Guilford – 

Jason Sloan and myself have worked on so many things since we first created this recording. Or, maybe it’s more important to go and talk about where this recording came from, as it’s as much a document of our work together, as it is a bookmark in the story of our friendship.

Jason Sloan and myself became friends right around the fall of 2001. I had known Jason’s work from the Internet, and as I was doing a lot of music journalism at the time, Jason would send me promo recordings as he began a release cycle. On this occasion Jason had sent me a copy of Space Between Beginnings. I thought, and think that was and is one of the best works this side of Steve Roach’s Quiet Music, and Structures From Silence. When I heard Jason’s recording, it spoke to me. I wanted to write liner notes for this release. I decided that I would contact Jason, whom I didn’t know very well, and I’d ask if I could write up something on his new work. 

Jason and my first phone call lasted hours. We talked, and talked. It was like all along we were friends, kindred spirits, only we had never met each other. Jason added fuel to my creative fire, and I guess that I did the same for him. We started planning projects, and talking about trying to work together, but with him in Baltimore, and me being in Detroit, it was tough. We spent the rest of 2001, and 2002 talking on the phone. I was playing a lot of shows, and Jason decided to set one up in Baltimore, and have me come out to do it. 

July came and I went to Baltimore by plane. We had never met in person, so it was kind of weird meeting someone that you had such an intense dialog with over the phone. Also, because we really didn’t know who we were looking for, I sat on a stagnant, and humid Baltimore/ Washingon International curb for a couple hours breathing jet fuel while Jason circled the arrival area looking for me. Needless to say we found each other, but we were off to an awkward start.

As we drove back into Baltimore, and up through town, Jason and I talked. We had so many conversations, and it was intense being in the car with this person that I had bonded so strongly with so many times on the phone. We talked, and eventually things began to settle. The hot afternoon was quickly turning into a hot Baltimore night, and I felt so free, so alive, so glad to be away from Detroit.

The show was to be the next day, and we had a lot of arrangements to make. We spent most of the next morning scuttling about picking up items for the show, and getting ready. We ended up picking an amp up from one of Jason’s friends for the performance. We brought the amp back to Jason’s flat, and began to assemble the gear that we would need for the show. It was another hot day, and after a while it was just too hot to move too much. 

I remember sitting in the front room of Jason’s apartment, and just listening to the ambience of the neighborhood. Jason lives right off of Johns Hopkins, which is a thriving medical center with a lot of traffic, and a lot emergency response vehicles moving to and fro in all hours of the day and night. I remember sitting there listening to the sounds. It was such a different ambience from Detroit. 

I said to Jason 
“hey, let’s record something… when will we have another chance I asked him? I’m only here for like 50 hours…”

Jason’s studio was disassembled, as he was getting ready for the show. All that we had were a couple of laptops and a couple of guitar amps. Jason and I were both experimenting with Ableton Live at the time. I had just gotten a Mac, and this was my maiden voyage performing with it. 

“How are we going to record it?” Jason asked…
“Do you have a mic?” I asked… “I’d like to get an open-air recording of our sounds, and the sound of the neighborhood…”
Jason was thinking, and I looked around the room and saw his video camera on a tripod. 
“Jason,” I said “is that a stereo mic on your video camera?”
“Yeah,” he said, “and it sounds pretty good.”
“Let’s use it,” I said, and that’s how these recordings came together.

We did this first recording on July 27th. It was excellent! Jason and I had never performed together, but somehow, like magic, intuition took over, and the session was great. A couple hours later we did the show and it was a total bust. My laptop crashed, and my set lasted about five minutes. It was disappointing to say the least, but I was glad that we had the recording from earlier to at least document the trip.

The next day, I was to head back to Detroit. We woke up that morning, had some coffee, and I started to pack up. I knew that we had about half of a short record ready to go with this new track, so I thought that maybe we should try to get another recording together. Since the show was crap, at least this recording would be something to show for the time in Baltimore, and would be a chance for Jason and I to work together, instead of by mail, Internet, or something…

Jason and I plugged in our laptops to the small guitar amps again, and hit record on the video camera. I didn’t know it, but Jason was also recording us performing, as well. I thought that he might just hit record with the lens cap on, but he didn’t and so we got a little visual work out of this as well. We improvised again for another half hour or so, and ended up with what I thought was an excellent set of recordings. 

Since these recordings Jason and I have done a dozen or more shows together throughout the United States; we’ve worked on a variety of musical recordings, and even started our own label, Slobor Media. This recording, Guilford, as it’s named after the street adjacent to Jason’s flat, documents a beginning. We’ve done a lot of stuff in the year and a half since the recording was made, and the synergy of artistry just keeps outputting great work. I think that I speak for Jason when I say, we hope that you enjoy listening and experiencing this recording as much as we enjoyed making it.

Matt Borghi
Lansing, MI
January, 2004