“Antarctica” Was written and recorded entirely at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. All guitars and amplifiers used were those available in either the music room or gear issue. Everything was mixed straight into the track recording. I had to use ear buds I found in skua as monitors. Each song, in its entirety, was given a budget of 10 hours to write, record, and mix. The only thing from off the ice used in this production is the rendering software. All mixing and micing were done in house and DI with what was available on station.

The album consists of two suites, three parts each, and runs 32 minutes long
There are no lyrics throughout the album.

Each suite is inspired by key components of a journey to Antarctica.

The People. The suite is dedicated to the people who have known me before Antarctica and then again after Antarctica. It is a tribute to each of three groups. The suite is mechanical, contrived and intentional; as are people.

1. Those Who Left Me. The parts played in this song are in the same key, the same tempo, and the same time. They are disharmonious, out of sync, and constantly walking over each other. There is noise and intrusion. It is tedious an tenuous. These parts do not function together and fall apart. This song is not pleasant.

2. Those Who Stayed With Me. That they may share in some of this bliss. More joyful and collaborative than the previous song. There are multiple parts coming together, drifting apart, doing their own thing but always working towards the common goal of bringing some joy. This is a fleeting song with fleeting parts, as joy seems to be so brief.

3. Those Who Understand. To contrast what is common with what is strange. Smooth clean leads backed by cacophonous rhythms. Parts played in different time signatures, and converging. Overly complex riffing, simplified by repetition. These parts work together because they are meant to, it is in their nature. Understanding the draw of the ice is inherent to a person’s nature or it is not. You must simply understand, and if you don’t, that’s okay too.

The Place. This suite is inspired by Antarctica itself. The place without humanity. Inspired by the essence of he continent; that which I have consumed and rested upon. There is not but the planet here, merciless and indestructible; but also, a presence of intruders. These songs are much cleaner, more organic and more flowing than the previous suite.

4. The Land. The land here is salted ash. It is imposing and ominous. The sharp mountains stab at the sky. The impossible landscape we see is as much a warning to stay away as it is an invitation to challenge. The land is hard and full of stone. It persists against wind and an intense ice cycle. When I eat this earth, this is the sound I taste. When I rest upon Antarctica’s stone, this is the sound I feel. When I breath in the soil, this is the sound I smell.

5. The Water. Hard, cold, deep, and heavy. Shimmering with crystal glitter. Snow, and ice and melt streams. There is incredible depth to this that can be sensed with only specific purpose-built systems. The water and sounds are hard and flat like the smooth sea ice. Snow covered ice hides uneven spaces, cracks, crevasses, and oddly dangerous undulations.

6. The Sky. The sky is so wide open. The wind is steady and abrasive. The wind wields snow and sediment like weapons designed to scar the land and drive out the water. The wind has moments of peace broken by intense weather. There is peace broken by turbulence.