Rise

Not only is this the first Longing for Orpheus song, it is the first song I ever finished writing. I made many attempts over the years - I even mapped out a concept album (which I still hope to write), but finding that balance of repetition and variation that makes music what it is eluded me for a long time.

Rise came to be on a night when I couldn't find sleep, and had wandered down to the school's music building to find a piano. As usual, I was just playing and listening to different chords, but I got stuck alternating between Cmaj7 and a7. Soon, a melody emerged, connecting the two. I didn't think much of it, and didn't write anything down, but the hands have a way of remembering such a simple thing repeated so many times.

Sleepless nights are no stranger to a college student, and over the course of a few weeks, a kind of a chorus emerged to compliment the original verse, and there was Rise. The whole thing was really nothing more than an ornamented chord progression, but I that's the foundation of any song.

Even if you've listened to Skye, you haven't really heard Rise. It exists within the song of the same name - all the notes are there, and played on the piano - but the synthesizers, strings and drums grew up around it and created a new song.

I had intended to include the original piano solo on the album, but I just couldn't get the recording to sound right. In its place is October Sleeps, which has a very similar sound, and which I was able to "get right." I suppose Rise has become more in my mind than it actually is. Perhaps I should be content with that.

Reflect and Legacy

It is not by chance that Reflect and Legacy occupy the places they do in Skye's track list. They are the prologue and epilogue to Skye, and two expressions of the purpose of Skye (and of Longing for Orpheus as a whole). This purpose, this underlying theme that I frequently refer to as "Passion," is a lust for life, a burning desire to really live. It is my stand against Nihilism. I believe that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by creating and experiencing all that we can, while we can. This concept of Passion is both the message of Skye, and my motivation for creating it.

Athar and Release

These two songs are tied directly to my long-term girlfriend, Becca. I wrote Athar for Valentine's Day of 2005, and the melody instrument is an Irish Whistle (Susato's Low D) that she had previously given me as a birthday gift. She has an affinity for Celtic music (particularly Celtic Punk, but her tastes are diverse), and I hope this song's triplet time signature and instrument selection clearly convey my Celtic intent. If you were wondering, "Athar" is Gaelic for "sky."

Release was among the earlier songs conceived for Skye, and is my favorite of the album's tracks. It began when Becca demanded that I "play something." Fortuitously, I hit the Record button before improvising for a bit on my synth's Piano+Strings setting. As you can hear, the instrumentation hasn't changed. I spent many hours revising and programming the details of the final arrangement, but the basic chord progressions and structure are the same as I initially recorded. This experience taught me a lot about simplicity and elegance. This is the single piece of music of which I am most proud, and while I rearranged Skye's song order many times, I don't think I ever considered ending the album any other way.