I know, I know, there’s already more music here than anyone would
ever want to listen to by any one person, and I'm planning on putting
up more. But what to do? All that old stuff still sounds pretty good to
me, and it’s been sitting around in the trunk for years, and here’s
the chance to give it a breath of fresh air. So maybe after you listen
to one or two of the most recent albums, in a few months or years, you’ll
be curious about some more of it.
There’s been a musical direction of sorts. I started out in folk,
writing songs and performing, but then got intrigued by the
emerging electronic music scene with its wild new sounds. Electronics
also appealed to the engineer in me. A goal became to reconcile these
two apparently opposed fields into a coherent musical statement. From
folk, I jumped to folk-rock, and then to new wave rock,
which seemed to offer some startlingly new ideas about what pop music
could be. Gone was the puppy-love sentimentality that dominated the old
music - songs about romance and broken hearts, etc. In came new topics
that seemed more intelligent - satire, meaningful introspection, real
poetry, and the advent of darkness in pop music. The darkness was most interesting because it suggested the exploration
of the shadow, that part of the psyche that needs to be uncovered and
integrated. This appealed to me, particularly with my bent for psychology,
and has been a central part of my approach to music and art since, including
the last album, “Day By Day.”
New wave rock also incorporated radical new musical ideas. Chord movement
and harmony were narrowed, and rhythm became more important. From reggae,
the idea of a simple, repeating bass line was incorporated to create a
“groove.” The music was new, more powerful. I launched into
it with “I Am A Model” and others to be posted. I released
this album and others as an independent label, and it got a lot of airplay
on college radio.
Most recently, we’ve seen the emergence of “trip-hop,”
which I have experienced as an equally significant step in the ongoing
evolution of pop music. Trip-hop originated when some brilliant
soul took the rhythms of rap, or hip-hop, and overlaid it with beautiful,
ethereal sounds instead of the rapping vocal. A beautiful new genre was
created that I found totally transporting, and that I’ve tried to
present in my albums “IN” and “The Secret Pattern of
Things.”
All albums can be heard here in their entirety, in high quality MP3 format,
but you need a high-speed connection. If you care to make them part of
your permanent collection, downloading or CD purchase is available. Bon
Voyage!
As Jung suggested, I’m always trying to bring opposites together
as part of my inner growth. The two somewhat opposite fields I’m
now concerned with are psychology and art. Hence, the new books that are
posted here, which I consider to be companion books. “Emotion and
Art” is my exploration of how to use art as a pathway on the spiritual
journey. I feel as if I have broken some new ground here, especially with
the three steps of the art process, and the inclusion of the manic-depressive
experience as an integral part of the art making process, which becomes
a problem only when mis-handled. “Between The Moon And The Walking”
is a right-brained journey deep inside to what I feel is the collective
subconscious.
I’m tempted to put up a bio here, but I’ve already done that
on the Emotional
Clearing site, and that’s probably enough, and I’ve gone
into autobiographical detail in “Emotion And Art.” For me,
the work continues. This website represents a long-delayed dream of making
available all my art for anyone to experience who’s interested.
The Emotional Clearing service has been of major importance for me, both
personally and as a career, but it has been time-consuming and demanding.
This art website represents a reward from that. I hope you will find it
enjoyable.
John
