The creation of this album was a long process. Not because of complicated recording techniques or studio wizardry but because of a lot of personal struggle and growth that was needed to pull myself together and allow myself to open to world. Even though this is an instrumental album, these songs say a lot in terms of various points in my life. I have never been good with words or talking to people, so I let sound and music do that for me. (I am very aware of how cliche that sounds, but it is what it is).
The earliest song on here (Nothing Will Ever Be The Same) was originally written and recorded back in 2010, and then re-imagined a couple years later…2015 I think?… And for the next decade I battled with my self-doubt, anxiety, and fear of “not being good enough” to release.
There have been so many supportive people along this journey that kept pushing me to make music and put myself out there… and I can’t thank you all enough. But special credit goes to my Mom for always being my biggest fan and constantly encouraging me to do what I love. I also want to dedicate this to my Dad who showed me what true strength is. He worked so hard throughout is life to give us the best he could and fought so hard at the end of it to try and be there with us. I miss him every day.
All music, sound design, imagery, and mixing was done by Echo Haus. Mastering was done by Eric Kristoffer of unitcode:machine
My name is AJ. I lived my life to this date in the Chicagoland area and I have a deep-rooted obsession with music and sound. From playing in experimental bands as a kid, trying to mutate the sound of my guitar into anything but a guitar, to venturing out on my own now and collaborating with other artists.
The element I really fell in love with was creating live soundtracks over silent horror and sci-fi movies! It first started with my band Braille Night. We would play absurdly loud ambient music in the upstairs of a coffee house for hours. One of the members came up with the idea of using a silent movie to direct the feeling of the music. And now a decade + later I'm still doing that frequently, mostly in collaboration with Comfort Station here in Chicago for their summer series "Silent Films and Loud Music".
Sound was only the beginning for me though. The past couple years I have gone done the path of video synthesis, VJing, and programming stage lighting. Most notably for Lorelei Dreaming, where I have spent hours synchronizing lights to emphasize the mood of the music and Lorelei herself as she entrances the audience with her voice and presence, and manipulate video as a live performance jamming along to the music and lights.
What does the future hold?
I want to take my experiences, skills, and passions to the next level. Put out more music. Work on a soundtracks for current movies, shorts, video games, or what-have-you. Lend my patience and knowledge to programming stage lights for other bands. Basically, I want eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff!
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