Wanting to create an environment that pushes both creativity and collaboration, my friends and I set up a studio in my parents house for three months over the summer. The end result was a 53 minute collection of songs, expressive clothing, and a plethora of film footage.

Working with my friends Lucas Mathison and James Terrazas, I took advantage of the creative environment we formed over the summer to record as many ideas as possible; creating my first album, “Sounds of 1100”. A total of 19 songs were recorded both in my room and a local studio I have grown familiar with, York Recording. At the same time my friends James and Lucas were both designing graphics and silhouettes for the tank tops, pants, and dresses Lucas would sew in the following moths, as well as playing on some of the tracks for my project.

I decided to utilise both strong guitar and synth parts through the album, as well as saxophone and the newly set up drum kit in my bedroom. Taking time to evolve songs originally made for acoustic guitar, I pushed my limits playing as many different instruments as possible. The point of making this album for me was to expand my perspective in constructing sound scapes within traditional music and to develop out of my comfort zone. Layering a palette of instrumentation to form songs in the genres of heavy rock, folk, alternative, as well as ambient and electronic music, I made sure to avoid repetition and crate a sense of identity in each track. The result that formed from this initiative is a library of what represents me as a musician, an artist, and a person.

(The art I used for the cover was created by hand by Iran Hernandez Castillo, a Cuban artist who is based in Havana).