When I started this blog, I made a vow to myself that I would not use it to promote my own music (at least not too much) … the point being to promote the work of others and not have this look like a showpiece to get more attention for myself.

I still believe in that vow, but I will allow myself a small indulgence when I have a brand new release, as I do now.

I started The Gateless Gate project, after being a singer-songwriter my whole life, because I have very diverse tastes and I wanted to indulge them. Specifically, this project allows me to indulge my interest in ambient and experimental music.

The first release, Xinjiang, which I released in Fall 2012, is a concept album exploring my fascination with Central Asia (and with Krautrock!). It did surprisingly well.

My second release, Heikan no Setsu, is quite different. I decided to make an album with sounds entirely generated by my voice. This has resulted in a number of different kinds of pieces. Some turned out like monastic chants. Some are throat-singing-based and are influenced by Central Asian music. Still others are ambient pieces in which I used effects to warp my voice and even provide beats in some instances. There is one track with words, a re-recording of an old song from my psych-folk days done a capella…reflecting my love of The Beach Boys! Other influences include David Hykes and the Harmonic Choir, Stephan Micus, Popol Vuh and Dead Can Dance.

The inspiration in titling each piece came from my practice of Zen Buddhism, which has given me a great deal of comfort in the last few years. The title translates to “On Seclusion” and is the title of a haiku collection by Basho.

Producing this work was very gratifying for me and I hope that you will give the recording a chance.

Here’s the info and where you can download the album for free or pay-what-you-want:

More information is available via
thegatelessgate.net
320 kbps mp3 download available at:
archive.org/details/HeikanNoSetsu

Or via Bandcamp

View my fancy new videos for:
“Light”
“The Realization of Dogen Zenji”
“The Mirror of Hui-neng”

Thank you, and I return you to your regular programming, which here at Make Your Own Taste means me uncovering more musical gems for ya!