Sobjective

Anamnesis Track 2

ANAMNESIS

In philosophy, anamnesis (/ˌænæmˈniːsɪs/; Ancient Greek: ἀνάμνησις) is a concept in Plato’s epistemological and psychological theory that he develops in his dialogues Meno and Phaedo and alludes to in his Phaedrus. The idea is that humans possess innate knowledge (perhaps acquired before birth) and that learning consists of rediscovering that knowledge from within.

In 2003–2004, I made my first record with 1 SM57 mic, a small three-piece drum kit, an acoustic and electric guitar, an Access Virus analog synth, and Ableton 2. The nine tracks each represent the stages of Consciousness, as proposed by Spiral Dynamics and Ken Wilber’s work. Here’s a quick overview story. Each of my next nine posts will be dedicated to telling the story and meaning of each track-stage. Enjoy!

SOBJECTIVE

Subjective + Objective, this song is about the second stage of human consciousness, when one first recognizes the (seeming) difference between Self and Other. Baby bites blanket, then baby bites thumb, then baby realizes blanket is not baby. In other words, this song is a nod to the very first inklings of having an egoic self and a sense of separation. Moving from the “fused” Consciousness of babyhood into the long road of alienation from Home that most humans never evolve beyond.

At this time, I was making music with my first NYC friend and one of the baddest drummers I’ve ever known, Kotchy. Kotchy was an Oberlin Jazz undergrad and New England Conservatory Masters in Orchestral Percussion, and just an absolute motherfucker on the instrument. He could play the nastiest jazz licks possible but was already over all that by this point and was only focused on one thing and one thing only: pocket. Kotchy introduced me to the word after hearing my terrible, untrained, white boy attempt to play the drums. “You have no pocket,” he said after I took a turn. “What’s that even mean? I asked.” He sat me down and put on D’Angelo’s “Voodoo.” Pocket for days! This idea of feel over technicality changed my life forever and ushered in an entirely new era of music for me.

Kotchy also had the most incredible sounding drums in spades and was one of the first guys bringing laptops and triggers into the mix. His apartment deep in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, was over a car spraying shop, and whenever I’d go there, I’d get sick from the fumes. But man, those drums sounded so damn good. This very pocket-oriented beat was played by me and recorded on his kit and is the only music on Anamnesis that was made outside of my little setup at home. That massive kick drum sound is thanks to that kit, and this track wouldn’t have the depth and feel it does without Kotchy. Kotchy eventually moved to LA in 2013 (or so) and, by the grace of -0-, sold me some of his best cymbals; bless his heart! The vintage Italian hi-hats on this track still reside on my kit at Silent G Studios.

Sobjective is instrumental because this stage of development is still without words or logic, aka “pre-rational.” The opening guitar part is thick, deep while then introducing a straightforward, repetitive melody that slowly becomes higher pitched as the song unfolds. The highest melody was played on a xylophone, with an increasing amount of delay as it builds to final resolution. This is intended to represent that slow unfolding of this stage as it moves towards language and more ownership over a sense of self that will be seen in Chaordic, track 3 when the first lyrics come into play.