This EP was created to celebrate Ottawa Drone Day 2020. Gear included: MicroFreak, Digitone, Digitakt, loopers, and Eventide Space and BOSS RV-6 pedals.

I find drone a remarkable form of aural expression. Drone pieces can be created by a single, simple sustained note or waveform or it can be created through a highly complex interweaving of multiple layers of sound. However the drone is created, it represents, to me, an underlying sense of being. Unlike a highly structured song or musical composition with a narrative moving from beginning-middle-end or verse-verse-chorus-verse verse-chorus, drone can exist in a single state of expression. It may undulate and articulate its narrative in subtle ways but it requires the creator and the listener to sit and be. You can’t think your way through drone. You can’t get lost in an electro-trance of 130 bpm with drone. Drone asks us to sit quietly, close our eyes, and experience ourselves. It’s a bit like a low stimulus sonic deprivation tank where you experience what you bring with you. You become more of what you bring with you when you listen.

My initial idea was to create a single track for Ottawa Drone Day 2020. I decided to call the track For the Prince of Darkness. I didn’t put much thought into it. I approached the “Prince of Darkness” as synonymous with the Principle of Isolate Intelligence or just simply that which gives us the ability to perceive ourselves as autonomous individuals. Of course, once you start to reflect on the source of Isolate Intelligence, you start to experience more of your Self. That Self reflection becomes an interactive process of discovery. Being leads to more being. It became clear to me that I needed to create other tracks as well.

The second track, Tiamat, symbolizes the primordial chaos that is at the heart of a cold and meaningless universe. That can sound terrifying but it demands that each individual is the ultimate arbiter of meaning and value for themselves. No one can make the universe have meaning for you...well they can but then you become them and not you.

The third track, Beelzebub, is meant to reflect the inevitable agitation, like the buzzing of a fly, that can accompany the process of Self reflection. As you create meaning in the universe, you may also feel the need to create art or literature or a philosophy, something tangible and relatable, that can bring your meaning to others. That sharing of Self may, in turn, inspire others to feel similar agitation to become more than they are. In this way, you help populate your universe with interesting people.

The final track, Restless Black Flame, represents the substance through which we are able to perceive our Self. If the Prince of Darkness is the source of that capacity, the Black Flame is the means through which that capacity is activated within us. The agitation of Beelzebub becomes a consistent state of being that goads us toward the process of becoming.

So there you have a little background about this EP. I want to thank Fergal Fitzpatrick for designing and creating the cover image for the EP. Speaking of….

If you want to add a little magic to your life try this:

Find a place and time where you can be alone and uninterrupted for 30 minutes.

Take 9 deep, slow breaths while you look at the cover image of the EP.

Light a candle (any colour, size, or shape) saying “The light of my Self burns brightly! As I listen to these transmissions I will hear transmissions from my Self!”

Play the tracks on Offering to Self in order or shuffled using some sound cancelling headphones (be sure to listen to parts of the tracks before you start to ensure the levels aren’t too low or too high) while you gaze at the cover art.

Once the final track is complete, try recounting some of the impressions and experiences you had. Write them down somewhere. When you are ready, blow out the candle saying “I am.”

Have fun with this and don’t be surprised if you learn something about your Self that you didn’t know before.