BY PAT JAFFE
We would like to give a warm welcome to Pat in his first story as a CutCommon contributor.
As the end of the year draws alarmingly near, I’ve come to the surprising realisation that 2020 has somehow ended up being the year I’ve felt the most connected.
Of course, like all of us, I’ve had my ups and downs this year. Yet, despite the social isolation, the overwhelming feeling for me has been one of togetherness. I think I can credit that to a single phenomenon – the ability to share music with others.
The tumultuous events of 2020 happened to coincide with a year in which I was already making a big shift with my own music. Prior to this year, I largely considered myself a jazz player, and had been doing a bit of composing in private on the side, but it definitely wasn’t my main focus. In fact, I’m studying Economics at the moment, which I’ve got to admit made me feel like a little bit of an outsider to the Melbourne music scene at times.
Things changed quite suddenly when, in January, I was on student exchange in Denmark and some of my travel plans fell through. I found myself with a week completely free, and I’d just seen a post about a program through which the Icelandic government subsidises 25 per cent of your costs if you choose to record music on the island. So on an impulse, I shot off an email to Masterkey Studios in Reykjavík (largely inspired by an online photo of the spectacular view from its piano).
To my surprise, the studio’s team was actually interested in the project I was proposing – so there was a bit of a mad rush to finish off a bunch of new compositions and squeeze in practice wherever I could while travelling. (A big thank you to the various pubs and restaurants that let me play on their pianos – especially the ones that gave me dinner in return.)
The experience of recording in Iceland was truly magical, partly because of the incredible surroundings but even moreso because of the beautiful people there. The studio’s owners – producer/engineer Sturla Mio Þórisson and singer-songwriter Markéta Irglová (best known for her Academy Award-winning music for the musical Once) – essentially adopted me into their family for the week. We shared some amazing dinners of local food, chased their kids around the studio in the breaks between sessions, and picked up possibly the best cinnamon buns of my life on the way to the studio each day. (It’s worth a trip to Iceland just for Brauð & Co’s buns, let alone the landscapes and music.) The ensemble I was lucky enough to record with, Siggi String Quartet, also blew me away with musicianship and generosity.
So the recording went relatively smoothly (other than an unexpected snowstorm one day; luckily, we had a backup day planned). But given I didn’t think I’d release any of my own music for another five years or so, I had absolutely no idea what was meant to come next in the process. I don’t think I could have turned the music into my debut album, Eldorado, without the mentorship of two incredible Melbourne musicians – Nat Bartsch and Zvi Belling.
Nat’s music is stunningly beautiful. I’d always admired the way she’s found audiences on which her work can have such a truly profound impact. Zvi is the ultimate all-rounder – he’s a big-name architect but also a bassist/producer/recording engineer/record label manager. I’m not sure how they both found time in their incredibly busy lives to give me so much support, but I’m immensely grateful. I can’t say that I knew either of them well before this year either, so additionally, I feel lucky I was able to form two fantastic new friendships right in the middle of the pandemic, thanks to this music.
I now understand what people mean when they say that the admin involved with sharing music can swallow you up so much that you’re barely left with time to make the music itself. I also brought some of this upon myself, by deciding to self-release Eldorado, on vinyl and CD via Bandcamp in October, as well as on streaming services one month later.
There’s no denying that this does take up a fair amount of time. But luckily, it gave me something to put my energy into while stuck at home, after returning from overseas right in the middle of the first Victorian lockdown. I also found that the feeling of sharing music with people that you’re close to, as well as those you don’t know at all, is very hard to beat.
Every time an old friend gets in touch to say they checked out the music, it makes my week. When someone reaches out to say that they stumbled upon the album and it was exactly the kind of music they were looking for, it makes my month. One listener told me that watching one of my music videos was ‘the calmest six minutes they’d had all year’, and that made my year.
I know I’ve been guilty of not reaching out enough in the past. So now I’m trying to go to more effort to thank my favourite artists for their music (particularly the smaller ones), share recommendations with my friends, and – now that gigs are finally back! – go with others to as many concerts as I can.
I think sometimes, we forget how much happiness we can spread just by sharing a song with a friend, or supporting an artist by buying their album.
Being able to share my music with the world has brought me, and it seems many others, a lot of joy this year. Let’s hope next year is an even better year for sharing this magic.
You can support Pat by purchasing his debut album Eldorado on vinyl, CD or digital download via his Bandcamp page.
Images supplied
