made music under the name Golden Brown.
6. How did the Prairiewolf group come together? The three of you fit together in such a nice and seamless way.
It was serendipitous for sure. We had all sort of met online and gathered to try it out in early 2022. It wasn't perfect from the get go but there was definitely some synergy there. It's been really fun to watch it develop. Jeremy and Tyler both are really good listeners as well as excellent musicians, and we share a lot of common musical ground. I try not to take it for granted that it works as well as it does. We are working on our second album together and it's pretty exciting. We have a good batch of songs, more than we can fit on one album, and it seems like we are continually coming up with more. We've also leaned into playing live this year and have gotten into some good zones as a result.Â
7. Who might a dream collaborator be with someone from an older generation?
Bill Frisell for sure. I can't think of anyone who's had a bigger impact on my music. My dream would be to have a musical voice as emotive, singular, and recognizable as Bill Frisell. My dad first played Good Dog, Happy Man for me over twenty years ago and that music has become integral to me as a musician. I love almost everything Frisell has done but that album, Ghost Town, Nashville, and the Intercontinentals are very special.
8. Do you have any rituals to get you in the zone to work on music?
Not really, often it's just a matter of playing and trying different things until the conscious part of the mind turns off and I am relying more on my instincts. Sometimes that can happen quickly, sometimes it can take a long time. And sometimes in the moment, I have no idea whether what I'm working on is good or not and just need to set it aside for a listen with fresh ears later on. But the one thing that does really help is having my little music room downstairs - to be able to play whenever I feel like it without having to set up/take down makes a big difference in terms of getting in the flow.
9. You had mentioned that The Actual Star was an influence on your Weird Choices album. Were there any literary inspirations on Wide Ranging Rider?
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was definitely an influence. Withywindle is named for the river valley in the old forest where the hobbits encounter Tom Bombadil. I felt like the melody/picking pattern kind of reminded me of Tom Bombadil bopping along through the forest. Jeff Vandermeer was also an influence, more on Ambergris than anything else (maybe with the juxtaposition of the natural/organic element of the acoustic guitar with the modified, delayed sounds of electric guitar and keyboard.) But I was also reading his Southern Reach Trilogy when a lot of the music on Wide Ranging Rider was being written and arranged, so there is probably more influence there under the surface as well.
10. Words of wisdom you like to recall in times of need?
Robert Hunter's and John Perry Barlow's lyrics from the Grateful Dead songbook have deeply soaked into the core of my being. I have a list of affirmations from Dead lyrics that is an endless wellspring of solace and inspiration. Apologies in advance, this is extra nerdy.
Every time that wheel turn round, bound to cover just a little more ground
Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile
I love you more than words can tell
Love is real, not fade away
We can discover the wonders of nature
Inspiration, move me brightly
Light the song with sense and color, hold away despair
Without love in a dream itâll never come true
If you get confused just listen to the music play
Shall we go, you and I while we can?
The futureâs here, we are it, we are on our own
Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the worldÂ
Wake up to find out that you are the song that the morning bringsÂ
Sometimes we live no particular way but our ownÂ
Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our ownÂ
I will find my own way home
Iâm a stone jack baller and my heart is true
More than just ashes when your dreams come true
Once in a while you can get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it rightÂ
One way or another, this darkness got to giveÂ
Let there be songs to fill the airÂ
A box of rain will ease the pain and love will see you throughÂ
Iâll get up and fly awayÂ
Donât give it up; youâve got an empty cup only love can fill
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We're having a holiday sale over at our Bandcamp page. Use code iiholiday23 to get 15% of anything and everything until the end of the year!
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Golden Brown - Wide Ranging Rider
Golden Brown is the longstanding solo endeavor of Stefan Beck and "Wide Ranging Rider" is his fourth release with Inner Islands. This new collection brings together a range of compositions, most of which were written during the spring of 2020. The album also features previously unrecorded tracks like WRR I, which has been in development for over two decades and holds special significance for Beck as one of his first fingerstyle compositions. The album's title, inspired by a vivid dream, nicely captures the essence of the music's free-spirited and expansive nature.
Beck's decision to explore a more stripped-down approach to arrangement allows the richness of each instrument to be exposed. While some songs feature occasional subtle overdubs that enhance the melodies, like electric guitar, plucked cello, and keyboards, the album's simplicity highlights Beckâs intricate and captivating acoustic guitar stylings. Dusty and Little Rider also showcase the prepared guitar approach that fans may be familiar with from tracks on Luminous (2022) and Gems and Minerals (2021), created by threading a strip of paper through the strings to create extra percussive resonance.
The pieces on the album were thoroughly composed before recording, unlike past albums, which have featured a larger degree of improvisation. This approach also allowed for melodic themes to recur throughout the album, tying the collection together as a unified whole. "Wide Ranging Rider" is a significant milestone in Golden Brown's discography, showcasing his evolution with both composition and arrangement, while remaining both familiar and uniquely the voice of Stefan Beck.
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Sawyer G. - It'll Be Gone For A Little While
Three years ago, Sawyer Gebauer immersed himself into the world of jazz and the realm of the "avant-garde." Not only did he dedicate himself to studying the technical practices, but also the historical and philosophical ideas surrounding experimentation, fragmentation, the liberation from conventional forms, and the profound utilization of space in art.
Inspired by the works of Stars of the Lid, Tim Hecker, Nils Frahm, Floating Points, Leon Vynhall, and Nicolas Jaar, he began a personal journey of unexplored creative territories, blending samples, granular synthesis, and modulation techniques with both synthesized and acoustic instruments. Through this process, an awakening took hold within Gebauer, unveiling dormant pieces of his soul eagerly yearning to manifest into the world. He says, âIt felt as though my entire musical career and my very existence had been leading up to this transformative periodâa pivotal juncture where creation and self-discovery intertwined. And is this not the purpose of creation? To wade into the depths of one's being and unearth hidden truths? Through this work, I realized there will always be uncharted territories waiting to be discoveredâan ever-unfolding journey of the self.â
Within these patient compositions, consistent modulation and subtle layering of musical textures evoke sensations of either floating high above the ground or plunging into darkened depths. A perpetual push and pull of waves, air, or anti-gravity create an intriguing contrast, mirroring dark, mystical, and undiscovered spaces where only fragments are truly understood and known. Gebauer aimed to play with this concept of fragmentation, weaving pieces of stories together like listening to multiple conversations at once while standing amidst a vast crowd. By the end of each track, there's a sense of familiarity and remoteness, akin to experiencing dÊjà vu or those vulnerable moments before being cast into a dream.
Sawyer Gebauer is a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and composer based in Oakland, CA. His projects, such as the European-based Brittsommar and the current U.S.-based Catch Prichard, have received critical acclaim from publications like Pitchfork, Vice, NPR, Uproxx, Consequence of Sound, American Songwriter Magazine, and more.
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Channelers - Generation / Harvest
Channelers, the work of artist and composer Sean Conrad, is elated to unveil the release of his latest album, âGeneration / Harvestâ. As with all Channelers albums, this collection was crafted one track at a time, one layer at a time, without a predetermined destination. The music flows organically, capturing the essence of Conrad's creative process and allowing the sounds to take on a life of their own. He says, âFor me, the act of creation is like looking into a mirror and whatever version of myself I see there I put into the work. Itâs a way of expressing âI am here right now.â And with that there is a layering effect of multiple selves overlapping in time.â
âGeneration / Harvestâ weaves together various threads of inspiration, including a rediscovery of piano improvisations from early 2018 that evolved into the deep and spacious "Treat Each Other" and the light and pensive "Fleet To Air." Conrad breathed new life into these tracks, adding new layers and connecting them to his present musical expression. Similarly, tracks from the sessions for Time, Space, and Thought in January 2022 were revisited, edited, and layered to create pieces like the acoustic fingerstyle guitar led "Under That White Sky," and the diptych of "Generation" and "Harvest." This ability to transform and find potential in previously discarded compositions is demonstrative of Conradâs dedication to letting the pieces reveal themselves in their own time.
Drawing on an artist residency in Nevada City, CA, Conrad found inspiration in the (mostly) serene surroundings of a forested farm, overlooking a tranquil pond frequented by geese and ducks (there was one incident where he spilled coffee everywhere after a crow flew into the window a couple feet from his face). The atmospheric cabin, with its skylights allowing the sound of thunderous rain, became a haven for creativity. From this experience, tracks like "Holding The Ember" and "Brushed With Dusk" emerged, capturing the essence of Conrad's time in this setting.
The album also features evocative piano improvisations recorded during a visit to Los Angeles for his grandmother's 101st birthday celebration in April 2023. The resonance of his father's Baldwin grand piano resulted in meditative pieces like "Given Of Ourselves" and "Waves Wash Over." He reflects on the experience of recording these pieces: âJust doing very simple chords and melodies feels incredible, because itâs such a large and resonant instrument. When I play some of those low notes, I can really feel the vibrations through my whole body. Itâs just such a joy to goof around with and record with, even if the jams donât end up really being worth listening to after the fact.â
"Generation / Harvest" is a sonic fusion that defies easy categorization, blending elements of acoustic folk, jazz, 20th-century minimalism, and meditative improvisation centered around drones. Channelers' artistic touchstones, including Popol Vuh, Laraaji, Alice Coltrane, and Joanna Brouk, contribute to the album's aesthetic. This is the kind of music to let gently wash over you, without expectation for twists and turns. Relax and let it unfold at its own pace.
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Golden Brown - Weird Choices
âWeird Choicesâ, Stefan Beckâs third release with Inner Islands as Golden Brown, sees Beck taking decidedly different approaches from last yearâs âLuminousâ. Whereas âLuminousâ featured a very guitar-centric palette, these new pieces focus on augmenting the familiar guitars with keys, synths, and electronics in favor of more spacey compositions. These tracks also grew out of experiments with compositional duration as Beck elaborates, âI started a practice of making these miniatures - one to two minute long songs that still felt fully formed and expressive but simple and concise.â Glass Frog, Larvae, Worm Charming, Milton Banana, and Busted Crystal were all realized under that intention.
The longer pieces feature some of the familiar fingerstyle and slide guitar that listeners to Beckâs previous work may be acquainted with. These pieces, by and large, are layered improvisations that conjure floating moods, untether to the terrestrial. The final piece, Olas/Ondas, features a similar approach to the tracks on âLuminousâ by using field recordings as a springboard for further extemporizations based on the feel and events of that space. In this case Beck used recordings from a trip to Anini Beach in Kauai to influence the gently cascading piece.
The novel âThe Actual Starâ by Monica Byrne played a significant role in shaping the mental images and mood that Beck was feeling while recording the album. Beck explains, âpart of the book takes place in a future where society collapsed from climate change and had to be adapted/reformed by those who survive. The way they live in that future is through near constant global migration, stopping in refuges along the way for shorter periods of time. It sounds kind of bleak but is actually a more hopeful vision of the future than what our current trajectory looks like.â And related to these ideas of possible imminent futures, the title of the album acknowledges our present; he says it encapsulates âall the maddening aspects of daily life in the last few years that we have to process and compartmentalize just to go about our daily business. Do I choose to go about my day like normal in spite of the ongoing escalating climate crisis? How do I respond in my daily life to the erosion of our civil rights and rising fascism? Do I see my loved ones in spite of an ongoing pandemic? I guess the phrase just kind of stuck with me as we have come to accept as normal circumstances that are anything but.â
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Nimbudala - Peace Rock
âPeace Rockâ is Steve Targoâs second outing as Nimbudala, following last yearâs âUniversal Compassionâ. He carries on with the intentions that inspired the Nimbudala project: looking less towards the natural world and more toward the human experience, widening the instrumental palette, and embracing a more diverse array of sonic influences. This work comes from a love and appreciation of Jazz, Kosmiche, Psychedelic, and New Age musics. And while one can hear those touchstones, these pieces still manage to sound like no other work besides the endeavors of Steve Targo.
These tracks diverge from those on âUniversal Compassionâ in that they are much looser and less cyclical. They have a meandering and dynamic quality that is enhanced by their duration, allowing the listener to settle in and become absorbed in these meditations and freak outs. The album opens with the relatively mellow ebbs and flows of âRadical Expansions of Loveâ, setting the scene and inviting us into the space: an ever-growing fanfare of percussion playing call and response with spaced out synth melodies. âPeace Rock Iâ takes us to the other end of the spectrum with an insistent groove, layers of weaving synths, and a constant shimmer of bells, which all cohere into an ecstatic blend. âPeace Rock IIâ finds itself resting upon more relaxed rhythms with adventurous interpretations of repeating melodic figures, bending and warping around the beat for a hazy ride. âNan Midolâ closes the album with fiery drumming that steadily calms into a more sedate rhythm against an assemblage of interlocking synth lines to gently guide us to the conclusion of the journey.
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Channelers -Â âTime, Space, and Thoughtâ
ââTime, Space, and Thoughtâ was realized, in bulk, around the first two weeks following the new year. An important part of the process was entering the sessions with as few preconceived ideas as possible and letting a more instinctual and automatic path take shape: cast the net and see what jumps in, without judgement. The resulting pieces were produced almost like minimalist action paintings, trying to capture these fleeting feelings in as few aural brush strokes as possible. I didnât sleep a lot. I didnât talk to many people. I gave myself time and space to get deep into thought, deep into intuition, deep into following whatever wanted to come out in those moments.
Improvisation is a pillar to this work, with the majority of the pieces being rooted in this practice, save for âSeeker And Finderâ, âPassâd To Another Wayâ, and parts of a couple others. Improvisation, for me, in part, is about becoming a clear and filterless conduit for a feeling to pass through. Of course, there are always filters and aesthetic is one of those. These pieces still fall into the familiar, yet expanding realm of the Channelers catalogue, building on last yearâs âAnother Entranceâ with additions of EWI saxophone, electric piano, and fuzz guitar to the usual palette. This work also falls into an ongoing personal ancestral dialogue with the folk musics and drone-based traditions from the British Isles and Ukraine.â âSean Conrad
Instruments used: guitars (acoustic, electric, bowed, ebow, slide), dulcimer, bass guitar, EWI saxophone, Mellotron (vibes, bass flute, cello), electric organ, Fender Rhodes, harmonium. Recorded on a Tascam 488 MKII 8-track cassette recorder.
This is Sean Conradâs thirteenth full-length release as Channelers following "Another Entrance" and "Messages From One of Deeper Within" last autumn.
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Channelers - "Disguised As Another"
Video by Sean Conrad
From the album: "Time, Space, and Thought"
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Rosa Beach Mason & Sean Conrad -Â âWakeâ
Wake is the debut release from Rosa Beach Mason & Sean Conrad. With this outing they offer a dense set of naturalistic emotional landscapes. Masonâs vocals define each piece with wordless and layered choruses, operating on a purely subconscious and sonic level to create mesmeric drones and sublimely elevated melodies. Trance is an integral aspect to the set as a whole, with each piece patiently revealing itself against the fluid and perpetual arrangements.
The pieces began as a series of immersive and, at times, ecstatic improvisations, which were distilled and elaborated upon. The catharsis of release was an intrinsic part of the improvisations, with latent feelings and memories coming to the fore, revealing themselves in the sound. Without verbal communication or pre-planning, the extemporizations served as momentary mirrors for the duo, creating intuitive foundations for the pieces.
The album is available on cassette and digital formats and will be officially released on May 13, 2022.
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Golden Brown -Â âLuminousâ
âLuminousâ, the seventh full-length release from Golden Brown finds Stefan Beck taking new routes to arrive at his signature blend of cosmic and arcadian soundscapes. These pieces grew out of a desire to find new liberties and expand the range of the Golden Brown lexicon, rather than fall back into the familiar domain of past endeavors. Maintaining a sense of freedom and discovery was paramount to the process of writing and recording the pieces that became âLuminousâ.
Tracing the grooves of our accustomed habits can keep us indefinitely locked in, until we intentionally break the pattern. Part of the road to realizing âLuminousâ was deciding to only use guitars to generate the tracks, foregoing the mandocello, keyboards, and his wifeâs cello playing that graced last yearâs âGems and Mineralsâ. Out of that limitation emerged a focus on re-imagining Beckâs guitar practice, abandoning his usual tunings and picking patterns, with most of the songs coming out of a daily improvisation practice. He even experimented with a prepared guitar approach on Mammoth Star, ala early twentieth century extended piano techniques from the likes of Cowell and Cage. He also wanted to highlight the unique resonance and idiosyncrasy of a Harmony cast aluminum lap steel from 1936, which provides the leading voice in Ghosts, to haunting effect.
Another important piece of creating âLuminousâ was establishing a connection, through music, to the local Colorado landscape and trails where Beck has found much inspiration and respite. Beck made most, if not all, of the field recordings along a particular favorite trail in Boulder County and later composed several of the pieces in dialogue to the rhythms and textures captured in those recordings. A synergistic effect is perhaps most notable on the albumâs closer, Safe and Somewhat Sound, where a couple of guitars mingle on the periphery with a creek, insects, and birds, coalescing into a new imaginary version of that landscape, while Beckâs fingerpicked acoustic weaves in and out of the bubbling chorus.
The album is available on cassette and digital mediums and will be officially released on April 8, 2022.
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Interview with Channelers
Channelers is the work of Sean Conrad. He recently released Another Entrance and Messages From One of Deeper Within on Inner Islands on October 22nd on LP, cassette, and digital formats. The albums are available from our Bandcamp page.
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Use code âjadeâ to receive 15% off anything at the Inner Islands Bandcamp from now through December 5th!
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Channelers - Messages From One of Deeper Within
"Messages From One of Deeper Within" is a supplemental collection to "Another Entrance". These pieces were largely composed during the same sessions that begat "Another Entrance", except for the two pieces on Side B, which were recorded during the sessions for "Isles Beyond" and "Faces of Love".
The pieces in this collection decidedly have a much looser feel than the pieces that made it onto "Another Entrance". These pieces, by and large, have an improvisational element to them, kept within a framework, but free to wander. Improvisation allows for the spontaneous feelings of the moment to surface, with less mental interference. And although that may have led to more amorphous compositions here, there is a certain sense of impulse and unrestraint.
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Interview with Nimbudala
Nimbudala is the work of Steve Targo. He recently released Universal Compassion on Inner Islands on October 22nd on cassette and digital formats. The album is available from our Bandcamp page.
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Interview with Golden Brown
Golden Brown is the work of Stefan Beck. He recently released Gems and Minerals on Inner Islands on October 22nd on cassette and digital formats. The album is available from our Bandcamp page.
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