Description
For me, music is about expression. It is about meeting and sharing. It is about exposing oneself and attracting it within ourselves that we otherwise hold for ourselves.
Music is a language. I would like to say that it is a universal language where we communicate with each other but where we also tell each other. Music is the language we use when ordinary words are not enough. With the help of music, we can formulate the emotions and experiences that are not otherwise told.
When I write music, I always have an underlying story. It may sound crashing but in a way I think music has no intrinsic value. What I mean is that the composer and the person (s) in front of the music must put something more into the music in order for it to fulfill its purpose. What it is you put into music obviously varies from person to person, but without that personal contribution, the music is worth nothing.
I started writing at The Resurrection Man in the spring of 2018, but even before that, there were thoughts about the concept of music. For my final year at the College of Music, I would do a graduation concert, a show where my accumulated knowledge and skills would be declared. My music education career had been varied and often I had doubts. Partly on my role in the music world but perhaps on the purpose of music. Sometimes I sat down and formulated the goals for myself around music and music making so that in the next moment I think that the purpose of music is that it should be fun. I think both extremes have helped create this record.
At least for the degree concert, I quickly decided that I wanted to do something extra. I wanted to convey something more than: “I write songs and play saxophone,” and with great inspiration from many other compositions, I decided that music would take the form of a suite. An overall story where each individual carries their own story. I remember visualizing it as a walk along a forest road where the songs were detours.
I started writing music with the idea that the whole would be some form of life story. I wanted there to be recognition in my story, that it would be a life story that we all share. I split a bit sloppy into 6 parts and thought about my confirmation where I think the layout was a bit similar. Life probably consists of different parts or periods if you wish. I think they can be different lengths but together they form cycles. Some cycles may only be made at once, while others may be experienced several times per life. The Resurrection Man is one that you can experience more times.
I wrote the music with a whole mindset. Much of my focus was to create group sound and to help all musicians convey the story. I think that by discussing and consciousizing musical subtitles you can raise the level of expression significantly. The result was that synthesizers and more electrical instruments were given central roles. The music would move in genres that I personally liked, not the genre I expect to enjoy via my instrument. Rammstein and Robyn deserve to be mentioned in compositional contexts as these have been great inspirations for me.
The six parts that together create The Resurrection Man and which is thus my contribution to recounting a way of seeing life can be summarized in the poem that follows:
We arise
We are unwritten sheets
We are questioned
We risk everything
We break down
We are resurrected
This is my way of interpreting one of all cycles of life. With the help of this text, the poem and above all the music, I hope you get your own idea of The Resurrection Man. We all have different experiences of life and therefore we interpret the musical story in different ways. For someone it might be friendship. For someone else about democracy. For a third, maybe Jesus is The Resurrection Man. What do I know, but it doesn’t matter because the interpretation is free!
Good listening
/ August Eriksson
August Eriksson – Saxophone, Guitar, Keyboards & composition
Simon Jonsson – Keyboards
Axel Liliedahl – Keyboards
Gustav Hördegård – Bass & Keyboards
Ossian Ward – Drums & Percussion
Kalle Widén – Electronics, Recording engineer, Mix & Master
Rasmus Bolin Andersson – Recording engineer
Sofia Wettéus – Cover art
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