My first solo CD, “3am”, is an eclectic blend of world beat, acid jazz, bagpipe, and electronic treatment that ebbs and flows through the instrumentation, all played by me. The album’s moniker comes from the actual time during the night, 3 a.m. It is the most mysterious time of the night, when everything is hushed and no one is about, save the waning moon, every now and then. In classical Indian music, the Todi Raga is written especially for this time of night, and has a very peculiar scale.
The music is written from a nostalgic viewpoint, with poignant thoughts about past love, desert landscapes, ballerinas and the moon. Ballet and female dancers play the most important role in the work, owing to my love of the art, and my immersion in the field of accompaniment for dance. Old, traditional tunes of the British Isles, Scandinavia and the Baltic States, as well as bagpipes of these regions provide substance for my work as well. There is a sense of glam and luscious commodity, in tracks like ‘Pink Tights’ and ‘Blacklight’ to a polished pop sound intermingled in ‘Spanish Fly’ and ‘October’. Fragrances, shades and moods of the different seasons, flowers, colors of the sky, dry lakebeds – all these play into the mental framework of my music. The psychedelic ‘Mushroom’ is a reflection of a short but illusory journey into the realm of psychoactive plants, on a quest for answers to a higher power.
My musical inspirations include old bagpipe music, Jah Wobble, Anthony Phillips, Genesis, Hedningarna, Serge Gainsbourg, Peter Gabriel and George Shearing. Literary inspiration comes from old books on bagpipes, Georges Bataille’s ‘Story of the Eye’, the inimitable photo book ‘Mirror of Venus’ by Wingate Paine, as well as others. Physical inspiration comes from sunsets, ballet, and the form of the body in dance. There is no sexier girl to me in the world than a ballerina; thus it seemed only appropriate to write an album of music inspired by her.
