1. Singing Is Contagious EP, released Dec. 4, 2020
The Singing Is Contagious EP was my return to releasing music after six years of silence: a searing fusion of modern progressive, post-punk, and ambient drone.
Driven by disarming poetry and sung and spoken-word vocals, Singing Is Contagious is a visceral plea for honoring our common humanity and learning from one another, beyond the received ideas and prejudices that alienate and wound us.
2. “Respire” single, released Mar. 12, 2021
My second release of the COVID-19 pandemic was “Respire.”
I recorded “Respire” in 2014 as a way to rediscover my own breath. I sang in falsetto with a resonant space in my mouth but lips closed and vibrating slightly. I was inspired by how Arve Henriksen makes his trumpet sound like a cooing voice. I tried to do the opposite: make my voice sound like a gospel-inflected cousin of a trumpet, theremin, or flute. Doing so got me out of my own head and into my body. Then I brought in the accordion, which also breathes: vibrating chords and the simple pull and push of air.
I put the resulting piece away for another time—until the pandemic, when I returned to “Respire” and finished the mix. So many have suffered, struggled to breathe, and lost their breath entirely to COVID-19. “Respire” reminds me to be grateful for my breath and all that might flow from it. May you, the listener, breathe easy and be well.
3. This, Too EP, released July 16, 2021
My third musical release of the COVID-19 pandemic, This, Too, plumbs the joys and vulnerabilities of interpersonal connection and commitment through a fusion of art-rock and pop, neo-classical, field recordings, and found sounds.
Across three vocal-driven songs and four instrumental miniatures, This, Too digs into the difficult but essential work each of us does to accept ourselves and cherish those we love.
4. CYCLESPEAK, Volume 1 LP, released Oct. 3, 2022
Inspired by artists like Toshimaru Nakamura and Sarah Belle Reid, I turned to the no-input mixing board in the hope of discovering new musical possibilities for myself.
The process of listening closely and coaxing voices from the mixing board, learning to respond to its calls, and collaborating with it through shared expression is deeply meditative for me. I especially appreciate the playful tension between the mixer’s beastly unpredictability and my songwriter’s-ear for narrative and hook.
CYCLESPEAK, Volume 1 is my first collection of works using the no-input mixing board. It won’t be the last.
5. With the Birds EP, released April 14, 2023
A meditation on hope and change, with avian chorus.
6. Brain Fog Intonations LP, released May 5, 2023
In April 2023, I contracted COVID-19 for the first time, and after my period of isolation ended, a heavy brain fog set in.
During the fog’s peak to date, listening intently to drone sounds proved deeply soothing. So, I did the only thing I could constructively do in that moment: I began shaping and arranging sounds to resonate with my brain fog.
These three pieces and their associated “tape degradations” are the result. For me, each is a kind of tuning fork—or, better perhaps, a distant fog horn—that rings through the interior space of my brain fog.
The three original pieces were crafted digitally. The “tape degradations” were the result of recording the original pieces to cassette and performing them back with subtle manipulations of the tape, variously at regular and half speeds.
I dedicate these pieces, in solidarity, to all who have experienced or are experiencing COVID-induced brain fog, whether briefly or at length. May we find moments of wholeness, both familiar and unfamiliar, therein.
“May Our Voices Be” single, released July 7, 2023
A plea for care and solidarity.
The lyrics for “May Our Voices Be” began as a poem to share with the pastoral care singing group I co-lead at my family’s Unitarian Universalist church.
I always intended to set the poem to music, as I considered it to be a hymn in the making. This is my personal interpretation of “May Our Voices Be.”