YES! The long-awaited debut album is finally here, the concept of which was born more than two decades ago in a dream.
Writing these songs has been a big part of my life, especially these past few years as I really began focusing all my energies on them. Each song is based upon an emotional experience and was written as a way of exploring that experience. Capturing lucid states in a musical medium seems to be my approach and preferred subject matter, so I hope I've done them justice with my songs.
Give a listen to the first half (or so) of each track now.
NOTE: If the player doesn't work on your computer, visit the Facebook page to hear the full songs.
Available now on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, CDBaby, Facebook, Last.fm, and yes, Rhapsody!
(Please rate/review/like/+1 whichever page you visit. Every bit helps me out. Thx!)
In 1987 I woke up from a dream in which a song I'd never heard before was playing like a soundtrack in my mind. I picked it out on my parents piano and the more I tinkered with it the more it came back to me. Within a few days I'd purchased my first synthesizer that could record sequences. That was the first mile of a long road that has led me here, releasing this album. Even back then the reaction to my compositions was "Soulful", "Soundtracky", "Pretty", "Mood invoking". Those words still fit in summing up my style, though the inspirations for my works have continued to become more personal, complex and healing for me. I realized that writing was a catharsis for whatever state of chaos or peace I was going through at the moment, and putting it into music became the framework through which I would grow from these experiences and mature with the challenges I faced. Basically, writing was my process of processing ME.
As these songs are inspired by what I experience when I go into repose to process, the title "Hiding Place" refers to the place WE ALL go for our repose, solitude, reflection or simply to recharge and process. The types and locations of these hiding places are as varied as the individual. For some it's their 5 a.m. run or a book before bed. For others it's as committed as a month long walkabout while for another it could be as simple and short as a 10 minute power nap. Whatever you do and wherever you go to recharge, we all go to our hiding places and often, and these songs arose from mine... my writing time. Like a rolodex of segways to particular states of mind, just dial the track number and you'll be there in minutes.
Desire, repose, adventure, peace, hope, dreams, reflection, nostalgia, love, loss, celebration, relaxation... it's all here.
For example, "Dreams of Flying" describes the experience of a young falcons first flight.
"I Once Was Young" is a zoomed-in and stretched exploration of that fleeting moment you experience when you hear the laugh of a child on a playground and momentarily are transported back to your own youth. This song drags that moment into several minutes.
"Eta Carinae" describes a lucid dream I had of dancing and skipping joyfully (and unscathed) on the surface of a brightly burning star.
I even explored the peace of loneliness (but without the pain and sorrow) in "Alone".
"Sleep" is like morphine for the mind. It will wind you down and mellow your soul.
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TRACK LISTING
The Rest Is Just Me
Hiding Place
Occupy Me
Bedtime
I Once Was Young
Alone
Dreams of Flying
Stephenie
Eta Carinae
Sleep
This album is the perfect companion for runners, hikers, commuters, thinkers, anyone who listens to music when they're re-finding their centers in their own personal HIDING PLACE.
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Thank you.
~San
