Album Notes

Each year I come home from the desert inspired, satiated and filled with images and experiences that are unique to the playa. I am grateful to the artists whose work makes it truly the only gallery without walls. The setting, while it feeds my creative spirit, is not my forum for expression. Mine is a post-production world. If I could bring my studio to the desert and set it up in an air-tight plexiglas air conditioned stage atop a 15-foot riser, this music is what I would create. This would be my contribution to the community; my gift to the artists there who have contributed to creating a new reality.

"Drama in the Desert" follows a chronological journey of seven days and nights in Black Rock. The music moves with the flow of the DVD and the book, traveling to many emotional and physical destinations. I used sounds recorded by Holly Kreuter and other friends on the playa and wove them in with music. Many of the instruments were recorded live in my studio and infused into a mix of analog and digital sounds. For much of the music I was imagining myself on the playa and I played the instruments as if I were reacting to the subject or to the events taking place. The beauty and diversity of Holly's photography set the tone and themes. To have the ability to write music inspired by "Flock" or "The Phoenix" was incredibly fulfilling. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to translate into music my memories of the art and to be part of a project that extends the creativity beyond the playa.