Hi friends - hope all good :)
Excellent party last night! Such a great group of people tuned in - so many friends old and new, fans, artists, music folk - I keep on about how important community is and these gatherings bring us all together in the most wonderful way - so thank you x
Awesome to see all the love for Jordan’s album (he was buzzing from all the positivity so sending his huge thanks to you all too!) - I dearly love this album and Jordan’s truly one of the good guys so really pleased to share it with you.
The party showed how important it is to listen to albums in their entirety, especially when they’re so beautifully constructed. This is exactly why we do the long-form (single track) version of the album on the CD - a unique and special version of the album specifically to enjoy in one sitting. Jordan’s mix is unsurprisingly awesome.
So if you bought the album, message me if you want a private Bandcamp link to this special version. CDs still available (bespoke six-panel digi-pack, glass-mastered CD, separate art print of the cover) and digital still half-price.
Currently the bestselling ambient release and was the third bestselling in any genre on Bandcamp - thank you, very grateful :)
Now Part One of the Q&A, enjoy :)
Please tell us a bit about your background and history in music
Please can you describe a bit about your general philosophy and process as an artist?
I started out as a teenager with a Yamaha synth and a four track, recording noisy “industrial” kinda jams and at the same time getting into playing improvised music and trying to teach myself how to play jazz standards on the piano.
In my late teens I discovered Detroit techno and Chicago house and started making those kinda deep very Larry Heard inspired tracks with my slowly growing studio. A Yamaha DX11 became my main instrument and I eventually added a computer to the arsenal. I spent my 20s mainly going to parties, recording a lot of deep house and techno and playing keyboard, releasing a few things, playing a few live gigs but not very focused or often.
After moving to Amsterdam I teamed up with an old jazz buddy and started the band Juju & Jordash. Our philosophy was strict improvised live hardware music which was a culmination of our experiences in jazz/free music projects, brought into our beloved dance music world. I’ve dedicated the past 20 years honing my improvisational skills, playing live improvised shows alone or with various groups, and recording albums as a solo artist and as part of a lot of groups. The main thing in common with all my past projects has been the improvised nature.
This CD is the first time i kinda departed from that and instead I tried to perfect the themes before recording them. Still born from improvising in many ways but instead of hooking up my gear and just pressing record, I took the time to massage the themes before recording the audio. I even midi’d up my studio which I’ve been avoiding for decades.
What does quiet details mean to you and how did you use that to approach this album?
I was afraid of this question, but just now it came to me, I realize that Quiet Details means Midi notes to me. Empty vessels that contain the future sound. Very quiet. In fact silent!
Now some shout-outs:
qd30 Jordan GCZ
Big thanks as always to Shawn Reynaldo for the coverage in his excellent First Floor newsletter. Great stuff as usual, this month’s talking to the legend Barker and loads more.
fields we found - resolve / relate 01
The Dublin-based No Place Like Drone crew always put on a good show, thanks to them for including the piece On Dublin Digital Radio, archive here
Much love all and have a great weekend!
Alex
quiet details studios - mastering and audio services
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