The goal of my stay here is to experiment and record for a new album. I first arrived by train in the evening. It was my 3rd train of the day from Zurich airport and i was carrying a lot of sensitive recording gear that I comically dragged with me from platform to platform. On the last train from Visp I sat by the window and watched the landscape slowly darken as the train chugged up the incline. Bucolic scenes of rolling hills and quaint chalets disappeared into complete darkness. Once I arrived I was greeted by a stoic electric golf cart driver who drove me up to the hotel. Once I was in my room I went straight to the balcony to see if I could see the Matterhorn but it was too dark. I woke up early out of excitement, as if I was 7 years old and it was Christmas morning, and rushed to the balcony and saw the Matterhorn, clearly visible and unobscured by clouds. It made me feel insane. The whisps of white directly across from the balcony, which i thought were clouds the night prior, turned out to be streaks of stone stretching across a mountainside. This sublime view set the stage for my stay.
Being here with little distractions, especially in the evening, has been really helpful. I have no friends here nor do I have any avenues for hedonism. I wake up, have a nice breakfast at the hotel's restaurant, "Bazaar" and try to do something outside because the weather has been pleasant and it feels like a waste to be inside my room. I've done some hikes and touristy gondola rides into the mountains, which feel like alien terrain once you get up there. One day i thought it would be nice to do a short little hike, maybe an hour each way. Once I started hiking up the mountain I couldn't stop. I needed to get to the top. I accidentally took the long route up the mountain facing the hotel and made it to two distant mountain huts, Trilf and Edelweiss. I saw massive glaciers above me and walked alongside avalanche barriers. I was ill prepared, it took 6 hours and my legs were sore for a week. It's an inspiring, overwhelming place.
To fulfill my ambitions for my stay at CERVO, I brought with me a Tascam 424 cassette recorder, a couple synths, drum machines, guitar and effects units with the purpose of experimenting with sounds and recordings. In the process of preparing backing tracks for my solo guitar show for the Love Beyond Festival, I stumbled upon what I feel to be a promising direction to pursue for a new record. Every evening I work on recordings. I listen back to them the next day and revisit them again in the evening. I won't be able to finish an album while I'm here, due to technical limitations, but I will have a bunch of demos and recordings. I already have a clearer idea of what the next record will be.
I'll be working to finish the record I started here by early spring of next year. The sound so far is electronic in nature and very off-the-cuff //first thought best thought. There is another project I have called THiQ with an album that needs to be mixed and mastered when I return. And there's a lot of tour dates sprinkled throughout October and November with my other band, Allah-las, and it looks like a tour is coming together for Australia in December as well. It's going to be a busy year.
www.cervo.swissBEYOND EXPLORING