'Acoustica' or 'Sessions in a box' is an album relying on my Sigma acoustic guitar as a primary instrument. Although it driven mostly by acoustic composition, it blends in digital percussive elements and synth / pad sounds to build the sonic palette and add colour and compliment the sound of the guitar itself.
When I moved to Dublin in September 2019 I was in a transitional moment of my life. I had decided to pursue a seemingly vague yet exciting subject of Music and Media Technologies at the prestigious Trinity College, which lies in the heart of the city. As time progressed, the Covid-19 pandemic flooded the waking moments of everyday life. I was halfway through my course and things seemed to be falling over the edge. However, at this time I started taking long walks to escape the confinement of my one room student accommodation. I was fortunate to be only a few minutes walk from a sprawling park in the North side of town. These walks in Northwood, became a way to pause and breathe in the change that was happening in my life. It became a way, for me, to assimilate the past decade of my life, the transitions I had been through, all the highs and low moments that it had encompassed, and view it all in perspective, of where I stood now. I wanted to pause and break from the cycle, the routine and gain a new outlook. I wanted to re-align and correct my seemingly strange trajectory. And these walks were fundamental to effecting that change.
It was not an easy transition, to move to an entirely new country, to adapt to a new culture and to live without an income for a year as a student in college after all these years. But something about being a student again also resonated dearly with me. I was also beginning to explore sound and music in a different way. Understanding things about it I had forgotten, relearning how I was so fascinated by it in the first place.
Also, there was something about the laid back and charming yet wild beauty of Ireland that helped with this transition. Ireland is blessed with some amazing natural vistas. I think this has a transformative force, and was definitely an inspiration for this album.
I completed my Masters degree from Trinity in the Summer of 2020. After a few months of relentless search, I had managed to settle into a full time job, and although the pandemic raged on, now in its second year, I decided to tap into the precious inspiration that I had so patiently been waiting to recover. Also, I was eager to apply and practice the learnings I had from my amazingly multi disciplinary and challenging course.
My Sigma Acoustic Travel guitar has been with me since the summer of 2021. Acoustic guitars are my favourite instruments as they really bring to life a different vibration and resonant texture to the sound that many digital instruments cannot.
Over the past two years I had grown to love synths and sound design. I tried to blend facets of the two when I was working on these tracks. I have always found myself swinging between acoustics and electronic sounds. I tried to work with the simplicity of the acoustic guitar and blend it constructively with digital elements. It was new territory for me but ever so exciting a journey. I learnt a lot about blending the two and I continue to learn and this album, I hope will be the first of many more.
The Covid pandemic rebooted the world, and set forth a transitional moment across the planet. Also for me, personally, I was finally able to record at home, on my own, without many interruptions. I would go for day long excursions and afterwards, in the evening, dive into my modest setup in my apartment, and record the fundamental pieces of the tracks. I spent weeks assimilating the different ideas that were spontaneously recorded during these times and, continue to add, construct and arrange, till they seemed to fit into each other.
Over time it became the process, and the songs seem to write themselves. I was merely just as the bridge, translating what I could into music.
About the songs
Fall
'Fall' is autumn; a strange pairing of words. Together, they seem to abstractly signify the nature of falling. An ethereal transition, of leaves raining down from the trees, so slow and yet fluid, and constant, simultaneously.
The nature of change and nature itself. It is this change that we are all living in, as a part of the whole, and also outside it, watching.
Hew / Hue
The yellows , oranges and reds and the paler greening hues of the trees paint an unforgettable contrast against the blue sky in autumn days. It is these hues of green and yellow that have helped me hew this track. To shape it, in terms of their variance and richness of autumn colours.
Hover
An action and a state, that indicates a certain sense of lightness. A simplicity of the action and the intrinsic nature of itself that, seem to be interwoven. A deep resonant track, meant to create a soft ground to tread on, lightly, through the towering heights of our thoughts, with simplicity and awareness of their nature.
You can purchase the digital album here
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