Southernstream
This is an album that was released at the beginning of the month. I couldn't post about it until now. The album cover shows a bundle of photos which are all from a holiday I took in Songkran. I went to Chumpon where I stayed with a Couchsurfing host and her family. My stay was supposed to be 4-5 days but at the warm invitations and requests of my host, I extended my stay by a few days and then a few more days and more until I ended up staying for almost a full two weeks. I really appreciate their hospitality. During my time there, we didn't just stay put but also travelled around nearby areas. We went to Chaiya in Suratthani province and other parts of Chumpon as well. While I was there, my host needed to go to Ranong city so I saw different parts of Ranong as well. I recorded sounds everywhere I went and used the sounds in this album.
Many of the tracks, including Greenstream and Breathingtrees, feature the voices of my hosts and myself. One track, Freedomstream, features the voice of Remy who was the yoga teacher of my host Weena.
Other tracks, such as Busybeez and Birdwatch, capture the essence of some of the wildlife in these areas of southern Thailand. I used bee sounds and bird sounds in those two tracks respectively.
My time in Chumpon was marked by great enthusiasm. Whether it was my host's enthusiasm to sit down and study English with me for one hour per night or my enthusiasm to drive to the various places we visited, there was an abundance of excitement. My hosts were also the originators of the Treebank project. The idea of the project is that in the modern industrial world, trees aren't given any value until the moment they're cut down and given a monetary value. But trees are much more valuable than just a monetary value. And the Treebank project seeks to give value to trees while they are still alive and rooted into the Earth.
I resonated with that project and listeners can hear the explanation, given by Pongsa Choonaem, in the Thai language. Many of the tracks feature Thai words and it's the first time that the Thai languages makes its way into my music. For example, the track Eastwest features my own voice speaking in Thai. Furthermore this track goes on to say that each of us have an eastern and western hemisphere of our beings - not just in the brain organ but throughout our whole being. The idea is that we should seek to be balanced individuals rather than relying on one side or one aspect of our being. Left should be balanced by the right.
Also in the track Eastwest, I was talking about how I come from a place that is very much infused with east and west. The place I'm talking about is none other than my country of birth Turkey. Moreover I was born in Istanbul, the only city on the planet on two continents. One side of Istanbul is on the European continental shelf, while the other side is in Asia Minor. The culture of Turkey reflects that being both European and Asian, both, and neither at the same time. Economically, Turkey is in Europe's orbit. Culturally, it doesn't fit into either Europe or Asia 100%. It integrates in various ways but cannot claim either identity to be an absolute fit. Instead, we are a unique experiment on the planet's diverse field of geography.
I feel the same way, that I don't belong to any continent 100%. On top of being able to connect with various aspects of European and Asian cultures, I still have my North American residency. Most of my life was spent in Canada. Perhaps it's due to that reason I am able to see this topic from a detached and unemotional perspective. I don't see a reason to fit into any continent. Also, being here in Thailand has shown me that I am considered to be a westerner by most everyone here. It won't be the same when I step foot onto Germany and people consider me to be the easterner in the bunch. No problem. Not fitting in has become the norm in my life. And the sounds in this album should reflect that. Please enjoy listening.
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