Fallen Moon Recordings: Behind the Music 1, Patricia Wolf

The first edition of Fallen Moon Recording's "Behind the Music" series features Patricia Wolf.   Patricia recently sat down with us to talk about the influences behind her new, long form piece "Lament" which was released on FMR on 5/15/20.  

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1. Marcus Fischer
I first encountered Marcus' work at The Portland Art Museum in 2018. He was performing a piece he had written to honor his friend, Brian Young who had just passed away. I was deeply moved by the music and his ability to create such vivid and immersive environments. His ability to pull his audience into his world of feeling and subtle, careful sound is captivating and fully immersive. In addition to sound, there is usually a video accompaniment to his performances that pulls you more and more into his world. The way he lays out his instruments is deliberate and artful, as though he's performing a ritual. When he uses a tape loop, the way the loop is displayed is hypnotic and pulls you into your subconscious.  Watching and listening to him perform was a rare moment for me where time and place disappeared and I felt had been transported into a dream. I have witnessed this phenomenon several times with his performances and do not understand how he does this nor do I think I could replicate it. Since then he's had an influence on my work. I have slowed down, I have begun using field recordings to also build more careful and vivid environments. I think to give more room for silence to allow feeling and breath to fill in the space between. It is for this reason that I decided to share "Lament" with him. It's a deeply personal piece for me. It is a document of my grief and process for finding peace with this terrible loss. Trying to look at it with a technician's viewpoint for the final mixdown was not really something I felt capable of due to my deep emotional connection to it. There are not many people I would trust with my work especially this one, but I knew Marcus would understand how to place it in the space it deserves. I feel that now this piece is finished and has been sanctified. I hope now it can exist as an environment for others to find understanding and healing.

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2. Bruce Munro's "Field of Light"
In the final months of my mother in law's life, we went on many joyous trips with her. One of those trips took us to Paso Robles to see Bruce Munro's "Field of Light" installation. We arrived at the site a bit before sunset and got to see the golden hour fade into a vibrantly colorful sunset and then to darkness. The darkness revealed over 58,000 colorful lights that cover 15 acres on rural hilly cite on the California Central Coast. It was a beautiful experience to have with her. I took a lot of photos at that installation and decided to use one for the album artwork for "Lament". For me, "Field of Light" has come to represent a spirit world where the energy and memories and love we feel for our dead loved ones live on. 

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3. Novation Summit
From mid-March to May of 2019 my main artistic focus was creating presets for the new Novation Summit synthesizer. It was very good for me to have this work to do during this time of sadness. Going deep inside a sound and getting to know a new synthesizer is a very meditative practice where I could build new worlds reflecting my inner space.  On "Lament" I played Summit alongside my Make Noise 0-Coast, Red Panda Particle II, OTO Bim and Bam, and Octatrack. Summit and 0-Coast complement one another. Summit sounds heavy and emotional in this song and 0-Coast sounds more logical and encouraging of healing and strength. The interplay of sadness, despair, attachment, loss, and the search for healing and understanding could be expressed through these instruments and helped me manage my grief. 

Purchase 'Lament' >