The making of Memories of 2055

Carnatic violinist Lazar T.Sebastine discusses the music creation process + a sneak of the Music x Album Art

"A Celebration of the Beauty of Human Intuition, Memories of 2055 explores what makes us human through the lens of an Artificial Intelligence consciousness in a a future post-human world.

A new concept, a new approach.

“When Tze was telling me about this new album we are going to make, I was thinking it’s probably another Asian fusion album like Stories from wonderland which we created more than 5 years ago. But after a few sessions, I realized that the scales Tze has chosen this time are very very different from our usual ones - normally when he played a tune it will be easier for me to adapt to it and improvise in Indian Raagas.

“But seriously this time I found quite difficult to fit in the scales! In fact I was telling him I am not sure this is going to work.”

But seriously this time I found quite difficult to fit in the scales! In fact I was telling him I am not sure this is going to work.

However after he explained to me the new concept this time (improvising based on a certain imagery as per the narrative of the story, e.g. Track 1 of the album - Descent / Submerged World), I felt it was totally unique and refreshing. Improvisation this time was a bit challenging as well - in Indian music we always follow the Raga in tonic note as per the key centre. But in this album most of the pieces start from different positions other than the tonic, so the flavor of each Raga was totally changed; but it brought us to a very different and refreshing level. "

'So my usual ideas were gone and I started thinking of new ideas, different from my usual way. Soon I started enjoying it and later it was too hard for me to stop playing! Though I found it difficult and challenging to steer through the music, Tze was encouraging me to go for it as this is an apt sound for the new theme (/story). I would happily say that it worked out perfectly, and I am confident that music lovers will definitely enjoy this music." - Lazar T.Sebastine (Carnatic violin).

Track 1  Descent / Submerged World
"As I/my probes descend upon the surface, I see a submerged world with no life, just remnants of a civilisation long gone, who now exist only in memories as fragments of cities, dotting the seas" - HAL2055

"This piece uses the raga Kalyani ( marriage / union ) - I love the sound of this scale, and thought it would be interesting to use it to express the marriage of Man and Technology, and also the resulting consequences - this union that led to a slow, great fall into an Ocean of Memories." - Tze Toh, composer/producer (piano)

Music x Art from 2055

“This piece itself is truly unique, and indeed a standout piece in Memories of 2055. It features 7 layers of piano improvisation.”

"So I was in studio today sketching some more art for the album art book while Jeff (sound engineer) was working on the mix for the piece Anthropocene (Track 6). It was a really interesting experience creating art work while listening to the music I composed/improvised, because it created a sort of audio-visual feedback loop. 

This piece itself is truly unique, and indeed a standout piece in Memories of 2055. It features 7 layers of piano improvisation I recorded at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of music studio. It's the first time I have ever created a piece this way / a piece like this!" - Tze Toh

Find out more about album Memories of 2055 : http://kck.st/31WCjN5

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