Sept 4, 2020
I hope this finds you well - and ready to dance, or perhaps laugh with me about my dancing?! (Please do, I made this one with a good dose of dry humour and joie de vivre!)
Song #3 in the Isolation Songs series is Isolation Stimulation. This one is mostly a silly bit of early pandemic-levity, from when the stir-crazy was first setting in. I was on a zoom call with my songwriting group pals (we were writing a song per week on different themes) and one of the members - Pete Casey of Side Hustle - casually remarked 'Going places and touching things, this is what I miss'. So I asked for his blessing to start my song off that way and it grew from there, reflecting on all the ways our lives were shifting, and how those pedestrian, commonplace 'real life' experiences of the before-times suddenly felt meaningful and desirable, with their absence - and with the shift towards virtual community. (The songwriting theme was '5', and I challenge anyone who's interested to call out the 5's in the song!)
I can't deny I've been a curmudgeon when it comes to the live-streaming with the janitorial closet reference (haha, I can't help it, I'm in it for the human-energy-exchange that only live performance can provide!) I want to go on record to say that I'm not against live-streaming - I know it's necessary for a lot of people right now, and at times the best we can do is simulate being together. More recently people are coming up with some pretty creative ways to do that, and I actually intend to do one myself to celebrate the completion of this Isolation Songs release (stay tuned!) I just want to gently challenge the notion that what we think we want as humans is to look behind the curtain of the creative process and know Every Little Last Thing about it. I can tell you where I was, what someone said that triggered the process, what frame of mind I was in - but the rest of it is a beautiful mystery even to me (which I love!) I think as a society we're obsessed with Knowing and collecting information. But I believe artists and creators are really valuable to society in our connection to Magic and Wonder and the Great Unknown. We remind people that these things are a part of all of us, and a necessary and enriching dynamic in our lives.
Also, you should know that I have owned a strobe light since I was 15 years old, solo dance parties are a regular thing in my life, and I had recently re-watched Flashdance for the bajillionth time when I came up with the video concept. (I think that should explain a lot, haha.)
Love and catharsis to you, my friends.
<3cb
PS - this track will be available for streaming in 1 week, cuz, life. Thanks for your patience and support!
Re-mixed by Kenneth Roy Meehan
Video edited by Josh Lyon
Flatcar Records/Fontana North