As an established composer of music for picture, my writing has been featured in documentary series throughout Europe. But for my debut EP, “Content”, I wanted to take a new approach.
In the last few years, I’ve had to travel a lot. Capturing sounds from the various places I’ve visited and putting them together into this EP has been therapeutic, like keeping a journal.
Listen to the EP while reading the text.
Creating “Content” involved lots of sampling, either using hardware/software samplers or old tape machines. That’s usually where ideas start for me. But recording with a 13-piece string orchestra – the European Recording Orchestra in Sophia – really made this EP stand out from my previous projects. The intimate nature of the strings was quite important, and the room we used had just the right sound.
The music creation process can take a long time, and this EP, in particular, was recorded in many different locations. It’s a great feeling when all of the different elements finally come together into a coherent whole.
The title track exemplifies that process for me. Estonian composer Arvo Pärt inspired its concept. The string parts begin elongated to various degrees and half in length on each repeat, with the original 4-part phrase being reached in the closing moments.
The first track on the EP, “I Sell Stone Water”, might seem to have a strange title, but it has an interesting story behind it: Years ago, I attended a Japanese calligraphy class. I rediscovered the text I had written, stashed away in a box of old keepsakes, and ran it through Google Translate to see what I had written. The phrases it gave back were gibberish, but the words “I sell stone water” stood out. Starting a new project from scratch can sometimes feel like producing water from a stone, no matter how many times you’ve done it.
In “An Honest Day,” I wanted to juxtapose the delicate instrumentation with crunchy percussion made from the pedals of an old harmonium. It all builds to this big crescendo and then falls into static. I think it might be my favorite part of the EP.
I plan to bring my music to new audiences through audiovisual collaborations and live on stage in 2024 — stay tuned.
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