“SILVER DESERT” originally served as the backing track I played improvisational guitar over last Summer in Rhyolite, Nevada for the first iteration of my Nevada Arts Council project grant multimedia project, “In Relative Obscurity (2023)”.

The track consists of cello drones in the key of shifting sand dunes, which resonate in the key of C; which I found reflected the remote location it was captured from.

It was ultimately in conversation with the environment I recorded it in; Calico Basin, as part of my artist in residency experience with the Cube Gallery in 2022. The desert landscape had never struck me as something, or somewhere, worth interacting with; let alone using it almost directly as I can as a medium to create new works. I’m thankful I came upon Goldwell Open Air Museum and it’s sculptures/stories. I look forward to creating more works in dialogue with these subjects.

Field recordings always interested me, but capturing this recording of a cello in such a large, open studio was great. It really let the room lend itself to the overall sound of the final result.

The inclusion of “Silver Desert” in a Deathbed Tapes record label release is a huge win for me, and quite the milestone. I look forward to submitting my works to future opportunities and different record labels.