CHASSIS

I know this word because my father was a race car driver. I was raised in the dirt of the pits, hearing either The chassis is fine, or The chassis is shot.  To this day at the start of any race, tears spring to my eyes at sound of the gun. Some instinct has been built-in. 
 

The chassis ("chassy") being the steel undercarriage of the wheeled conveyance.  A tectonic support system.  Emerging unscathed from the crash.  Carrying all weight like a feather, fast.  

Fast forward.

In 2000 I went to Mills and made a deal with myself to always make music, records, tour. #LIFESWORK style. I began.

Then I crossed paths with Clare Amory (also of Excepter) who introduced me to Pilates, and became a close friend.  So taken/ecstatic by Pilates' gentle yet powerful corporeality I became as passionate about it as music. DUDE. All movement through the core. Hook directly into your anima and download the light.  Clare said I'd make a good Pilates teacher, and it is a great job for a touring musician.  

Insert move from SF to BK to get Pilates bona fide.

Insert the way in which life is like a sponge capsule that expands into dinosaurs in a glass of water. 

Clare passed away, five months after a stage four diagnosis. I took on Flesh + Bone, the Pilates studio in Williamsburg she started; named for the medium of Pilates. I had figure out how the hell to be a business owner, while getting fully certified, while grieving. 

I had made my last record just before leaving California, Vibrant New Age, had dedicated it to Clare.  Everything about this new age felt like crashing.

It took two years to complete the mission. It took me completely away from music.  At 6am the morning after finishing my Pilates certificate, I boarded a plane.  Living my favorite lyric from Fugees' The Score: "I do my work then I catch my ticket to Jamaica". I could not believe my luck meeting Geddes, Tony, Cameron as they were in Babylon working on music.  Being there with them there was sweet and ripe as the fruit we ate.  Jamaica turned the tide.  The music!

Not too long after Jamaica I knew I had a record to make. I told Geddes I wanted to record with him, booked a ticket to Los Angeles to sleep by his dogs, and started demoing at odd hours.  I specifically wanted CHASSIS to have form and content. The finished record would of course be electronic and replete, glistening with patina (especially with Ged at the controls). Yet inside every track would be a song that could be sung bare.  With no electricity, in a room with a piano. I built in each a sonic chassis, a core. 

These are reasons I am proudest to put this record into your hands.  CHASSIS is the fruition of a terrific pause. What I want now is a natural delivery for it. More loving hands moving it into the world to meet ears.  Truth be told, my reasoning for teaching Pilates and for making music is the same: I want to help people make contact with themselves. I want each person to suit up, strap in, and DRIVE!

Maybe it's all the Pilates but I have so much burning energy I know is fuel for something good.