CultureLoad

I'm an American solo musician who has left Seattle and am now living and creating in Eastern Europe (Slovakia). I hope to help you lose yourself and forget your cares, if just for a moment, in my music and writings. More importantly, I hope to be a friend who inspires you in your journey of self-discovery.

I'm also a member of the band Sungod Abscondo. "Imperfect People", our album debut, was released in 2007. Despite the fact that the band has never toured, our tracks are being played on dozens of non-commercial radio stations across North America (including KAOS, KJHK, WXOU, WPKN, and KCWR).

The Abscondo debut solo album, "Midnight Snow", is comprised of dark, acoustic music which is accompanied throughout by bongos, timpani drums, hand-clapping, maracas, tambourine, and even foot-stomping.

"Midnight Snow" is a deeply personal concept album. The first 5 songs (which can be thought of as Side A) are "Midnight Snow", while the last 5 songs (Side B) are to be thought of as "Morning Rain".

Side A, "Midnight Snow":

Track 1, Strangled Into Gray, is an anthem about the struggles of everyday life. The frustrations expressed in Strangled Into Gray provide the spark for everything that is to follow. Every note on this album was intended as a response to this daily struggle. The next 4 tracks take us to those candle-lit evenings full of intimacy, inspiration, bliss and beauty. How intense and magnificent life can be under the right influences! But what is the meaning of these moments in relation to the struggles and mundanity of yet another tomorrow in the world as it actually exists?

Side B, "Morning Rain":

After the candle is blown out at the end of Track 5, the beauty symbolized by a midnight snowflake is replaced with the grayness of a rainy morning. The difference between the lightness of snow and the heaviness of rain is only a few degrees in temperature. The idea of this small change in temperature is meant to symbolize our small changes in perception. "Morning Rain" reminds us that "Midnight Snow" is not and cannot be a permanent state; that, symbolically, the next morning will come and we will have to deal with its unpleasant and harsh realities. Track 10, "Sentiment", closes the album with the idea that perhaps what matters is not life's peaks or valleys, but the contentedness of a life well-lived with that one special person who is worthy of spending one's entire life with.