“This Month” Series

A series of monthly digests (January 2018 to February 2019).

This February

| Forgotten Fields
Late Summer Hills
I took this photograph as the gentle light of late summer rolled over the hills of the Overberg region. February has come and gone, and it is now autumn in South Africa, my favourite season.

I officially decided to create a small book of poetry.

Over the past year, I began composing a series of simple rhyming verses inspired by the sights and sounds of my rural surroundings. Altogether, I have written twenty-nine sketches which I started developing into complete poems in January. I now have enough material to present as a small publication and since the compositions share a theme, they should work as a collection. In the coming months, I shall devote all my attention to completing the poems, a task I very much look forward to!

Forgotten Fields Poetry Publication Progress, March 2018
A summary of the poetic sketches and my progress. “Autumn” was the first poem I ever wrote about the natural world which I hope to revise and include in the collection.

I realised that I may not release new music in 2018.

Whilst I am pleased to be working on the book, it does mean that I am not working on new music. I prefer to focus on one project at a time and consequently, a new release depends entirely on when I finish the publication. All the same, there are many new and existing musical ideas I am eager to develop, be it this year or the next, that further explore the Romantic themes of my work.

I made progress on the Lonely Swallow label.

Though I may not release music myself, this year, I will help others release theirs. I have mentioned before that Lonely Swallow has welcomed Affan, a young contemporary classical composer from London who I am very excited about. His first EP, Origins, will be the first release of the label. It is presently in the capable hands of mastering engineer Taylor Deupree. There is no official release date, yet. The label is in its infancy and I am in the fortunate position of not having to rush the process.

Lonely Swallow Label Aesthetic Mood Board
Some of the design work inspiring the aesthetic of the Lonely Swallow label.

Mentioned in this post:

Affan (Demo of “Origin I”, Soundcloud)
Lonely Swallow (Official Website)
Taylor Deupree at 12k Mastering (Official Website)

This January

| Forgotten Fields
Landscape, 2 January 2018
I took this photograph on 2 January 2018 in the rural surroundings that inspire my work. It is summer in South Africa from November to February and the fields are awaiting the rain.

I returned to Twitter after a month-long hiatus.

Previously, I had a list of blocked words the length of my arm as people found increasingly more innovative ways to moral grandstand. The artistic community feels compelled to comment on political and social issues in the most petulant manner imaginable on a platform wholly unsuited for productive conversations on such matters. This counterproductive behaviour detracts from an artist’s work and has become a blight on the artistic landscape. For this reason, I follow no one—it eliminates unnecessary unpleasantness whilst I continue to follow artists where it matters: their shopping carts.

I spoke to the first artist for the Lonely Swallow label.

I was introduced to the music of Affan, an unsigned neo-classical composer from London, six months ago. He contacted me long before I had any thoughts of launching a label. Earlier this month, I approached him about making Origins, his forthcoming and first EP, the inaugural release of the Lonely Swallow label. His improvisational style is exemplified by this composition for the piano titled “Origin II”:

I started working on new poetry.

Last year, I composed a number of poetic sketches inspired by my rural surroundings. This month, I started refining them. The first sketch, “The Sunbird”, was written at the end of May in 2017 and the last, “The Bush Shrike”, at the beginning of this month—both have since been completed. The poems are my latest attempt at extolling the beauty of nature in verse. I have long thought about releasing a small publication of poetry and these verses could work as a collection, but it is too soon to decide on how they will ultimately be presented—for now, I shall focus on completing them.

Piano & Coffee Co. wrote about the Forgotten Fields album.

Blake Parker of Piano & Coffee Co. wrote a thoughtful review of my most recent album—an experiment in expressing poetic themes in ambient music. There is nothing more fascinating to a creator than seeing their work through someone else’s eyes and this review summarises the self-titled album, beautifully:

“The themes of Forgotten Fields deal with memory as an emotional catalyst.”

Mentioned in this post:

@forgottenfield (Twitter)
Affan (Soundcloud)
Lonely Swallow (Official Website)
“The Sunbird” Poem (Blog Post)
Piano & Coffee Co. (Album Review)