SNOW DAYS

The view outside my house while recording Ilsa - February 2015

I started recording Ilsa a month or so prior, but the bulk of the tracking was done in January and February of 2015. If any of you live in Chicagoland or the upper midwest, you'll probably remember that last winter was bone chillingly cold and came with an excess of snow. So it's no surprise that Ilsa sounds more like a record to listen to indoors or with headphones on than it does a windows down, top volume sort of record. In my mind, there is no doubt that the snow and cold made it's way onto the feeling of the record. Couple that with the fact that I was by myself during almost all or the sessions and you can start to connect some of the dots as to why it sounds the ways it does.

That is not to say that Ilsa is a depressing record, in fact I think of it as hopeful. But I often associate certain records in my collection with certain times of the year or tend to listen to them more during certain seasons or occasions. I think the best ones do that, thay make you associate something in your own life with them, making them personal to the listener. Maybe some people just like all music whenever, and I do too in a lot of cases, but there are always those that are really closely associated with a time and place.

In any case, I hope that you can find enjoyment all year round and maybe more in certain months.