Hi there, music patrons!

The last time I wrote to you, I mentioned that walking the Camino de Santiago, and keeping up the practice of walking back home in London, had led to a moment of inspiration. That moment felt like a good opportunity to take you a little bit deeper into my working practice. So, here’s a 14 minute behind-the-scenes peek at a really early sketch, or maybe even a mood board.

Watching and listening back to it, I can hear the influence of Satoshi Ashikawa’s Still Park, a piece I discovered in January this year, in the deepest depths of winter (and coincidentally, around the time I trekked down to Richmond Park for the first time). Of course there are also the skittering electronic pulses in Battles’ My Machines (feat Gary Numan), which I mention in the video.

As I’m not working to anyone else’s brief, I can take this piece forward in any way I like. I’m thinking about how my interest in breath and modern poetry could work their way inside. I have in mind the poem, Into The Dusk Charged Air by John Ashbery. Where it lists all the major rivers of the world, I’m thinking about the major parks of the world, and the various shades of yellow, gold, brown and black they could transform into.

I’m excited to see how this piece could progress. But it’s going to have to wait a bit as I have a commission to work on.

In between this video and the new commission, I’ve been improvising on the guitar a lot these past few days. The guitar was my first instrument, my first musical love. It took a backseat for several years as I moved through the performance world, and then started grappling with Ableton. Now I find myself wanting to lose hours at a time with it again, and have my eyes on the Hologram Electronics’ Microcosm pedal, which I’m confident would open a whole world of rhythmic and textural possibilities.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed this update. As always, I love to hear thoughts and feedback.