I first met electronic music artist and photographer John Sellekaers in 2006, while he was living in Montreal. John proposed that we record a series of short percussion improvisations with a cross-section of different instruments, which he would later treat digitally and re-mix to create new pieces. The project was more or less shelved when John and his family moved to Belgium, where he is now based.
Flash forward ten years later to 2018.
After being out of touch for a decade, John sent me an email to announce that he had re-discovered the percussion recordings and was working on new mixes. I was very exciting to hear that what he already put together sounded fantastic: minimal and full of atmosphere. My recorded percussion improvisations found new meaning, ten years after the fact.
Enter Alexis Courtin, the man behind the independent Belgian label, Parenthèses Records. Knowing the quality of John’s previous work, Alexis expressed excitement at the old/ new collaboration. Parenthèses Records will release our new album this year, 2019. I’m busy recording new percussion pieces to send to John, adding to the base that was recorded in 2008, and he is busy mixing. Along with the album, there will be extras as well, bonus tracks, video… everything is in the works right now.
Stay tuned…