Now that the album is out, some of you have asked for stories of how it came to be. Ask and ye shall receive!

While all of the songs started life in my wee bedroom studio, they weren’t truly born until I brought them to the Audities Studio in March.

Audities – aptly named – is both a recording studio and something of a museum, with a collection of divine, kooky 20th century musical artifacts. The first time I walked into the control room, I was greeted by an army of synthesizers, a row of reel-to-reel tape machines, and… what on earth is THAT?

“It’s a Marxophone,” grinned David Kean, the curator of the collection, as he began plinking away on the strange little finger piano.

Over the course of the week, I learned that this is the only collection of its kind. Because the 20th century saw so many new instruments come in and out of fashion, studios and musicians often got rid of synthesizers or keyboards once they went out of style. Even some mass produced instruments are now rarities as there was no real movement to conserve them.

That’s where Audities comes in. Not only does it hold everything from an Andromeda to a Zumsteel pedal steel, but the instruments are out in the open, begging to be played. And play them we did.

While I sang the vocal for “What I Am”, David leaned into the control room mic and asked “Where’s the pedal steel on this song?”

“Don’t I wish! I don’t know where to find one, let alone someone who can play it…”

“Well,” he drawled as he walked toward a jumble of instruments, “I may be a little rusty but…”

And that’s how we ended up with steel guitar, Mellotron, vibraphone, and Hammond S on the album, and why I will never look at a Casio keyboard the same way again…