How does the power of imagination affect your work/life?

I have a weak imagination and a strong memory. Most of my “imagining” is actually just recall of existing details or experiences that I then recontextualize. Or, if it feels fully imagined, I believe it’s real somewhere else. So I want to imagine a better world, and it often feels impossible. I get discouraged easily, feel sickened by the violence and cruelty we witness or are subject to on a daily basis.

But navigating the physical world using the field recorder’s mic as my ears has changed me forever. The act of listening preserves my sense of wonder at this physical world, when I so often yearn to go home to the spiritual plane. Listening feels like an act of love. I do think that the key is to listen, go inward towards love, and give love to others, one person at a time. This Earth is so small and each life is a Universe. I love that paradox.

How important are your surroundings to you? What have your surroundings been like the last few months?

My brother and I have this joke that when you’re from Buffalo, it makes the world a more beautiful place. The Rust Belt was a rough yet visually striking place to grow up. You can see the future there—what it looks like when the land reclaims abandoned development. There were wild turkeys running around the East Side, which is kind of magical. In Pittsburgh, it’s deer.

With doing so much field recording, my sense of place deeply involves soundscapes. Pittsburgh, which has been my home for the past four years, sounds like a series of bowls with a sea sloshing around it. I like to think that it’s because the land there is a prehistoric ocean floor, but it’s really just the sound of the highway. There are wooded parks to escape to, but you can always hear the traffic, which sounds like a chorus pad to me.

I’ve been living in Los Angeles for the past couple months, not far from Griffith Park. L.A.’s air sounds thinner, everything carries farther. And high up on the mountains and hills, it gets really quiet and dampened—but the rock is energetically Loud! I was surprised by how few birds are around, but I guess it’s March. I love how the hummingbirds sound here.

Each place has its own frequency. I’m always trying to tune in to the one that feels right for the season of my life.

I hear you snore and clack your teeth to the rhythm - let’s discuss that?

Gotta record it for DJKL to mix!

But yeah, I sometimes have songs floating through my head as I fall asleep and my teeth will clack out a line from the tune. And I always snore. My partners have a lot of grace.

What are your thoughts on being sleepy in the club?

Always sleepy…! I have hEDS, so my body often hurts. At the ideal club, there’s always a place to sit, close my eyes, and absorb the subwoofer. I love how many people have come up to check on me (“Are you okay?”) while I do this, whether in Pittsburgh, Detroit, or New York. It says a lot about the culture/community that we check in on people who might seem sick or too high. Anyway, I’d love if we could talk more about accessibility in dance spaces, in general. Crip Rave, based in Toronto, is an org/party I’d like to connect with in the future.

Tell us about any new projects you have coming up.

Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to work on some film projects. I’ve just completed sound design for an indie sci-fi/horror feature called Inter-State, making the alien sounds and general scary auras. And Huli, my brother’s short film that I composed the score for, is hitting festivals now. I’ve loved working on movies and hope to do more.

As far as solo stuff goes, I’m wrapping up an EP coming out this year called Music for Mime, which is, in my opinion, “classical” music—still electronic. And more that I will keep under wraps for now!

Cover photo by Karma. Additional photo by Gregory Hatton.

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