I have always wanted to do a music project that was entirely electronic in nature. A combination of synth work, field recordings and other ambient elements melded together into something dreamy or psychedelic. As a keyboard guy first, I grew up on the tones of Dolby, Kraftwerk and Brian Eno. So I figured some day I would venture into this realm.
So born is OTHER WORLD COMPANION. Unlike previous projects, this one doesn’t live in the segmented world of songs and tracks. It resides in a different space. It is a livestream project. It will not be delivered to you on demand by Spotify or iTunes or any of those forms. It will only be available as a continuous, revolving livestream on YouTube.
There are several reasons for this which I will try to explain.
Think of OTHER WORLD COMPANION as an electronic music art exhibit. It will play 24 hours a day, seven days a week for an entire calendar year. It begins with a selection of original music I have composed, but it will grow and more compositions will be added to it over the course of the exhibit’s run. The music itself has, as a part of its design, elements captured from things like field recordings, radio transmissions and other ethereal elements that create a foreground layer of sound. For instance, in one track the broadcast of a failed launch of an Arianespace Vega rocket is chronicled over the course of 17 minutes of music. These soundscapes are immersive, but also can be played in the background, passively serving as a soundtrack to whatever it is the listener is doing. It’s very malleable, yet compelling if one dives into it.
The other exciting thing to us about the exhibit is we will also use this as a vehicle to capture real-time audio moments that will be broadcast LIVE at various times and embedded into the musical work. These live drops will include things like real-time radio chatter from from spacewalks, train yards and even scanner traffic from Formula 1. This will make much of OTHER WORLD COMPANION unique in form.
To that end, the audio of OWC will be broadcast in tandem with visual elements created by MilkDrop visualizations. While this is by no means a new technology, it has the depth of a long-standing community of developers who have created a vast library of visualizations that we are using as video accompaniment. Again, each moment will be as unique as a snowflake, spawning in real-time alongside the audio.
WHEN, WHERE AND WHOM?
We are looking to launch OTHER WORLD COMPANION on April 20, 2021 at Midnight GMT on our YouTube channel (SUBSCRIBE HERE). If all goes according to plan, the launch of OWC will coincide with the launch of the Arianespace Pleiades Neo 3 mission which is scheduled for liftoff from Kourou Space Port in French Guiana at that time. Of course, space missions are notoriously fickle at best, so this plan may change. Either way, OUR mission to launch OTHER WORLD COMPANION will happen at that time.
And then we’re off for a full calendar year. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Let the technical gods be at our side during that time.
Also, you may have noticed I have been using a lot of “we” as pronoun when describing this exhibit. Well, you know I am usually a solo artist in my musical endeavors these days. But this time around, I have some help. My friend Geoff Bergey is on board, helping with technical and the overall creative process. Geoff and I both have an affinity for field recordings and random technical and societal weirdness, and while I am handling the musical end of the project, Geoff’s technical knowledge, creativity and knowledge of electronic music is proving to be a valuable resource.
(Plus, he’s the only one who can put up with my obsessive madness about this project. And who knows, we may actually succeed in a musical collaboration before all is said and done. But either way, I am happy to once again work with one of my best friends on a creative endeavor such as this.)
That’s the long and short of it in a thousand words or so. Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel and follow us on twitter to keep up with the latest happenings and live drop schedule. And if by chance you still don’t get it, all we can ask is to visit our YouTube channel, subscribe…
…And come along for the ride.
Be sure to subscribe, follow and share!
