It’s that magical time of year. The one where drastic temperature change make you yearn for more cups of tea, fuzzy pull-overs, beanies come back out of the closet and friends gather for backyard fires. I eagerly await this time of year. After a crazy summer of gigging, traveling, work, and the occasional oceanside departure, I rearrange my recording studio and tracking room/amplifier room. I open shades and watch dust dance along the ripple of light rays. I move synthesizers and monitors back into place. This feels good. Favorite sweatshirts are pulled from the closet and hung on chairs for regular use. I’ll stack some different ride cymbals in the corner and test tones. One can almost feel the vibrations walking into these rooms.
My partner and I will be celebrating the 100 year anniversary of our house this fall. We purchased our home from her father who had spent his entire childhood growing up here. The walls have heard more stories and sheltered more love than I could spend a lifetime giving in return. The hardwood floors have a sound of their own; they receive musical information and relay with warmth and curious reflections. The least I can do is take what I hear within this home and return it to sound. Much like producers and engineers have spaces they fondly swoon over within their work, this place is my cavern, my space.
Where others strive for space and equipment without limitations, I like that I have made use of what I have and can furnish for myself what works. We live in an audio and visual world expecting perfection; cost, lack of experience, and age have nothing to do with qualitative manufacturing of an audio/visual product. While it is true someone must be willing to market what they create in order to help generate interest and profit, it is important to note that just contributing to a catalogue of available product in today’s world is an amazing accomplishment in and of itself. I strive to improve my output and as I learn more, grow and listen to a world making more beautiful audio and visual art, I’ll be able to craft more wonderful tidbits for consumption.
Since releasing my first music in the fall of 2020, I’ve managed to gain a small, regular following on streaming services and acquired International listeners from India, Hungary, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Russia, and Australia! It is so exciting to have gained streaming and interest from places other than my backyard.
As I prepare to transition into the winter, which brings with it long evening sessions, dim lights, snow fall trickling windows while recording vocal takes (sigh), I’m beginning to meditate again, beginning to write and fashion album tracks, and envision the next creation.
With every passing year, I shed more deep emotion, stretch my muscles and feel more like I’m becoming myself. A single song cannot conceptualize how I feel about a particular part of my life, as there is so much more to say and much more to show for the person I’ve become. Fall is my time to reflect, to appreciate, to be thankful and to love all that has come in and out of my life. To have experienced something; a feeling, an event, time with an incredible person, etc., is far greater than the hope for more or less of something. The experience itself is what we should be grateful for. This is the Fall Vibe.