Durante a trajetória do High Climbers, Mike foi registrando gravações suas em meio aos trabalhos de sua banda e o resultado disso tudo veio ao mundo há pouco menos de um mês sob a alcunha de Maine, o disco chama-se "Air Traffic" e tem todo seu enfoque na relações humanas, analisadas psiquicamente, tudo envolto em uma atmosfera intimista e beirando o lo fi, apesar da qualidade da gravação ter ficado bem acima do que se comumente se atribui ao aspecto de baixa qualidade.
Um trabalho interessantíssimo que soa como uma experimentação de seu criador com seus "brinquedos", leia-se pedais entre outras coisas.
Uma trip desacelerada e melancólica que merece ser analisada a fundo, e para isso, o TBTCI convidou seu criador para dissecá-la.
Dê play e submerja-se a esta odisseia.
Overgrown:
This song came out of my first experience using open C tuning. I found an intriguing melancholy with simple picked arpeggios, so I used it as a canvas to write about the underpinnings of my life at that time- namely, restlessness in a disasstifying routine. It happens so often that we start down a road which is positive but eventually turns. It can then become hard to discern what one's true feeling is, as they slowly descend in quicksand. This is a bit of a thematic introduction.
Low (No Reason)Feeling the push/pull of power verses freedom, all around us and in far-off places we only hear about. I think this was written around the time of the Brexit vote, where two ideological camps (created by the media) were being pitted against each other. Leading oneself down a road of ignorance and exclusion seems to be a tiresome one; their exhaustion is spread across the front page but with such a contradictory inherent power. I instead try and see the colour beyond the chaos.
Can You See It?This track is a conversation with no one person in particular, but perhaps those in a certain ideological camp. I'm no saint, but I can't help but see examples of complacency in dire situations. There is a definite lack of awareness to their submission. My questions are to the broken-hearted and minded; tiresome discontent with no courage to step up.
First PointMy first real song with my Boss RC30 looper. I'd just bought a keyboard for £3 at a local Chinese market and discovered looping the same key would produce different pitches. With this in mind I decided to play the basis of the track live, adding in layers sparingly. The guitar and voice followed and were guided by the loop I'd created. First Point is a homage to the beginnings of a relationship - the launching point to a higher state of being. Any self-doubt is swept away by the love of a newfound significant other.
Soft
A trip to the aqaurium prompted this, especially as I saw the elegence in the seahorses there. Coinciding with new love, I began shedding the skin that kept me closed. This beautiful state of purity was mimiced by these little creatures as I watched them swim around so graciously. It's more an exploration of a feeling and transitioning.
Good Go UpThe loss of a friend far too soon was the sole inspiration here. Made in a time of grevience, my head and heart were filled with the deepest sadness I have felt in my life so far. It was coupled with anger, especially as many people carry on living worthless loved. I began thinking about reincarnation also, and concluded that he would be rewarded for his selflessness and purity on earth.
PreoccupationsThis shifts back to an earlier narrative. I was in conversation with myself, trying to recognise my power to initiate change. A cross-roads had appeared and I was to make a definitive choice either way. It stood as 1 of 2 loop-based songs I wrote on a grey Friday - this one being set on advice and recommendations on how to live and be. Maybe a bit like a road map or guidebook with definite things to stay away from.
I Know This Much Is TrueMore of an exploration of a feeling, ignited by certain social relationships. It's about the fakes, untruthfulness and unreliability, and fixated on things not changing. What's more, negative energy is the destroyer of social cohesion and I became set on removing it far away from me.
For This Life (I'm In)An appreciation of lessons learnt, and a dedication to see them clearly. There's an awareness that demons won't die and shadows may not lighten, so we must learn to live with their presence.
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*
*
Thanks
https://highclimbers.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/hiighclimbers/
***** "Air Traffic" by Maine - Track by Track *****
Overgrown:
This song came out of my first experience using open C tuning. I found an intriguing melancholy with simple picked arpeggios, so I used it as a canvas to write about the underpinnings of my life at that time- namely, restlessness in a disasstifying routine. It happens so often that we start down a road which is positive but eventually turns. It can then become hard to discern what one's true feeling is, as they slowly descend in quicksand. This is a bit of a thematic introduction.
Low (No Reason)Feeling the push/pull of power verses freedom, all around us and in far-off places we only hear about. I think this was written around the time of the Brexit vote, where two ideological camps (created by the media) were being pitted against each other. Leading oneself down a road of ignorance and exclusion seems to be a tiresome one; their exhaustion is spread across the front page but with such a contradictory inherent power. I instead try and see the colour beyond the chaos.
Can You See It?This track is a conversation with no one person in particular, but perhaps those in a certain ideological camp. I'm no saint, but I can't help but see examples of complacency in dire situations. There is a definite lack of awareness to their submission. My questions are to the broken-hearted and minded; tiresome discontent with no courage to step up.
First PointMy first real song with my Boss RC30 looper. I'd just bought a keyboard for £3 at a local Chinese market and discovered looping the same key would produce different pitches. With this in mind I decided to play the basis of the track live, adding in layers sparingly. The guitar and voice followed and were guided by the loop I'd created. First Point is a homage to the beginnings of a relationship - the launching point to a higher state of being. Any self-doubt is swept away by the love of a newfound significant other.
Soft
A trip to the aqaurium prompted this, especially as I saw the elegence in the seahorses there. Coinciding with new love, I began shedding the skin that kept me closed. This beautiful state of purity was mimiced by these little creatures as I watched them swim around so graciously. It's more an exploration of a feeling and transitioning.
Good Go UpThe loss of a friend far too soon was the sole inspiration here. Made in a time of grevience, my head and heart were filled with the deepest sadness I have felt in my life so far. It was coupled with anger, especially as many people carry on living worthless loved. I began thinking about reincarnation also, and concluded that he would be rewarded for his selflessness and purity on earth.
PreoccupationsThis shifts back to an earlier narrative. I was in conversation with myself, trying to recognise my power to initiate change. A cross-roads had appeared and I was to make a definitive choice either way. It stood as 1 of 2 loop-based songs I wrote on a grey Friday - this one being set on advice and recommendations on how to live and be. Maybe a bit like a road map or guidebook with definite things to stay away from.
I Know This Much Is TrueMore of an exploration of a feeling, ignited by certain social relationships. It's about the fakes, untruthfulness and unreliability, and fixated on things not changing. What's more, negative energy is the destroyer of social cohesion and I became set on removing it far away from me.
For This Life (I'm In)An appreciation of lessons learnt, and a dedication to see them clearly. There's an awareness that demons won't die and shadows may not lighten, so we must learn to live with their presence.
*
*
*
Thanks
https://highclimbers.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/hiighclimbers/
