Backlined & Friends Play Eastman
A 1 year album anniversary by Manny and Amelya N.S.H. - live at Casa Del Popolo
Julius Eastman’s music has been in my life for quite some time now, but I’ve never had the privilege to experience it like I did a few weeks ago.
I first heard Julius’ music near the end of my Master’s degree — I had been looking for music by BIPOC composers who had written for the guitar, had works with arrangement potential, or even graphic scores. That’s when I first encountered Buddha, and it was the beginning of my exploration in Eastman’s world. I was immediately immersed in this music, and was trying to find what was pulling me in so much — a search I kept returning to time and time again. Throughout the next few months, I spent time with any recording I could find; specifically the Unjust Malaise and Jace Clayton records, which had a huge impact on what would become the Eastman album.
Amelya and I kept returning to the idea of exploring this music further, and with a very limited budget, we decided we’d try to explore our own shared vision. We came up with some different ways to approach the Buddha score, and how we’d treat the sonic world of Gay Guerrilla, and just like that, we spent our Summer 2022 re-imagining and tracking this music.
On May 5, 2023, Eastman was released! The album shows off the modular interpretations that can be found within his output that unite the traditional and avant-garde. From cascading tape tracks of dozens of electric guitars to lush granulated solo classical guitar, the album is both recognizably Eastman and a representation of our unique collaboration.
But, I always felt like there was something missing from this record.
Don’t get me wrong, I love what we made, and I’m immensely proud of it. But something happened a year later that helped it all make sense.
Gay Guerrilla — Casa Del Popolo, Montreal QC
Many, including myself, have mistakenly viewed Eastman’s work in a minimalist context — but there’s nothing minimal about this music. These pieces teach you to listen in new ways, to connect with other musicians, and so much more. It prioritizes a different type of virtuosity than what we choose to value in our Western classical music tradition, and it’s because of this disconnect that we try to tuck it away nicely under the umbrella of Minimalism. To do that, would be a disservice to what this music offers us.
Fast-forward to May 2024, the album is turning 1 and has amassed over 50,000 streams.
We wanted to do something to celebrate, but we wanted to go big and outside our comfort zones. So, in the typical screw it, let’s make it happen approach that I’ve come to know and love, I called up all my friends and shared an idea for a concert I could only ever dream of presenting.
Surprisingly: almost everyone was available, they were excited about playing the show, and (the craziest feat of all) we were able to coordinate our schedules! It’s what I love most about the Montreal music community; the willingness to show up, collaborate, and create — even on short notice.
I started working a truly wild amount on creating brand new arrangements for this ensemble, included some new works that weren’t on the album, and I even convinced Amelya to conduct Joy Boy. We had one day to put it all together, and when the ensemble showed up for rehearsal the day before the show, I knew it was going to be magic.
Remember when I said that I was trying to figure out what about the music was pulling me in so much? Well, all these years later I think I’ve stumbled upon my answer.
It will always be: community.
People want to be seen, they want to be heard, loved, and understood. It’s the moments where we’re able to come together and be part of something larger than ourselves, that remain of tantamount importance. It’s where you learn about what it is you’re trying to say, and uncover a sort of honesty within your art.
This concert was everything we could’ve hope for. I’m eternally grateful to these musicians for sharing their music and being in that moment together; it’s taught me more about this art-form than all my years of schooling.
We experimented with the unique perspective and artistic voice of 12 separate musicians. Eastman’s music brought us together, and created a moment where we could express our shared and unique musical backgrounds towards a unified whole. It’s this sentiment that I craved to create on the record, and it’s those short hours crammed on a tiny stage that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
Listen to the album — Eastman
Backlined & Friends:
Amelya N.S.H. - Conductor
Emmanuel Jacob Lacopo - Electric Guitar
Patrick O’Reilly - Electric Guitar
Erich Barganier - Electric Guitar
Andrew Noseworthy - Electric Guitar
An-Laurence Higgins - Electric Guitar
Joshua Morris - Cello
Jaeyoung Chong - Cello
Troy Stephenson - Viola
Theo Abellard - Piano
Thomas Gauthier Lang - Tenor Saxophone
Alexandre Colas-Jeffery - Tenor Saxophone