Sometimes there are no words to tell a story. Sometimes the grandeur is too great or emotions are too vast to paint a picture of a moment in time that took your breath away. Sometimes the pain is too great or the reverence too deep to speak of it. We are all haunted and healing in some way or another.
The Soundkeeper first surfaced during my college years while beginning to write and produce music in my dorm room studio. Although music with lyrics and rhythms were my main focus, I couldn’t help but feel drawn by the beauty of droning ambience and melodies, not constrained by a metronome or stanzas. I was introduced to an album by Jonsi and Alex titled “Riceboy Sleeps”, which was my first real experience with instrumental ambient music. I would let the record spin, turn off the lights, and let my mind wander like it never could before. Whatever stress I was feeling melted away as I felt the music rattle my soul, providing a etherial steadiness to my fleeting thoughts. I was hooked.
As time went on, I began to discover other major artists of a similar genre, such as Eluvium, A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Hammock, Helios, Rhian Sheehan, and many others. I listened to hours of this music and began to develop my own tone, which would eventually bloom into the music of The Soundkeeper.
Working with Logic, an Akai MPK49, a Rode NT1A, and a ragtag collection of guitars and antique instruments, I began to create music that shaped a feeling of reverence in my soul. I wanted to hand-craft as much of the album as I could, creating a complex piece of art in the end. I hand-painted each album cover, inspired by the story the music told. Each track title in the album is also a line to an original poem, which is comprised when the titles are read together. These poems are the story the albums are telling, each inspired by a reverent experience. May this music quiet your soul— may it heal you, break you, and open your eyes to a Creator that is seeking you.
