"The Death of Personal Space" came about by chance, in the process of working on my third proper record, "....as for Mother". I have a friend who owns a great deal of vintage gear, (mostly synths from the70's & 80's) who was cool enough to let me plunder his collection. There were old Moog's, Sequential Circuits, Roland's, Korg's, and Yamaha synths. The tracks on this record came about by a process of experimentation, and improvisation. I was familiar with most of the gear as I spent a great deal of my childhood/early adolescence drooling over, or wishing that I had the financial resources to own one them some day. It was kind of a dream come true to even have access to these instruments that were well maintained, and in pristine condition.
Over the years I learned how to program synths (predominately on "soft synth's"), and this was finally my chance to do something on some of the most classic synthesizers around. In the process of all this, I wound up with close to three records worth of material, predominately in the ambient, dark ambient, industrial ambient, and soundscape genres. I took the best ten tracks from these experiments, and found that I had wound up with a record that I was really proud of.
The last thing I have to mention in regards to the new record is this....certain key people in my life have expressed concern about the content of the cover art. The cover art, concept, and album title all come from one of my best friends, Lou Newton. Lou is one of the only people I have ever deeply respected in my lifetime, and I can assure you he is one of the only people that I know who's integrity, and ethics are rivaled only by his compassion, and gifted talent. The cover art is a conceptual piece, and in no way is an advocacy of suicide....nothing could be farther from the truth. The recording itself is conceptually, and sonically about the idea that technology has quite literally taken away, severely affected, or just outright destroyed an individual's need, birthright, and desire for personal space....to be alone. If you own a cell phone, smart phone etc. you know what I am talking about. People think that if you have any of the above mentioned sonic trinkets that it should be "on" all the time, with you at all times, and you should be available, at all times. Not only has this type of technology, and "social networking" been proven to show an increase in narcissistic behavior, passive aggressive behavior, and new forms of A.D.D. (which border on the pathological), but it has also deeply affected our ability to deal with conflict, which is a normal part of life. People have literally ended lifelong commitments to marriages, friendships, and deal with serious interpersonal problems by the use of text messaging. I find this to be deeply inappropriate behavior. Literally hundreds of books have been written about this phenomenon, and I personally find it very disturbing, and gross. It has helped contribute to a disposable society, and the repercussions from this behavior will probably not be felt, let alone addressed, until it is too late.
Technology, people have mistakenly thought, was "taking us to the stars", but instead, it is just bringing death to the masses. I feel sorry for this whole generation of young people who have been raised with a cellular device affixed to their bodies. I have literally watched people panic, and go into symptoms that closely resemble drug withdrawals when the Internet goes down, or is unavailable, or when whatever device they are plugged into runs out of power, and they can't find a means to get it recharged....the panic I have seen people go into because they can't connect to Facebook borders on mania. It is terrifying, yet oddly amusing that such a small thing can quite literally bring a person to a total psychological meltdown, which brings me back to the cover art....I stand by, and defend not only the artist, the artwork, concept, and title, and I have this to say if the cover offends you....You missed the point! This record is about the necessity to reclaim personal space. It is about silence. It is about reading a book quietly, instead of watching television. It's about reclaiming a sacred space in your life where true evolution, personal reflection, and growth can flourish, instead of letting a silly little device made of plastic, silicon, microchips, and wires dictate your life. It's about silence, sea, and the sky, and if you don't get it....your missing something really beautiful.
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For the realization of this project Stardust For Jennifer were....
Philm Martin - Keyboards, Samplers, Programming, Sound Design, Engineering, and Mastering
Lou Newton - Cover Art, Concept, and Title
The material on this recording was made between July of 2012, to June of 2014. All of these pieces were improvised, or used "chance operations" for their composition.
This record is dedicated to sister Nita Martin (10/1/1955 - 1/11/2014)
Without the Love, Support, Friendship, Inspiration, Protection, Loyalty, and Healing that the following people have brought into my life, this recording never would have happened.
A.C.
Brian Pride
Clara Martin
D.C.
Dan Shiro
Darren Olach
Futura
Grace Freeling
Jean Cocteau
Jessie Oleksy
Jet Screamer
Kim and John Pluskota
Lorna Doom
Lou Newton
Nika Martin
Nita Martin
Patrick Rady
Phil Holec
Propellerheads Software/Hardware
Shanda Morgan
Tommy Hopf
Tony De La Torre
Wolfe Von Stauffenberg
Love and Protection
Philm Martin - 9/20/2014