impr004: Black Tent - Dungeoness Synth (2020)

οὔποτε ποιήσεις τὸν καρκίνον ὀρθὰ βαδίζειν. - Aristophanes, Pax 1083

Amidst the disquiet of the last several months I found myself missing the coast. My anxiety turned me into a lightning rod. My fears about climate change and nuclear power amplified the longer I had to stay at home. To calm myself, I would turn to envisioning crabs scuttling along the beach. They always seemed to be in such a hurry, often solitary but never alone. Crawling, exploring, preparing for adventure, and readying themselves for their own uncertain futures. I asked myself repeatedly why I couldn’t be more like them, and imagined a society of sea life united against threats large and small.

I turned all my climate grief and thoughts of peripatetic crustaceans inward. Intending to express it as music, I recorded Dungeness Synth over three and a half months at home. I put together a reflection of both the anxiety I felt and the calm I was hoping to find. The goal was to pit them against each other, to force them to struggle. This album is an attempt to be more like those crabs that I obsessed about. Through the process, I realized that the easiest way to be like the crabs is to be myself. To wander with intention. And to be ready to stand side by side with my siblings to refuse to absorb the waste that threatens us all.