This month, having just passed the five year mark, I’m taking a look back with the intent of creating a sea of tranquility for you to submerge yourself in. The source material is from three sessions going back to 2015. This podcast uses previously unreleased parts from those sessions.
It starts by revisiting a collaboration with saxophonist Brad Hubbard (ES Podcast #24) playing the Electronic Wind Instrument. Brad is a fantastic and thoughtful improvisor, and here he brings some nice synth tones and textures to our musical conversation.
The middle section is from an all day solo performance (installation?) in 2015 during Newburgh Open Studios (ES Podcast #6). These durational performances really let me take my time and slow waay down. I try to get to a similar place in my shorter performances, but its always a challenge. This one is cascading and minimal, it reminds me of watching little waves rushing to shore, or gentle raindrops.
Finally there’s more contemplative improvisation this time with vocalist Ella Ray Kondrat (ES Podcast #34). This recording was literally the first time we played together. I think at the time I edited the original podcast I may have thought it was too raw, but listening to it now I find it has a sort of fragile beauty.
This month’s podcast is a solo studio experiment inspired by the concept of Slow-wave sleep. It’s an exercise in extreme slowness and is best experienced at a barely audible volume, while horizontal. Hopefully it will send you someplace restful and pleasant.
This is also podcast sixty; that’s five years of Errant Space podcasts! Thanks for listening, and please revisit some past podcasts to see how (if) things have evolved.
Here’s my current pedal set up, for any of you (nerds) who are interested.
Errant Elf, or Quantum Space… whichever you choose, this month’s podcast is from a live performance with Quantum Elf which took place on December 7, 2019 at the Rotunda in Philadelphia as part of the Event Horizon concert series.
Quantum Elf is Karl Fury (guitar, lap steel) and Floyd Bledsoe (synthesizers). It was a real honor to have these guys sit in with me for this show. I think our performance was pretty epic!
This month’s podcast features selections from three soundtrack projects I worked on this year.
The first part is the entire score for the experimental theatre piece, Enki, which explored the Sumerian creation myth.
Next (starting at 21:04) are 2 tracks from the soundtrack for the adventure card game Dark Venture. Its a bit different than my usual work, as it involves a lot more synthesizers and also a fair amount of field recording and sound design. But these are two of the more abstract tracks. You can hear (and purchase) the entire soundtrack HERE.
Finally (starting at 38:46) there are some selections from the soundtrack for the documentary Baato, which is currently in post-production. Here’s a brief synopsis: ‘Baato’ (n. [Nepali] 1. path, trail 2. way 3. road) is an observational film that documents a young village family on an annual migration along the route of a planned trans-national highway. Partially complete, the highway project will transform this roadless Himalayan valley permanently and open up a direct transport route between Nepal and China – bringing new challenges, new opportunities, and ultimately a new way of being to those who live along its path.
This month’s podcast features electronic musician Bastian Void from Worcester, MA. I think this is the first Errant Space Podcast session that took place before noon, and perhaps you can hear that freshness in our collabo. Its chock full of amazing modular synth textures and sounds. Be sure to check out Bastian Void’s recordings on his Bandcamp page. His latest release, Acreage, is fantastic!
And there’s a bonus track from our session HERE, where we went in a different direction and tried a dub-ish experiment.
This month’s podcast is from a Sound/Peace performance at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY on August 2, 2019.
The performers were:
Katie Down: Metal and Glass Instruments Mark Trecka: Piano, Bells and Voice Thom Uliasz: Circuit Bent and Hand Made Electronics
Craig Chin: Guitar/Loops
Sound/Peace, an occasionally recurringseries, is an immersive sonic experience accompanied by the changing light of the setting sun. Musicians occupy the edges of the space, surrounding listeners in sound, the performance ends as darkness falls.
This is a field recording, so there’s a bit of room noise and shuffling about, but it captures the experience well.
For best results: listen in headphones, lying down, starting an hour before sunset.
This month’s podcast is a collaboration with Mark Trecka who processes cassette tapes, voice and bells to create beautiful, textured soundscapes.
Mark Trecka in performance Dec. 12, 2018
Also! this podcast, number 48, marks four years of the Errant Space Podcast! Its been a very good experience for me; I’ve met and collaborated with many amazing people and it has really helped me grow as a musician and human. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed it too, and we can continue this journey into sound together.
This month’s podcast is a sort of hybrid; the source material is from a performance accompanying an Ajna Light Therapy session. I took that material into the studio and enhanced, augmented and manipulated it resulting in this extremely ambient podcast.
For best results listen at the lowest possible volume. As they say at ambient festivals, “turn it down!!”
This month’s podcast is a solo studio experiment inspired by the concept of 
Errant Elf, or Quantum Space… whichever you choose, this month’s podcast is from a live performance with 
Be sure to check out Bastian Void’s recordings on his 
