Category: Writings
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About “European Son”
1. The Origin: From Daydream to Dualism The inspiration for “European Son” emerged from a deeply personal place, rooted in my own romantic 20-something daydreams in the 90’s. There’s also a sonic memory from the performance of Helsinki Dance Company and its interval act sung by Tove Wingren in 1996. It must then have been…
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Journey to “European Son”
The Letter and the Flight The letter arrived at his Scandinavian getaway on heavy, cream-colored parchment, sealed with wax that smelled of river mud and old pine. It bore no return address, only a single line in elegant, spidery script: The River is being drained. Come. The Maidens Poliphilos knew the handwriting. It belonged to…
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Did I Write Anthems for War?
Part 1: The Theories of War Prologue: The Myths We Fight For War continues in the world. Some conflicts may end, but new ones emerge – like hydras growing new heads. Personally, I find it astonishing how many resources – let alone human lives – we sacrifice for war. Second, our inability to stop these…
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Player Characters in Dialogue: The Weight of Our Choices
This summer I was reading Plato’s dialogues on holiday (as one does…) and got to wondering: what if the characters from my Player Characters album had their own philosophical conversations? Not the formal Socratic stuff, though, but something messier. More like what happens when three people realize they’ve all made choices they can’t take back,…
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The Narrative Arcs of “Player Characters”
When you listen to a music album, do you hear individual songs, each with its own melody and emotion or do you perceive a larger story, like in concept albums such as Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love” or David Bowie’s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust”? I recently asked myself this question about my…
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About “Lover Costing Average”
The Story The inspiration for “Lover Costing Average” came from observing the dating culture in today’s world, where apps and algorithms often dictate our choices. The song is the story of an investor playboy who maintains multiple intimate relationships simultaneously, treating them like investments to see which one yields the best return. He’s a strategist,…
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The Ancient Manager’s Chess Game: When Students Outsmart Teachers
Introduction A king playing chess with a student (or peasant) in the middle of the night, while two dogs fight in the corner—this medieval woodblock print from Pérez-Reverte’s “El Club Dumas” provides an example of several forms of power in action (French and Raven, 1959). In addition, the positioning of the characters in the picture…