Eric Sublett
Strata
The word strata generally refers to layers of material, a fitting word for the inspiration of this album, which was inspired by daily sounds we may be accustomed to that offer musicality.
One example was my bathroom fan, which had a stutter-and-stop rhythm; sounds silly, but it caught my attention. Another example occurred during a night walk: two frogs were communicating, sometimes in perfect call-and-response harmony, but frequently tripping over each other's vocal rhythms.
These unique sounds are things we hear at home, at work, and in nature every day. I think the message I wanted to convey is to stop and listen to everything around you in this currently insane, fast-paced, technology-overloaded era.
This inspiration simultaneously derived from a musical spark to slow down sound and see what is offered inside. Piano riffs are manipulated & slowed, turning into glitch textures, single repeating note strikes that stimulate the brain, and percussion that sounds like the inside of machinery.
Regarding sound design influence beginning my musical journey as a drummer, followed by a synthesizer enthusiast, ambient music was the first form of electronic composition to spark excitement in my soul. It didn't take long for me to discover the works of Alva Noto & Ryuchi Sakamoto. I immediately fell in love with the marriage of glitch electronics and percussion with somber, contemplative piano. I went off and did dozens of different styles since discovering their music, but I always wanted to do my own version of contemplative, ambient piano-based music with electronics. So you could say this album is about 10 years in the making, there was no secret revelation to finally configure a way to create something like this, it just occurred naturally this month in 2026.
Thank you from the bottom of my deepest soul to Mr. Sakamoto for all the inspiring music across so many genres, my work would be half as inspired without you (and Alva Noto of course as well).
