INTROVERSION
My relationship to music is defined by the power to express emotion through sound. This intrinsic quality has enabled me to perform a wide variety of music for audiences throughout the DMV area. When COVID-19 and quarantine made live music impossible, I was faced with the question of “what is my identity as an artist?”. After taking stock of my skill sets as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer, I ventured to find new ways to continue generating creative output and practice my craft, while advancing my career in the age of technology. Creating in isolation has resulted in artistic growth I refer to as “INTROVERSION” and represents a personal journey of exploration. With an affinity for detail, form, and texture, I am driven by the analytical process of expanding the sonic vibrancy of my compositions, while simultaneously exploring the visual expression of these qualities through video animation that uniquely intertwines with the music. This process is only a means to an end; I believe that by translating my feelings into sound, color, and motion, an immersive experience of art is most impactful by connecting with people on an emotional level.
These samples show a small cross section of the 40+ musical compositions and visual animations I self-produced by performing and recording all the instruments myself. Working section by section, I start by creating the drum programming structures in my recording software, then add bass, keyboard, and percussion parts. Most compositions begin as just a simple melody, which I play on a variety of woodwind instruments including saxophones, flutes, and clarinets, then I layer additional harmony parts and background figures to create a more expansive symphonic texture. I use orchestration techniques rooted in my study of classical music, but there is also a highly open-ended and experimental approach. Occasionally digital effects are added to further manipulate the sounds in new directions. Once the "skeleton" of each composition is complete, the final element I record is the improvised solos, which I played as if I were soloing with a live group and responding to the ensemble. Many edits and revisions are often necessary as I "discover" what the final end result each composition will become. Some compositions will transition through a variety of different musical styles and moods, which I draw on from my years of playing all kinds of music including jazz, classical, funk, reggae, blues, Fusion, African, Middle Eastern, Indian Classical, and avant-garde experimental.
I then create the video animations to be a visual extension of the music as I experience it through chromesthesia, which is an involuntary visual response to aural stimuli. For me, this literally takes the form of shapes, colors, and motion in my mind as I associate them with the harmonic spectrum and energy of the music. To express this outwardly, I use a camera to record most of the original video from everyday objects, especially anything that involves patterns of color or movement. With the music as sonic inspiration, these individual segments are layered and digitally altered in video editing software. Some compositions require an abstract visual representation, while others have a more literal reference to the subject matter. After aligning the video with the recorded music, the end result is a multi-sensory experience of interconnected sounds and visuals that express my own aesthetics and internal journey. As a musician with many years of experience composing and performing music that covers a wide variety of styles and genres, these pieces represent my artistic abilities and conception at their most current state.