Under the Veneer started with a giant snow storm in Bellingham, Washington, in March of 2019. I had just finished recording Nocturnal Signal and wanted to dig deeper into using sounds from field recordings and making my own sample based instruments. The snow storm inspired many field recording sessions which ended in the construction of a set of sample-based percussive instruments. I went on many hikes in the snow-covered forests around my house, capturing environmental sounds with my field recorder: fresh snow falling off ferns, snow balls pounding on frozen steel doors, footsteps crunching, fallen tree limbs snapping in the ice cold air, icicles breaking. This set the backdrop for the album; all of the samples have a kind of frozen crispness to them, frozen soundscapes from the forest. I’ve come to see the relationships between the samples as important as any individual sound. The time, location, season, and my relationship with the sounds contributes enormously to the emotional impact of the sample collection.

The main instrument on the album is an old rusty music box. It has a rich harmonic resonant sound but it’s also broken and vulnerable. It’s attached to a painting I've had for many years, one that has moved around with me many times. It has hung on the walls in both broken and loving homes and has become a symbol of how important having a peaceful place to call home really is. The painting and the music box represents a complex sense of home for me. A lot of the themes on this album were inspired by that concept; scratch a bit of veneer off the surface and you can often find something twisted and complicated underneath.

Enjoy. 

Released February 7, 2020

Mastered by Taylor Dupree at 12k.

Graphic design by Aleksandar Veselić and Dragana Veselić.

Under the Veneer

Most of the songs on Nocturnal Signal were written at night. The title track was written in a dream I had a number of years ago. Oddly enough, in the dream I was playing the melody on a trumpet, an instrument I’ve never played before. When I woke up I picked up my guitar and worked out the melody. I’ve re-used both the melody and chord progression in different songs and in different ways a number of times and will likely continue to do so; the structure is durable. 

This album is one part of three. The other two parts are a solo acoustic guitar album that draws more on jazz and classical and an album where the sound design and field recordings lead the way. Nocturnal Signal mixes those two sides of inspiration into one sonic mosaic. 

Enjoy.

Nocturnal Signal

Late Night Meditation

A rusty old music box sings its songs, wrapped in a blanket of snow covered trees, frozen in time.

Under the Veneer started with a giant snow storm in Bellingham, Washington, in March of 2019. I had just finished recording Nocturnal Signal and wanted to dig deeper into using sounds from field recordings and making my own sample based instruments. The snow storm inspired many field recording sessions which ended in the construction of a set of sample-based percussive instruments. I went on many hikes in the snow-covered forests around my house, capturing environmental sounds with my field recorder: fresh snow falling off ferns, snow balls pounding on frozen steel doors, footsteps crunching, fallen tree limbs snapping in the ice cold air, icicles breaking. This set the backdrop for the album; all of the samples have a kind of frozen crispness to them, frozen soundscapes from the forest. There are no commercial samples used on Under the Veneer.

The main instrument on the album is an old rusty music box. It has a rich harmonic resonant sound but it’s also broken and vulnerable. It’s attached to a painting I've had for many years, one that has moved around with me many times. It has hung on the walls in both broken and loving homes and has become a symbol of how important having a peaceful place to call home really is. The painting and the music box represents a complex sense of home for me. A lot of the themes on this album were inspired by that concept; scratch a bit of veneer off the surface and you can often find something twisted and complicated underneath.

Enjoy.

Last Dream

Tetradic Sea

On The Mend

Mischievous

Morning Lull

Crossover

Prelude To Fall

Under The Veneer

Deception Pass

Left Alone

I make music with guitars, synthesizers, and computers.

I also make music with moss-covered tree trunks, leaves crackling under my feet, sticks breaking on high mountain trails, or the ebb and flow of salt water on the ocean shoreline.

Jeads

Pinned to spotlight

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