PRE-ORDER POISON CIRCUS
If I've learned anything from watching RuPaul’s TV show AJ and the Queen it's that nobody is just one thing. The Hiss is a circus composer, one-man band, unicycle rider and ... student of new music?!? Like a premeditated poisoner I've waited for the perfect moment to drop this in your glass.
Years ago my composition teacher of five years showed me the door, no it wasn’t because I stained her drapes. She was 75 and busy and in her words, “It’s time for you to fly.” At the moment I thought, ‘Right off a cliff.’ I was wrong. I didn’t fly off a cliff but into a wall.
My composition teacher left me with many parting words of advice, but this one I acted or didn’t act on right away: “Try composing something without a deadline. See where that leads you.” Nine months later I finally finished the piece of music. I wrote it between other projects and was starting to experiment with different art song forms. At the end of that regular/irregular work schedule I sat down and had a long listen. The piece was formless, heavily discordant and sleep-inducing. After falling out of my chair in a daze, and then flipping over my keyboard in frustration, I emailed my former teacher to ask for help. Her most famous works, a collaboration with the late Ursula le Guin, were a series of song cycles. She was my best option for instruction and the only place I could think of to turn to. Her reply, “April is indeed the cruelest month, scheduling-wise and energy-wise. Try studying Copland songs, Schumann songs, Bernstein songs ….” Goodbye is goodbye I guess–the door was still shut. Help would not be coming. That night I chewed on chopsticks and ordered the scores and recordings she recommended.
On the first day of studying Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs, notably “Long Time Ago” I went into the bathroom, sat in the dark and cried. I felt rejected. My art song was a tick behind the ear of these master works, and I was alone; left to rework it. Next day I started studying these works every night. I repeated my analysis of Copland’s art songs—skipping the lonely tearshed. I studied Barber’s Hermit Songs and Bernstein’s Le Bonne Cuisine. Three weeks later, after rearranging/rewriting, my piece had morphed completely. It had evolved from a composed-through discordant yawn to a sewn-up arresting art song. Now when I sit back and listen to it no one is sleeping. And every keyboard stays standed. What did I learn? I work best with deadlines. And my former teacher keeps teaching me. The art song is “Maggot of Mine'' and it features tenor Alex Taite. Hear it on POISON CIRCUS out Oct 2. Pre-order it today!
If I had to say anything about this album musically in three sentences it would be this. I spent two years composing this work in the late hours of night or pedaling down dark roads. The main characters of the theatre production were all named after composers: Eubie Blake, Samuel Barber, and Aaron Copland. All the instrumental music you will hear was influenced by existing musical forms in history and then mutated: waltzes, rags, and marches. The art songs, sung beautifully by Nikola Printz and Alex Taite, have put up for auction my greatest/worst word painting to date. That’s four sentences. Who is counting?
Lastly, today only (and Oct 2) Bandcamp is waiving their sneaky revenue share fees which means if you pre-order POISON CIRCUS today I pocket every penny from my Store without the governor getting in on the act. And I can pay off the gamble of recording this most toxic project.
Lastly, lastly, (this post is long) I’m not on Kickstarter or Patreon and I haven’t been given a penny of grant money. The whole recording of this album was funded by The Hiss, and a gamble. I’m not asking you to subscribe to anything (yet) or pay me a monthly stipend, I’m asking you for a simple transaction. Pre-order POISON CIRCUS and scare your pants off Oct 2. I also have a limited number of Samson Y Hiss cowbells for spreading toxic vibrations.
Thank you for freaking out. Don’t be a norm. POISON CIRCUS is coming.
-Samson
