Blue Marbled Vinyl Edition
Dear listener,
On behalf of re:discovery records, it is with great excitement that we announce the release of Stryke – The Introspection Trilogy (1994-2022).
rd011 features a track that is very close to my heart. My senior year in high school. I was heavily into chill out music at the time. Labels like FAX, Instinct Ambient, Reflective, Astralwerks, em:t, Silent, Moonshine, Rising High, Warp, Exist Dance, Visible, Eye Q and others were giving me such a wide-array of wonderful sounds of more subdued techno and rhythmic ambient music. I was buying every compilation I could at the time that looked remotely different based on the artwork, the unusual artist names or tracks. I was soaking in everything I could under the chill out style.
That year of 1994 I picked up the 2nd edition of Moonshine's 'United State of Ambience 2'.
It has so many good tracks on it. One track that always held a special place in my heart was Stryke's 'Introspection pt.1'. The simple but catchy melody layering. The easy atmosphere that made me feel like I was floating in the ocean. The deep 808 bass notes (I hope one day you and myself will hear this on an amazing sound system). The amazing strings that reach a crescendo nearing the end. This track has so many simple but beautiful sounds on it. It's a great example of what I call sequencer styled electronic music. At a time where producers layered tracks in more of a sequence then building or placing sounds.
In 2021 I was able to get a hold of Greg Chin to see if he was interested in putting the track on my label and letting it breath freely on its own side alone as the highlight of an EP. Greg
was enthusiastic about the opportunity and told me that he always wanted to complete the trilogy he had in mind of a part 2 and 3.
The ominous and eerie part 2 adds a terrific tension to the finale of part 3. The last being almost an updated part 1 really concluded the trilogy for me. Both parts melded together on side B pushing near 17 minutes.
I want to thank Greg letting us be a home to complete his journey.
- Tim Humphrey aka TIM aka errorsinspace
“Introspection Part 1” was written and recorded, in one take, with overdubs, while visiting a friend’s home studio, in Miami, in either late 1993 or early 1994. I was toying around my friend’s Roland Sound Canvas, checking out the presets, and immediately started creating the main chords upon landing on what I felt was a really inspiring atmospheric analogue string pad. I moved straight to my friend’s computer and started capturing the chords in his Cakewalk DAW. I quickly added some additional parts (drums, bass, piano, additional strings). All in all, it was a pretty quick and creative process…all steeped in feel and being in the moment. I named it ”Introspection Part 1”,with the intent of writing at least two additional parts or movements.
Fast forward to March of 1994, walking around the Fontainebleau Hotel, at my very first Winter Music Conference, with my Sony portable DAT recorder, in hand. I had a DAT with some of my music demos…mostly techno, along with “Introspection”. I’d refused to make demo tapes to leave with any label folks. I was insistent that they spend time listening to my DAT and exchange information. Steve Levy, owner at Moonshine Records was one of the folks I’d approached, as he sat poolside. He was kind enough to listen to my demos and asked for my contact information. He signed “Introspection Pt. 1” for the 2nd volume of Moonshine’s United State of Ambience. This was my first release, under my DJ/stage name. This was the true start of my music career.
Over time, I continued to release music and travel globally as a DJ and producer. I also became heavily involved in the music technology side of the industry, where I still spend quite a large chunk of my time.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continued being a big part of our existence, I decided it was time to finish the trilogy. I completed parts 2 and 3, close to each other, though it took me almost a year from start to finish, due to my music tech work, mostly. I knew I wanted part 2 to be a performance, born out of parts and pieces of part 1. This part was wholly performed on my Eurorack modular system, fully live and captured and recorded by Pro Tools. In contrast, for part 3, I wanted to take a more modern approach, but invoke the process of how I recorded and mixed part 1. I work almost entirely in Pro Tools, so I gave myself a sound set, mirroring the sounds and textures I used in part 1 (strings/pads, 808 kick drums, hi hat, piano) and went with that. I wanted to hear the difference of a Stryke in 1993/1994 and 2021/2022. But all with the theme (and variation of) of a look inward.
- Greg Chin
Our objective at re:discovery is to bring you lesser known music from the past to the present. Music that was great for the time and that is still futuristic today. We want to take a quality over quantity approach. Each release will be chosen carefully and presented with pride in hopes you are excited looking forward to the next. Thank you for your time and your interest in re:discovery records.
Sincerely,
re:discovery records
"you don't know where it's going unless you know where it came from"
- Bring back the chill out rooms! -
