The theme of this album was inspired by the annual Global Vegan Waffle Party, which seeks to catalyze a greater awareness of the ethical, environmental, and health considerations of our lifestyles. While mostly instrumental, vocal samples emphasize a few key points: the importance of listening to our innermost spiritual compass, and the emergence of some profound energy shifts in awareness about our interconnectedness.
The first track was named because the Global Vegan Waffle Party video, featuring one of the tracks, was completed the evening before winter solstice—this serves as an analogy for humankind moving into an era of increased enlightenment, following a more challenging period.
Through music, I seek to transcend the boundaries of our normal communication, limited by rules of logic and language. Sometimes I aim to catalyze thinking on topics regarding the interconnectedness of all life, in the reality we can presently perceive and beyond. When listening to and composing music, I often experience what seems to be a different plane of existence, with many intertwined energies: spirituality, sex, thought, movement, connectedness, awareness, and so on. My hope is that listeners will occasionally enjoy a similar experience.
I’ve been fascinated by music and sound since a very young age, when I’d spend hours listening to my dad’s music albums through headphones. After we got our first boombox with a microphone, I created experimental sounds with objects ranging from a metal slinky to coffee cans. Borrowing a cousin’s boombox, I would create “ping-ponged” multitrack recordings with two machines. I’d often seek opportunities to utilize PA systems in school, so that I could beatbox and hear the bass resonate. Whenever we visited a department store, I’d spend the entire time in the electronics section tinkering with the keyboards.
As a teenager, I often devoted whole weekends to composing and recording, starting with a small Casio keyboard and 4-track recorder. Later, after moving to keyboard-based sequencers and computers, embracing technology and various effects, I still stick to a few “purist” rules. For example, I don’t utilize preset rhythms or bass lines, and I record pretty much everything from the ground up.
Over the years, I’ve often pushed music aside as I pursued disciplines that seemed to offer greater promises of stability, but I’ve found that I’m happy only when I regularly carve out time for music creation. One of my goals is to bring at least 20 currently unfinished songs into the world over the next three years.
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