Struggling against cynicism. I find myself increasingly searching for a reason to devote so much energy towards music. Never imagined I would feel this way. Still, I am thankful for everything I have learned and been able to achieve up to this point.
Seen the circle run around enough to know her shape
I miss the taste of poetry
Her hip’s internal sway
Where am I going
A voice asks
Will I stay before she’s gone
The sound of love evaporates
While tending my song
In this constantly evolving world of online media, sometimes you actually encounter a resource that blows you away for its usefulness and innovation. For me, this is Bandcamp, where artists can gather all sorts of demographics related to their music. I have uploaded a couple tracks from Natural Hunger, “Let Go” and “Density.” I wanted to start with songs that many of you may have overlooked! The only stipulation is that you leave a contact address, where I can keep you updated. Trust me, I am not one to bombard you with emails, but I would like to know you better, and vice versa! Over time, I will be adding more tracks, but I wanted to give this a test run and encourage you to focus on a couple of songs, rather than being further inundated, in an already over-saturated music market.
A new website is currently in the works and should be operational next month. Until then, the best place to check out new sounds is at: Soundcloud.
“Essential” and “Ol Skool” are rough mixes, which have been recorded for a forthcoming EP.
altered grey
kinetic spine
version three
with zero wind
parenthetical breath
a square bind
clutch integral
to variable touch
the immutable solid
wheel strung
pressed audio
vigorous infusion
the inverted muse
tightly assembled
I know it’s been such a long time since I released any new tracks. Recently, I unearthed this track from a few years ago. A friend invited me to the studio one night, I laid down the bass and keys, David “Edge” Posey added drums, and I went into the booth and improvised these vocals. “Edge” later put some sweetener on the track. Enjoy and please send any comments you might have!
Moment before, nothing.
Moment after, nowhere.
A handful of happiness,
Sugar and water.
It’s a familiar story: an artist unappreciated in his or her homeland finally finds success in Paris. Even if clichéd, it’s sometimes true. Ask soul/jazz vocalist and pianist Sean Haefeli, an Indianapolis native and then-Chicago resident who popped over to France for six months last year.
“It’s just so much easier for music or art that’s not mainstream to get on the radar,” he says of France, where he scored interviews with glossy R&B magazines and prominent gigs before receptive audiences. “I was played on a radio station in Paris — and it would be like me being played on a Clear Channel station here, which is absolutely not going to happen. And that makes all the difference in the world.”
But Haefeli has more in mind for his career and art than radio airplay. He’s back in the States to study jazz piano at Indiana University, Bloomington. When reached by phone last week, he said that he was just trying to settle in, situating himself in an academic situation after performing professionally as far afield as Korea and Japan.
“It was one of the crazier decisions a lot of people thought I could have been making, including me at the time,” Haefeli says of his decision to head back to school. Having never completed a degree in music (he has a BA in literature from Depaul), he hopes that his studies will give him the tools to realize any musical ideas he might have in the future.
Haefeli has taken a roundabout route towards pursuing his passions. “The two things I’ve done the longest and am strongest at are martial arts and music, both of which I started when I was seven years old,” he says. Haefeli’s biological father — Carl Haefeli, a trumpeter with local ‘70s-era funk group Ebony Rhythm Band — may have bequeathed him a musical legacy, but was killed in an unsolved homicide in 1978 before his son was old enough to remember him.
But his mom was also enthusiastic about music, and Haefeli got started early, beginning with classical piano. He didn’t begin singing seriously until he was sophomore in high school, then studied opera for a year as college freshman before switching his major to literature. Haefeli’s academic pursuits dovetailed with his interest in the Chicago spoken word scene, with which he became involved as fan and then performer.
Haefeli says he’ll continue to work on his own material while in school, playing shows domestically between classes, overseas when on break. His two albums — 2004’s Natural Hunger LP and 2006’s Sound Strategy EP — bring together his interests in spoken word, jazz, soul and hip-hop. The songs onSound Strategy follow a consistent template, beginning with an unrhymed spoken-word opening theme (with a cadence that’s more hip-hop than Gil-Scott Heron), then segueing into a lengthy improvised jazz section that shows off the chops of Haefeli and his collaborators.
The album’s closer, “Balance,” brings together those long-held interests in martial arts and music. The zen-like teachings of martial arts — from which, like music, he took a break before resuming studies at age 20 — inform the song’s message about living a well-balanced life. Haefeli says of the song: “You try to find some equilibrium, so whatever obstacle you encounter can be handled in the right sort of way. It’s had a lot of resonance as I’ve been travelling around.”
–Scott Shoger, NUVO
These pictures were taken on the farm of my dear friend, Marie-Laure Valandro. Ever since we met, while hiking in Isle Royale, ten years ago, her family has provided me with a refuge from the city life. Their dedication to a self-sustained, agrarian way of life, unconcerned with society’s superficial fluctuations, technological obsession, and Marie’s unfettered spirit, have been both enlightening and inspiring.