Chewie was a rescue from the Wisconsin Humane Society. He was transferred here from his home in Alabama, and probably a stray. He was sweet and loving, but also insane and suffered from multiple, long-term degenerative health issues that meant we were only able to have a few years with him.
At one point in our story, we decided to try CBD oil with him to help calm his anxiety. This music was written the first time we gave him a dose of the oil and he was noticeably more chill than usual.
I loved him with all of my heart. He was the best co-pilot a man could ask for.
When I was in design school, one of my teachers used to leave a lo-fi hip hop streaming channel on in the background so we had music while we worked in the lab.
I love this style of music production. I like the fact that it's super low-key, and designed so that you can choose to actively listen to it or not. The grooves are always simple and fun. A good lo-fi track will inspire the "head bob" even if you're not really focusing on the music directly.
My friend Darrin Alston has a radio show on Riverwest Radio that I co-host with him. This track is one of several attempts at writing background music for the show.
There was a common game we used to play when I was in college. When you got your fortune cookie at the end of a meal, you always added "...in bed" to the end of the fortune.
Sophomoric, but entertaining nonetheless.
This track started with the bass line. I stumbled on to this bass sound that reminded me of a burp gun from a cartoon I saw as a child. It's kind of a low and guttural sound, like something from a sci-fi movie.
This track is influenced by Tangerine Dream's work in the eighties. I tried to focus on the idea of slowly building a track from a single sound and then gradually adding and subtracting different ideas and textures.
In today's world, the idea of releasing a seven and a half minute song seems totally insane and pointless. Various stats from my online content tell me that most folks only listen to a song for ten to fifteen seconds. Logic would dictate that I should write shorter songs so as to accommodate shorter attention spans.
I say, "Fuck 'em"
Throughout my career as a Blues and RnB guitarist, I've often found myself reflecting on the commonalities that African-Americans and Jews share. There are structural and technical similarities in the music between Blues and Klezmer. Persecution is something that both groups know well. There is also a similar emphasis placed on family and tradition in both communities.
My mentor, Moses Oakland, was gracious enough to lend his voice for a project several years ago that never really came to fruition. I've been sitting on the file since then, saying to myself, "Man, I gotta find something to use these for!" And lo and behold, the right opportunity finally arose!
