Sean Carpio - Waves of a Present - EPK

Ten Spot Records - Press Release

Newly established Dublin based 10” record label, Ten Spot Records, is proud to announce the long anticipated solo album by Jazz Drummer and Multi-Instrumentalist, Sean Carpio - ‘Waves of a Present’. Fresh off the back of the critically acclaimed, dark and absurdist “Medicine” Theatre production by Enda Walsh, which Sean co-developed and performed in, “Waves of a Present” represents the now’s relationship with the future and highlights Sean’s evocative composing prowess and musicianship. It is also notably his first release as a vocalist and lyricist.

Comprising 6 original compositions, written and performed entirely by Sean Carpio, ‘Waves of a Present’ shows a marked change in direction for the Peruvian/Irish musician. Following on from 2013’s “Wowo’s” project, ‘Waves of a Present’ picks up where it left off. Featuring additional vocals by Aoife Nessa Frances and Bass Clarinet by Robert Stillman (who recently featured on the Smile project by Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood), this is a landmark album in Sean’s highly regarded musical journey.

Recorded over two sessions, one at Ten Spot Studios in a remote location in the Irish countryside and the other at Sean’s personal studio in Dublin City by Dek Hynes. Mixed by Dek Hynes and Brendan Jenkinson (Villagers, John Frances Flynn) and mastered from 1/4” Analog Master Tape. Each record is housed in a custom made - lithographically printed 10” Tip-On deluxe gatefold jacket designed by Ror Conaty at The Monolith in Dublin. The album has been designed and mixed to be listened to exclusively on vinyl record.

Hand numbered and limited to 500 copies available online at: www.tenspotrecords.com and a selection of independent stores throughout Ireland.

Shipping July 2022.

Sean Carpio - Biography

Sean Carpio is a multi-instrumentalist based in Dublin, Ireland. His music displays sincerity and a mastery of musical diversity, from jazz and improvised music to mpb, Japanese doom and South American folkloric music. His music feels like a self-sustaining world unto itself, which simultaneously points to something larger and wholly universal, casting off the assumption that one must choose one love, interest or genre.

For two decades he has contributed drums and other instruments to diverse artists such as Louis Stewart, Eomac, Henri Texier, TAS Mani, Nina Hynes, Robert Stillman, Cian Nugent, Joachim Badenhorst, Mark Turner, Ellie O'Neill, Kit Downes, Aoife Nessa Frances, Pablo Held, and Simon Jermyn.

With his long running collaboration with visual artist Mark Garry, the two have made work in a number of contemporary art contexts, performing, exhibiting and undertaking residencies in art venues including the Mattress Factory Art Museum in Pittsburgh, the Serpentine Gallery London, and the MAC Belfast.

For the past five years Seán has worked with CanTeen, the teen cancer support group, facilitating music workshops, recordings, and performances.

Recently he co-developed and performed solo drums for Enda Walsh's Medicine at the Edinburgh International Festival, Galway International Festival and St. Anne's Warehouse, New York.

Ancestral Love

Ancestral Love, the lead single from ‘Waves of a Present’, was brought to the studio as a half-formed idea, and came to life through a similar process as the rest of the songs on the album. Sean played the song, not thinking about the form or outcome, tracking layers of instrumentation from the drums through to the synth, bass, and guitars. Then, to breathe life into the piece, the drums were re-done, and the initial drum track deleted. The new drum take was large and explosive, with Sean discovering a more dynamic, expressive role for the drums. Sean and engineer Dek Hynes then took a break and listened, talking about their families, death, and beyond, before Sean began writing the lyrics. The expansive new drums elevated the emotional intensity of the song, and opened it to the potential for profound emotion to be expressed in the lyrics. 

After first recording a take of syllabic vocalizing to find what thoughts stood out, two main ideas appeared; first, a meditation on how humanity is so ‘high on each other’ that we can’t see a greater vision for ourselves. The song is questioning the idea of being able to look down from above, maybe as someone who has passed on, and what we might do differently from there. The idea was reminiscent of a few artistic influences in Sean’s life, for one the film Nostalgia for the Light by Patricio Guzman, which juxtaposes the stories of people looking for family members buried in the Atacama desert, against those using satellites there to map the cosmos. This duality brings to mind how we think of searching for answers in space as ‘futuristic’, when in fact what we are seeing is the ancient past, stars that have already died. Bringing to mind this collective memory, the song asks then if we can recognise that we all come from the same place, could we begin to break away from being obsessed with the personal, the communal, the national, and actually begin to ‘relate’.

The notion of following ‘home’ is posed as an invitation to wonder in the song. Inspired in part by the Incan celebration of the cosmos as a home, the track explores how even ascending to the stars and looking back would lead to more wonder. The track spirals around itself, the chord sequence repeating continually, creating a constant question, mirroring the denial in the lyrics of any definitive answers about any one person or group of people.

Dunes

Ten Spot Records is proud to announce 'Dunes', the second single from Sean Carpio's forthcoming limited edition 10" album, Waves of a Present - scheduled for release in July 2022.

'Dunes' debut comes with an announcement of a very special album launch event being held in the Fumbally Cafe, August 13th 2022. On the night, Sean will be joined by some very special guests, performing tracks from the album alongside new material written for this show.

Tickets available from eventbrite.ie.

Dunes is a song fascinated by the liberation found in being completely in the moment, a freedom that can unveil the future to us. This sentiment is echoed in the Japanese proverb, "This now is so perfect, it must be eternity." The music itself--with its delicate guitar melodies and four-part harmony vocals arcing back on themselves--is lush and dreamlike. Drifting slide guitar lines interwoven throughout conjure up a dreamlike land, and the finale lifts the listener still further into the heavens with a swelling flood of improvised drums. The song's original wellspring was a transcription exercise on Chris Weisman's and Milton Nascimanto's music: the works of both these artists can be found snaking their way through non-related keys before arriving back at their origins. Dunes' lyrics were inspired by Frank Herbert's Dune, a novel depicting a world where science and technology mingle with spirituality and instinct, and where prescient truth exists on a knife's edge.

Ten Spot records is proud to announce a very special evening at the Fumbally Cafe - Dublin with Sean Carpio to celebrate the launch of his 'Waves of a Present' 10" album on August 13th 2022 at 8pm.

Sean will be performing tracks from the album along with some brand new material written exclusively for this show. He will be accompanied on the evening by some very special guests performing with him. This show is not to be missed!

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