Wasteland

Wasteland

About the soundscape:

Disturbing recent changes in our country’s political direction has opened up vast tracts of land and sea for resource exploitation. From acid rain in the northeast to oil spills in Alaska and the Gulf to ever-increasing extreme weather (fires, floods, mega-storms...) unregulated development and the causal dismissal of science has brought us to the brink of disaster.

Our world—prone to violence and seemingly indifferent to the cause and effect of long-term ecological damage—is long overdue for a wake up call. Both Cormac McCarthy and William Gibson have written powerful sci-fi novels based on a dystopian future of rampant destruction and the resulting systematic breakdown of our society. Their work paints a dismal and distressing image of life ahead for our children’s children.

Music:

The soundscape begins with a pastiche of random industrial noises until eventually a groove emerges. I enlisted the creative input of an old friend Chad McLoughlin [chadmcloughlin.com] on guitar. He has done an amazing job capturing the dystopian spirit of disturbing chaotic destruction I envisioned for this soundscape. [Many thanks Chad for participating in this project!!]

The core of the production was distilled at Chad’s Loon Studio where he played bass and added layers of guitars over an industrial drum groove I provided. Subsequently at my studio, I added (1) a bit of synth, (2) all the additional industrial percussion, and (3) the spoken parts.

Reworked passages from Cormac’s The Road, strange random quotes dissected from other writers and a litany of statistics spoken near the end reveal a apocalyptic nightmare of what the future portends. If curious, a transcript of the spoken passages is available here (this will open in a new browser window/tab).

Photos:

• Smog and industrial pollution in China And India
• Raw sewage and garbage
• Pacific Garbage Patch
• Deforestation
• Forest Fire Destruction
• Industrial Wastelands
• Oil Spill aftermath