“An essential part of my musical/creative practice comes from being asked to perform live in front of people. For better, or worse, I stubbornly almost always compose music specifically for exhibition in the last 10 years or so. Anything I release recordings of comes exclusively from recording creation sessions for live performance. For six months, without any live music performances my brain fully switched to essential functions such as remodeling my house, and then finally going back to “essential” (capitalist) work in the field, devastating any true creative work. The only musical action going down was strictly theoretical, finally after long stressful days of dodging virus particles in PPE out in the “Wild West” of rugged individualist Michigan. I could only bring myself to learn, noodle, experiment in the brief exhausted hour or so before passing out to start all over again the next day. Then BMG called about getting a live set for Samhain XX.

Building simple cybernetic neurons from passing complex analog voltage information through non-linearities drawing inspiration from Guy Hobsbawm’s recent video series interpreting Roland Kayn’s (and other’s) work in feedback, but not in a strict sense. I set strict melodic frameworks based on my own harmonic experiments from the previous few years to interact with chords and melodies. The single note base rhythm extrapolated throughout the piece came from a DJ set I “peeped real quick” immediately before laying my set down because I heard I’d be following Solar. I also set up a few musique concrete reels to weave in with the analog and digital synthesizers. There was also one element of human voice used. Listening back the Samhain set represents the peak of my continuing personal trauma based in realizations of human nature and interaction and I hoped to express a sense of connection with reasonable compassionate yet inzane people all over, who miss the rave and long for the rhythm of life smashed together in one heartbeat.”

— David Shettler