The 2nd EP by Don Chirashi

Download includes bonus track by Steve From Corporate

liner notes from the artist:
It seems everyone’s got a pandemic project, this one’s mine. December 2020 - we were 8 months deep into lockdown here in the states, and cabin fever was at an all-time high as you probably remember. With 2 young kids (then 4 & 6) we had to get out of the house, but most busy vacation spots were off the list- so we went the opposite direction and got a farmhouse in the Blue Ridge mountains. Being secluded in nature, away from the rest of the human world, in a creaky old cabin (with no wifi and bad cell service) was exactly the reset we needed. During the day we would take hikes and feed the farm animals, with calm evenings watching movies and doing not much of anything really. After the fam went to bed each night, I had the place to myself where I could be quietly alone with my thoughts in a fresh & peaceful setting. A welcome change after being stuck in the same house, in the same patterns for almost an entire year.

I brought with me a laptop, Roland SP-555 sampler, and Zoom H4N field recorder- which I had gradually been stocking with vinyl samples as I worked from home throughout the pandemic. For most of the year, my daily routine would be listening to records casually in between calls and occasionally when I caught a moment of inspiration, I’d record it to the Zoom. After 8 or 9 months I had probably compiled 75 clips of all sorts: drumbreaks, synths, pianos, vocals- you name it. And now I thought, at last I could reclaim a bit of creative headspace & make something with these sounds. But it doesn’t quite work that way, even when you’ve created the perfect conditions- the mind does what it does. Night after night I sat there in the quiet dark of the farmhouse, listening to samples, loading a few onto the SP, waiting for the feeling to take hold where I knew what to do. But each night it would get to be 1 or 2 in the morning, and I’d have nothing. Then finally on the last night of the trip I recorded 5 beats, which became the basis for this album.

It was a reminder- that I needed those hikes in the woods, the quiet nights alone, the space to allow myself just a chance. Even then, it still took another 3 years before this album would get finished. I learned a lot by taking my time, the merits of making an entirely sample based, truly lofi album – and who that was ultimately for. As the years went on & tastes changed, the dusty mess of recordings eventually started to connect again. In that noise imprinted the crackle of leaves, branches scuffling, the crispness of the mountain air- it was all there; the old sound of vinyl became an instrument in & of itself for me to dedicate my love of nature.

Best enjoyed on headphones outside on a clear fall day.

AR-005