Thoughts on Consider The Stars Beneath Us
September 23, 2022
We are confronted with different paths daily. The choices that we make can be beneficial, risky, anxiety-filled, or exciting, among other feelings. Consider The Stars Beneath Us is a reminder that there are alternatives to our initial reactions; there is more than what is immediately visible. Music is an act of participation, connection, and community. Music reflects what's happening in the world and in our hearts, processing and remixing these experiences into something new and illuminating. This album is an homage to our ancestors, future spirits, and future elders; it is a body of work that explores my own personal experience with loss.
Music is both an escape and a reflection of reality. It is a way to get away from daily life while still being in it, enjoying it. Music contains the same emotional complexity we experience throughout our daily lives, and I encourage you to be open to those experiences as you listen to this music and as you go about your life. Music can help us understand what's going on in our hearts and in our world because it reflects on life, processes life, remixes life, illuminates life through sound. Music is an act of participation—an act of connecting—an act of engaging—with both ourselves and with others. Consider The Stars Beneath Us shows us the many structures in our lives, and then asks us to examine how those structures hold us up and support us. There can be beautiful escapes within, but music is as likely to remind us where we are as where we aren't.
This album is also a homage to both our ancestors, as well as to the future spirits and future elders. My father passed away in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, but my music is about more than just his death and his memory; this album is neither a eulogy nor a memorial. It is a celebration of his life and his spirit, as well as to all of the celestial bodies who continue to guide us through life. To consider the stars beneath us also means to recognize the intrinsic humanity in everyone. As a child of two families scarred by genocide and displacement, I try my best to remember that our pasts do not define us, and to understand the world around me through my music.
Including Samuel Adams on my album was important for two reasons. The first being our personal history and friendship. He has helped me develop as a person and an artist in ways that I could not have done on my own. The second being that most of the contemporary music I listen to today is heavily influenced by electronics, and releasing a purely acoustic album would have been misleading to who I am as an artist right now. Throughout my life I have taken inspiration from many different genres and sounds—but more importantly, I was inspired by artists who were unapologetically themselves. For me now, it's all about finding balance between mixing acoustic sounds with electronic ones.
Dedicated to my father Peter George Garabedian Պետրոս Գեվորգ Կարապետյան who was my biggest fan.