Off Land - The Moon Rituals (2024)

What designates a ritual? Rituals, as a concept, can hold unique personal meaning to everyone. For me, a ritual is a cycle, a pattern, and a clear set of tasks, sacred to perform. Cycles and patterns can be found everywhere, with anything having potential to become a ritual if one believes in its message. It was my love of the natural world that brought me toward our planet's moon. Distance, tides, light, fullness, eclipses, and more cycle outwards from the Earth's satellite. The moon's cycles are indeed sacred to perform, as these continuous cycles permeate daily throughout our lives. Could I harness some of the moon's patterns into a talisman of music?

Music is a ritual as much as anything else. This rings true more so when adding constraints to music, creating clear sets of tasks. I often impose constraints when making albums but never to the extent found on The Moon Rituals. The first constraint was that I was only allowed to record and mix the album during a full moon. Guided by this moon cycle, it allowed me to maintain constant inspiration over a three year period. It also forced me to start and finish recording each piece within a short window. The second constraint was that each piece started with a field recording taken under a full moon. This constraint also became a second source of inspiration as it further helped define the accompanying music. With the first two constraints in place, the third one became clear. Each piece of music would be meditative, and sacred. To achieve this I pulled from a predetermined set of acoustic and electronic instruments, and kept each composition sparse and emotive.

What began as a monthly meditative experience, formed the creation of my own ritual. A ritual that I performed for almost three years. A ritual doesn't need to be born in mysticism but when performed correctly, the results reverberate with mysticism only.

Released on Shimmering Moods Records in 2023.