Hey friends,
My new soundtrack album “Music from the Song Film: Omoiyari” is out today on all online platforms and CD & Vinyl! My first double LP, this contains proto orchestral versions of many Omoiyari album songs, as well a beautiful symphonic score I recorded with Nu Deco Ensemble.
The Omoiyari project helped me open up as a musician, because we were able to connect and share music with survivors and people who experienced that history firsthand. And I realized that just playing a little violin for someone can brighten their day, and that the venue or performance situation doesn’t need to be perfect.
My goal as a musician is to entertain and bring joy to people’s lives, and I became less precious with my music and learned to share more, and now I do that all the time. It was a true communion; the people told us their stories and we exchanged our enthusiasm and some music. My hope is that when people hear this album they’ll be able to see the wide soundscapes that exist in my mind, and join me on a deeper dive into my full artistic palette. It’s a way for people to accompany me on this journey, from how I came up with the music to discovering the truths behind a very complicated part of our history.
I always wanted a symphonic underscore for this film, and I did my best to incorporate a lot of the songs’ melodies into it so you can hear them throughout. It’s a unified vision. And the idea was that as the composer, subject, and co-director I would have this unique power to shape it in a way that satisfied me. My co-director, Justin Taylor Smith, and I were so aligned, coming from our previous work together on several snowboarding films, and that partnership was also unique because of our trust for each other. As a co-director, he had zero notes for me while creating the score, which is very rare. Most film composers don’t have that luxury.
I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed creating it, and please enjoy the music video for "Red, White, & Blue" if you haven't watched it already!