Центральная тема альбома отражена в его названии. "Journeys" основан на идее, что каждый из нас следует по разным путям в жизни, стремится к разным целям и конечным точкам.
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+_-[CALAVERA]-_+
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---'JOURNEYS'---
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-----NOTES------
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- Foreword -
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Hey you, thank you so, so much for downloading this EP!
It means the world to me that you like it enough to take
it home with you. I've worked really hard on this little
guy, so I'm glad it's now gone to a good home.
"Everyone you know is on a journey" is the phrase that
sparked the naming and theme of this EP. Be it financial,
emotional, academic, spiritual, physical, artistic, etc,
everyone you know or pass by on the street has all all kinds
of stuff going on in their world. It's more of a reminder
to myself than anything else. The six tracks are just
six little journeys I noticed myself and others traveling.
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001. Simulation theory
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First track, a big-boy drum 'n bass number. A journey of
understanding what is real, questioning reality, etc. I
wanted it to have a sort of anxious feel, like someone
realising their whole world is an extremely complex
simulation run by strangers for academic purposes.
If you're unfamiliar with the theory, google: "the
simulation argument". Fun to contemplate occasionally.
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002. Nice to meet you, Fuji-sama
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A physical journey - I was sitting on a train in Japan
when I looked up from my Game Boy to see my first glimpse
of Mount Fuji. It's so much more stunning than any picture
can show. I was just in the middle of writing the hook for
this song at that very moment and I realised that *this*
was what it was about. To this day it's still my favourite
Calavera track*.
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003. Wandering the sands
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Imagine a weary traveller, trekking through a barren sandy
wasteland. I wanted this one to feel slow, heavy, like it's
plodding along, but with a hint of mystery. The melody of
this one just jumped out at me from nowhere one night,
which rarely ever happens. Normally my song writing process
is similar to watching a man smash his face repeatedly
into his desk, but this one just flew out of me. It was an
amazing feeling.
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004. Swing and a miss
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Heh, originally this was an attempt at 'skweee' music - an
extremely underground electronic sub-genre which I first
heard at Square Sounds Melbourne 2014; the first year I played.
I met a Finnish artist called Heikki (his artist name is DKSTR,
go check him out!) and the wonkiness of the melodies and the
basslines really appealed to me. Later that week I hit the
Game Boy, looking to recreate something similar, what came out
was basically nothing like skweee, more along the lines of reggae.
But hey, you win some you lose some. This was kind of like
my journey through music making. Also this was the first track
I ever wrote that combined the OP-1 synth, which is sampling a
Game Boy note, enabling me to play the keys, but sing like
a Game Boy, it's a lot of fun.
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005. About us
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A chip lovesong. A journey of relationship, the best kind.
Was trying my hand at something a little more poppy, a little
more upbeat. It has harmonies that sing together like a couple.
I wanted people to listen to this and be reminded of their
loved one, or the one they'd like to meet one day.
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006. Over the mountains and over the seas, there is hope
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I think people will love this last one or hate it.
It's repetitive, like a mantra. Something you can listen
to when you feel hopeless. I have a few songs that send me
into peaceful, trance-like states and I find they're always
heartfelt, slow and repetitive. So naturally I wanted to make
my own. This one uses the OP-1 for layering different pads and
accompaniments with the Game Boy too. Overall, I just wanted
to write a very simple story with sound, something hopeful and
beautiful. Hopefully you find it as calming as I do. It was
actually a lot of work though, as when the time came to record
this one, I had no knowledge about recording instruments in
time with other tracks, the natural delay of things, USB audio
interfaces, you name it. So money was spent, websites were read.
I got there in the end. Speaking of the end though - we're at it.
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- Conclusion -
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So again, thank you so much for grabbing this release, I really
appreciate the support and the listens. With a bit of luck,
you'll enjoy this release as much as I enjoyed making it for
you, regardless of the emotional rollercoaster ride that it was.
Talk to you soon? :)
Don't be a stranger.
[[[calaveralovesyou@gmail.com]]]
* As of 29/03/2015
Journeys
0:25:07