Thanks for an awesome party! Andrew Tasselmyer Q&A Part One today, background and musical philosophy

quiet details
13 minutes ago
4 min read

Hey friends - hope all good :)

Never fails to amaze me what a wonderful community we have! The Bandcamp Listening Parties are such a great way to get together and the fact that so many of you show up every time, along with all the new faces, shows what a powerful connecting force music is - so thank you!

Speaking directly to you all in the chat means so much to me, and it’s such source of positivity for the artists to hear such kind words about their music in real time - so much love for you all and very grateful to be a part of this :)

Thanks for the fantastic support for Andrew’s album, currently sixth best-selling release in any genre/format on Bandcamp - he’s a brilliant artist and truly deserves it.

CDs with Andrew's stunning long-form version still available (message me for the download if you bought one) - don’t sleep if you want!

Listen / buy here

Now Part One of Andrew’s Q&A - big thanks to him!

Please tell us a bit about your background and history in music

I grew up in a home where music of some kind was always playing. My parents weren’t professional musicians, but they loved music and I learned a lot from hearing what they listened to - classic rock, punk, new wave, even some 90s/2000s alt-rock as well. I don’t really listen to much of that anymore, but it definitely opened doors for me and those records were the seeds of inspiration that led me to compose music myself.

My first real spark toward making music came through performance in school. I played trombone in middle school under an incredible band teacher who had such energy and passion for music. He is still a friend to me today. That was the first time I felt inspired to “up my game” as a performer in a substantial way. The act of playing as a group of musicians and traveling to competitions and showcases was a big influence on me, as well. It helped me see the physical and human sides of sound. Adjusting to a new and specific space, holding something together as a group, and the pursuit of precision and collaboration…all of those experiences helped unlock my love for performance and ensemble playing.

Over time I gravitated to more conventional band settings (playing bass in rock- and post-rock groups), but by then I was also nurturing another impulse toward ambient textures, field recordings, loops, and synthesis that I picked up from hearing the early electronic music greats and pioneers in a particularly impactful music history course while an undergrad at the University of Maryland. That’s the path that eventually led into my solo work, and into collaborative projects like Hotel Neon, Gray Acres, Mordançage, and countless other one-offs. Each one allows me to explore different facets of my sound identity.

Please can you describe a bit about your general philosophy and process as an artist?

I treat music-making as “play time.” It is all about open-ended expression and exploration. I begin sessions with minimal expectation, letting anything emerge and staying open to possibilities. I don’t usually begin with a concept; instead, I clear my physical and mental desk (metaphorically and literally), then let things happen freely. I may have ideas about techniques or strategies I want to try, but I rarely stick too closely to something and I give myself permission to go somewhere new if it isn’t working. I set myself constraints (sonic palette, length, instrumentation, sample sources), but once the process is rolling, I try to step back enough to let the work shift itself.

There’s lots of experimentation and failure before I try to “fix” anything or glue it together into something cohesive. Once something interesting and gripping emerges, it’s not unusual for me to record a single 45- to 60-minute take on a concept to hash out ideas I have in my head. Once a few fragments feel resonant enough to pursue, I use those as the anchors for a more structured piece. They might guide more instrumentation, spark a compositional choice, or define pacing. I let those small details drive bigger decisions rather than starting with a formal plan.

When something feels forced rather than intuitive and fun, that signals to me that maybe I’m pushing past the zone where the piece can breathe and I can comfortably explore and express myself. If I feel that I’m “fighting” the piece too much, I risk losing the emotional resonance. Better to recognize when to stop, preserve that spark, rather than polish indefinitely. I like things to feel human, textured, and lived-in…relatable and not perfect.

What does quiet details mean to you and how did you use that to approach this album?

To me, “quiet qetails” is all about picking up on the subtle shifts and contours that occur in an otherwise monotonous or static landscape. Because I composed so much of this work while on trains, traveling through dense urban zones, I think my focus was on injecting small details and textures against a larger backdrop of full, deep, powerful sounds. Each track is big and bassy on the surface, but contains tons of smaller adjustments and barely-audible pieces of detail to add texture. I was very intentional about guiding the pieces towards gentle evolutions, as well. Movements within tracks on Signal develop very gradually and subtly. Small modulations evolve over many seconds or minutes. Some of these things are imperceptible; I’m the only one who will know or notice - but it’s a means of including personal touches that ground the pieces in some amount of humanity within an otherwise abstract, synthetic and ethereal sound world.