Ian Hawgood '光 (Reel Piano)' [CD]

Pro-printed pantone CD-R edition in four panel 330gsm matte card package. Printed locally in the U.K. Edition of 100.

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'光 (Reel Piano)' is a re-spooled and transferred reel mix from my original '光' sessions back in 2018. I previously released an adjusted mix of this as '光 (pre-version)', but this has been respliced and mixed for more flow from the original tapes.

Mathias from Eilean Rec kindly invited me to record an album for the label back in their early days. Consumed with work and the label, I had recently moved to Poland and wasn't really feeling much like making music at the time. Eventually, I decided to ship my childhood piano over from Wales, where it was being looked after by my good friend Ian Hazeldine (antonymes). He'd kindly taken care of it after my father had suddenly passed away in 2011, as I was living in Japan at the time, and my mother had planned to give it away.

Being reconnected with this piano was an emotional and traumatising experience all rolled into one. I had hearing difficulties and ear infections as a child, which meant a lot of time in the hospital. Coming from a musical family and being forced to play the piano from a very young age, despite having hearing aids, was challenging for my family and me. Ultimately, I came to music on my own terms as a teenager, but these early experiences left me with trauma enough to have extreme reactions to music, for both good and bad. Through counselling, I've had the good fortune to recognise the triggers of music in my adult life, and the music I have made using this very piano only brings me joy.

I'm delighted to not only be re-issuing my first album 'Piano Works' today, but also the first remastering of both '光' and '彼方 (Parts One and Two)'
on CD. '光 (Reel Piano)' comes as a version for those who already own those albums here, or as a bonus CDr for those after the triple CD and this together.

homenormal.bandcamp.com/album/piano-works

homenormal.bandcamp.com/album/-

I recently gave the piano to my nephew for his own unique memories as I felt it was time to move on from it after all these many years. These albums that marked the beginning of a healthy relationship with music creation and spending time with family (as heard in 'Piano Works'), alongside enjoying myself with old tape loops, splicing and analog sound manipulation and regaining a sense of self in my music (with '光'), come full circle and I'm so happy to share these with you now.

All profits from this album and my other releases this year will go towards funding surgery and care for our rescue dog, who sadly suffered a stage 5 IVDD spinal injury on Valentine's Day. Rescued earlier this year, clearly traumatised and underweight, we've promised to give him a good home despite probably needing wheels to get around once he gets through this.

Thank you so much. I hope this brings a little light and lightness into your days.

x Ian 

Recorded in Mokotów, Warsaw, Poland in 2018
Written and produced by Ian Hawgood