As Before, So After

As Before, So After
by Daniel Kleederman
Electric and acoustic guitar, pedals, voice, wind chimes
10:14

This collaboration was inspired by a previous collaboration with Robin Crofut-Brittingham. Robin had worked on a painting for the cover to my most recent record, Another Life. In the process, we soon discovered kindred inspirations and explorations, including death, rebirth, personal mythology, and the compelling call towards the natural world and the naturally surreal. 

As the title suggests, this piece is an interpretative sound environment and musical composition in direct conversation with Robin’s painting, As Above, So Below. I was inspired to musically interpret the choices Robin made in framing, composition, color, detail, subject and space. I was also moved to participate, in my own way, in what I imagined Robin’s creative process to include: quality time with the birds themselves, along with the many other subjects within this imagined landscape. This meant using my guitar to transcribe and interpret the calls and alarms for each unique character within the work, from the Frigatebird to the Gray Wolf to the celestial bodies that pass above and below. 

This piece is an invitation to walk deeper into the world of the painting as one might walk deeper into the forest, heightening one’s sense of presence, mystery, and emotional connection to a world that existed before and will continue to exist after we are gone.

— Daniel Kleederman

The links below correspond to the seven-part painting from left to right, with one audio track per panel. Click a link to listen.

As Before, So After – Frame 1
As Before, So After – Frame 2
As Before, So After – Frame 3
As Before, So After – Frame 4
As Before, So After – Frame 5
As Before, So After – Frame 6
As Before, So After – Frame 7

Listen to the full composition, here.