An Interview – OffBeat.
Late last year I had the opportunity to discuss writing and music with Kate Mueser, who captured it all in her OffBeat newsletter. You can read it on her Substack – https://katemueser.substack.com/p/how-to-put-rhythm-on-the-page
The interview discusses the link between music and writing for me. It also lines up well since I just released a new album – Ocean Stone.
This idea for this record started in various places – my interest in long atmospheric and soundscape pieces, and in my exploration of Buddhist practice. Different concepts and approaches to this music came up inspired by Brian Eno and William Basinski and the writings of Shunryu Suzuki.
The music is meditative but it was also essential that it was meditative in the act of performing and recording.
In Shunryu Suzuki’s essential Zen Mind, Beginners Mind he recounts the story of a monk who would call out his name and answer to make sure he wouldn’t lose himself. The motif and title is that call. A simple musical motif played steady and long, something to be lost in but to call the mind back to the physical world at the same time.