Dear Friends -
As many of you know, I struggle greatly with participating in social media.
What’s ironic is that I consume it and I definitely don’t judge any of you for your involvement with it. I enjoy learning about all of the strange and interesting happenings in your creative lives.
Yet for all the reasons we are coming to understand, the incessant streams and feeds leave me feeling isolated and alone. Perhaps you’re there too. I don’t believe a newsletter is the perfect anecdote to the echo chamber, but maybe it’s a start - at least for me.
In the end, I need to do a better job of getting the work that I’m doing into your ears and in front your eyes. But, hopefully, there’s something about this format that feels more intimate, more thoughtful, more personal. That’s my goal, anyways.
What I’m realizing that I want out of my creative life is a deeper sense of community. As we collectively push back on so many fronts, my hope is that we continue to do it together, with each other in mind.
But - ok - enough of this rambling and proselytizing.
I plan to stick to the work with this publication and to give you updates on concerts, album releases, and projects that otherwise might not see the light of day.
. . . although, such as it is, I can’t promise that I won’t occasionally muse on the general state of the world too . . .
To kick things off, I opened a new door this year -
GUITARS
For the past decade, I’ve been performing and improvising with modular synthesizers. At some point in Dec. 2020, I was in need of a change (as many of us were) and I realized that I had never considered owning an electric guitar. I’ve wound pickups, built distortion circuits, and even created an automated plucked string instrument from scratch during my time at SAIC, yet the thought of owning an electric guitar, honestly, never occurred to me.
Once I had the itch, the hunt was on. I now own a few . . . too many, perhaps. But I’m proud of this one, my Telecaster, which I’ve modified to include a touch-sensitive bank of four square-wave oscillators.
I also built a pretty gnarly sounding fuzz/distortion pedal to pair with it. Noise sounds are making a lot of sense to me these days.
VASTER THAN EMPIRES
My group with Erica Dicker (violin) and Allen Otte (percussion), Vaster Than Empires, was slated to play a couple of shows with Tanngrisnir in Philadelphia and Baltimore the week that the world shut down.
We’ve been on hiatus ever since, but Erica and I were able to travel to Cincinnati this summer to record with Allen. It was the first chance that I had to really put the modded guitar into action and we’re excited about what we’ve got in the can - new album coming soon!
Allen had a new toy as well - his second ‘soundboard’ -
SHARING
I hope to use this platform to promote community members projects as well.
I take a lot of pride in my teaching these days and I have the good fortune to work with a lot of incredibly talented students.
Here’s an offering from a former student, now friend and colleague, Grant Bouvier, which is definitely worth a spin -
HAPPENINGS
If you’re around Philadelphia this Sunday, August 29 check out the MOTS (Modular on the Spot) event in FDR Park from 2:00-5:00. Follow #modularonthespotphilly for details.
till next time -
Paul
PS - quick update on the last 6 or so years, if we’ve lost touch -
After finishing my DMA at the University of Cincinnati, I got (what eventually became) a full-time teaching job at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. I made Associate Professor last spring.
I’ve been enjoying life on the east coast with my wife, Lauren, who I met here and married in May 2019. Tyson, now 13 years young and as gray as I am, is doing well. He still enjoys his daily walks.
Great to see you enjoying life.