Stream "Under the Veneer", the New Album by Ambient Electronic Artist Jeads
You might find Jeads hiking on a trail in the Pacific Northwest with his field recorder in hand, he will likely be trying to capture the sounds of rustling ferns or leaves falling on moss-covered tree trunks. An accomplished musician who studied classical and jazz guitar extensively, Jeads found electronic music, sound design, field recordings, and natural soundscapes as a new medium. Jeads moved to the forest outside of Bellingham Washington several years ago. The new location provided a fresh source of inspiration and a kind of quiet that allowed for the sounds of the forest to bubble up through his music. His compositions often integrate field recordings with unique homemade sample-based instruments in a musical take on electronic downtempo or idm music genres. His musical phrasing is rooted in jazz and cross-pollinates the electronic music with harmonic complexity to produce a unique sound.
Jeads’ latest release, “Under the Veneer”, is made up entirely of sounds from field recordings taken after a large snow storm in March of 2019 along with a set of sample-based instruments that Jeads created.
Speaking about the new album, Jeads says, “Under the Veneer” started with a giant snow storm in Bellingham, Washington, in March of 2019. I had just finished recording Nocturnal Signal and wanted to dig deeper into using sounds from field recordings and making my own sample based instruments. The snow storm inspired many field recording sessions which ended in the construction of a set of sample-based percussive instruments. I went on many hikes in the snow-covered forests around my house, capturing environmental sounds with my field recorder: fresh snow falling off ferns, snow balls pounding on frozen steel doors, footsteps crunching, fallen tree limbs snapping in the ice cold air, icicles breaking. This set the backdrop for the album; all of the samples have a kind of frozen crispness to them, frozen soundscapes from the forest.
The main instrument on the album is an old rusty music box. It has a rich harmonic resonant sound but it’s also broken and vulnerable. It’s attached to a painting I've had for many years, one that has moved around with me many times. It has hung on the walls in both broken and loving homes and has become a symbol of how important having a peaceful place to call home really is. The painting and the music box represents a complex sense of home for me. A lot of the themes on this album were inspired by that concept; scratch a bit of veneer off the surface and you can often find something twisted and complicated underneath”.
Listen to the 10-track “Under the Veneer” album right now, stream it on your preferred music service and connect with Jeads on his website and social media.
Stream and Share “Under the Veneer” on: Soundcloud | Bandcamp