I have this routine where I listen to a new album each morning as I prep breakfast, do dishes and spend time on social media. Usually I pick albums to listen to from various award and prize lists – in other words, albums that are very critically acclaimed. Friday was unique because instead of listening to one of those, I listened to my own – my new album, What Goes Around. As I started to listen, the first thing I thought was, “hey, this ain’t bad!” As I continued listening, I thought, “hey, this is great!!” When I was done listening, I was filled with this overwhelming feeling of joy and pride. After many months of scattered sessions to record, edit, mix and master, it all came together splendidly.
I’m able to proclaim this album a huge success simply because it sounds exactly the way I conceived it in my mind years ago when I started composing many of the pieces. I’ve always been a minimalist composer at heart. But I never produced a collection that was so pure in it’s minimalist tendencies…until now. What Goes Around is all about loops, repeating musical material over and over again so you get hypnotized and your mind goes off into another dimension. Based on this description, you would think that it’s mechanical. But I don’t think it is. In fact, I find it very emotional and expressive. Some uplifting moments. Other moments of beauty and melancholy. In a subtle way, it reveals a lot about who I am and how I function on the inside. The album is a window into my heart and soul.
I wanted the album to have a unique sound. I wanted to produce an album of modern classical chamber music in a different way than classical music is normally recorded. So Jean Martin and I proceeded to multitrack everything – it was like making a pop album. Having one musician play all parts to create a unifying texture has given most of the album this sense of floaty-ness and symmetry.
The album was a labour of love (literally down to the last track, “I Love You”). The album was made with the contribution of many talented people and the support of orgs like FACTOR, the Ontario Arts Council and Centrediscs. I am overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude that so many folks felt that they wanted to be part of this project and they felt that it had something important to say musically. When it comes right down to it, any album I produce of my music is simply a product of my imagination and journey. What a glorious life I have that I’m able to invite wonderful people on that ride.
