Contraband is a little snippet of my life, my compositional process, my way of thinking. I think during life we are always changing and shifting, however big or small.
The songs of Contraband came to me in the usual ways during the writing phase but my way of interacting with them was a little different. It isn't just me and the piano anymore (mostly) and that cracked a few eggs of thought as to how to look for the important secrets in the songs and to try to expose them.
Having more experience working with Underhatchet (drummer and collaborator), working with electronics and even just writing pop songs opened my mind to more detailed ideas and variations to use in the songs, whether that was new mixing techniques or rhythmic plays, different colours of sound or even the power of simplicity.
The beauty of leaving something out.
It wasn't just about form or key anymore. It wasn't just about which piano gesture to create.
I tried at times to mix utter and complete intuition with a sophisticated soundscape, to mix relatively abstract texts with blatant commentary.
Why?
I want to paint - to paint the mood, the atmosphere, and the emotion of the song as well as I can in sound. I am always trying to get better at this because the closer I come to expressing what I want to express, the happier I feel.
I cannot describe in words what I want to express as well as I can in music because I am not just writing a "sad" song or a "happy" song. I am often trying to put across a more complex emotion, thought and/or scenario.
I look back and feel that I have come far since my first album and after the next project, I will perhaps feel that Contraband was just a baby step.
But I will definitely continue painting.
Contraband releases Saturday, May 25, 2019.
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