On the 4th of July in 2022, I tested positive for Covid for the first time, and would continue to test positive until the first week of August. Everything tasted like pennies and I lost my voice, and even when I started testing negative, my voice would not return for another few weeks.
During this miserable time, I did a lot of drawing in bed while listening to audiobooks. I burned through my backlog of Audible credits, and began devouring the assortment of classics available to download for free. Til that point, I'd never read Dracula... and I suppose if you don't count audiobooks as "reading," I still haven't. It was around the time I wrapped up listening to Dracula that I discovered that the Swedish "translation" of Dracula actually deviated a bit from the English version. The "translator" was apparently given the liberty to reinterpret the story for Swedish audiences. After the discrepancy was discovered by English audiences, the Swedish "translation" was translated back to English under the title Powers of Darkness, which I wound up purchasing out of curiosity to contrast with the original source material. I actually wound up liking it better than the original English version.
Heavily influenced by my literary listening and the existential angst magnified by my isolation, I wrote a poem entitled "Bone Machine," which would lay the groundwork for "Saturnine Saturday," the first song I'd write when I finally recovered my voice.
I could not have imagined, then, the haunting orchestral recording that would develop years later under the creative influence of Lindsey and Jordan Plotner, who I met this year through the Easyfolk Featured Artist program. Jordan and I finalized the mix yesterday afternoon for its official release, quite appropriately, on Halloween.
If you're a Portland-local (or near-ish) musician and looking to participate in a supportive collaborative community, with the benefit of professionally recorded media and the privilege of performing at the annual Easyfolk Festival showcase, applications are open for next year's Easyfolk cohort!
