Today I’ll introduce you to Vincent DiFrancesco (viola) and Evergreens (Nick Goleeke, piano). They’re both from Seattle in the USA. Their history goes back to when they were in school and played together, but this collaboration presented today is their first release together.
We both have an appreciation for minimalist, ambient electronic, and neo-classical music.
Tell us something about Weightless!
All three of the tracks were recorded in about 45 minutes or so in a practice room of Boston Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts, where Nick and I met for a weekend. Evergreens selected the room because the piano was fitted with felt. Everything was improvised – we did only one take of the first two tracks. In between takes though we totally fooled around laughed our heads off. And the mics were still hot so we have a lot of memorable and hilarious audio still to look back at. We had to settle down before recording again.
There’s something really special about improvising. When I was in the room with Nick, I could feel like we were communicating in a very special way, something not possible with spoken language. When you’re nervous about what’s going to happen next but things fit together in the spontaneity of the moment – that’s what makes improvisational sessions like this so beautiful.
Is there a theme throughout the release?
The theme here at first was the improvised element. For a listener to be able to hear two people essentially having a conversation musically over the course of five or so minutes is something very special. After recording however and listening through the session, Nick and I shared ideas about what kind of images or feelings we associated the pieces with. For the title track in particular, Nick had a very strong image of a figure floating or swimming in water. The idea of feeling almost weightless, submerged in water, was very powerful in this context.
Check out these instagram account for more information:
Evergreens / Vincent DiFrancesco
And if the link doesn’t work, you can find the wonderful album Weightless here!
Thank you for your participation Evergreens and Vincent!