Arc Of All here,

My father is a really great musician and songwriter, and famous in some family circles! As a child he played the accordion, but gave it up due a freak accident at the Wisconsin State Accordion Competition sometime in the late 1950's. Thankfully that did not deter him from playing keyboards, organs such as the Hammond B3, vox electric pianos, and maybe more importantly, synthesizers.

My dad never really talks about how much he digs synths, but he does really dig them. I think he loves being able to arrange all the parts like horns, and strings, so that he can have a huge band play along with him, the exact way he hears it. Sometime in 1998 or 1999 my dad purchased me a Roland XP-10 Synthesizer. That purchase would change how I was going to do everything musically for the next 6 years, and unknowingly, the rest of my life.

I didn't grow up with my father. In fact we were a state apart, separated by Lake Michigan. And for one month in the summer, in the decade between 1989-1999, I would leave Michigan and head west for Milwaukee. Besides my father I was able to see my aunts and uncles, grandparents, friends I only knew in Wisconsin. Summertime is something everyone can relate to, whether it is the season "for" you or not. I loved the summertime, I still do, and I loved being in Milwaukee during that time.

Maybe we all have an "every decade summer", maybe it's just a one time thing for others? I know it's something we all feel, our own version of it. These songs that comprise "Every Decade Summer" seem like they were built over a decade. Or maybe just that much time needed to happen for this album to be.

Somehow by the grace of God I was able to get my father to write a song for me. Not only that, he was able to visit me in Michigan, and record it here in Source East in 2022! He played the exact same synthesizer he bought for me over 22 years ago. That synthesizer is featured on nearly all of the tracks on this record, which includes my father's own, "Palindrome Palace".

Over the course of two years, the other tracks would go back and forth between Mitch and I. Several of these started as music beds for Debra Warren, AKA DJ Crinkle, to whom Mitch is married. It is noteworthy to mention because recording those beds was my gateway back to the synthesizer after nearly a decade long drought, and some sort of weird abstraction towards all synthesizers.

In January of 2023 it was decided that we would finally finish them, and present them as a full record, "Every Decade Summer". Mitch's bass playing is out of this world. I could name all of my favorite parts, but I just want you to listen, and find your own. I am just so happy with all of this. Please enjoy!

Arc Of All & SOLP


Side Note:

Arc Of All. While this record is heavily synth based, the only so-called "effect" used on any instrument was compression. What you hear is just how it sounded as it was being recorded direct to CD disc, and then overdubbed, layering each track one by one. There are no punch ins, no edits, no sampling, no tempo manipulation, we are off the grid my friends.