Unorthodox Existence is a direct look into the mind of multi-instrumentalist and composer Owen Carswell. Growing up in Boise, Idaho, Owen would find solace in artists like William Basinksi, Tim Hecker, Stars of the Lid, Earl Sweatshirt, and Aphex Twin. These artists along with a difficult upbringing would go onto influence his artistic output In the subsequent years.
“I feel very connected to the land, growing up I remember traveling around the Pacific Northwest and watching the environment outside my car window change before my eyes. In my music I find myself conjuring environments much like the kind I’ve been watching my whole life. Recently, I’ve been interested in using music as a guise to express abstract emotion. I wan’t to evoke feelings that are hard to identify.”
Requiems is the spiritual successor to In Between Here and Never. Unlike many of my other works, Requiems was greatly inspired by literature. During the eight months of recording, I was simultaneously reading an array of books, some of which being,
Requiems can be defined as lamentations for the dead. However, I feel as if there is a great misunderstanding within this concept. Why is it that some become fixated on what is lost? Is death not just a simple consequence of life? In No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai, a young and naive man named Yozo with little regard for his well-being toys with death as if it is nothing more than an inevitable consequence of his unhealthy actions. He maintains some level of desire for his future, but fails to maintain the drive to pursue his interests and he constantly finds himself in a cycle of disappointment. His deep seeded pessimism constantly prevents him from achieving what he aspires to be.
I believe there is valence in Albert Camus’ belief that pessimism leads to tyranny and therefore violence. That being violence towards others, or towards the self.
It is because of this I fail to see how we as humans can simultaneously mourn what is in the past while pessimistically viewing the future.
My fourth album Requiems is a collection of lamentations for the dead. Dead thoughts, dead dreams, dead memories. It is through the act of lamenting that I can give these things a proper send off, while not denying their importance in my life at one point.
The future remains bright, even through the sadness.
Partially recorded in Ridenbaugh Hall (August 2023 – May 2024)
Even in the Quietest of Moments [2024 Remaster] (1:18)
All Things Come to an End [2024 Remaster] (3:38)
Cegador, Pt. 1 [2024 Remaster] (1:12)
Cegador, Pt. 2 [2024 Remaster] (3:49)
For C.R. – Dry [2024 Remaster] (1:51)
State of Decline [2024 Remaster] (2:24)
Acceptance [2024 Remaster] (2:57)
Occide Occulto (2:27)
Originally released in October of 2022, “The Weight of Time” and its sister EP “Fragments” have both been remastered and re-released to better fit the original vision for the respective projects. “Occide Occulto” is a previously unheard piano dirge from the vault now available for the first time.
A hazy whirlwind of noise, made with cassette loops of a bewildered melody. For me, this track encapsulates a sense of wonder and uncertainty. The photo is from a trip I took to Seaside, Oregon in December of 2023. Seaside along with Cannon Beach close by are two of my favorite places in the entire world. The morning I took that photo I walked alongside the shore while it was raining while I listened to William Basinski and Tim Hecker. I feel at peace there, I’d like to be buried there someday.
Atrium can be used to describe a central hall or court in a modern building, however it can also be used to describe each of the two upper cavities of the heart from which blood is passed to the ventricles. Both of these definitions are the basis for “Music for Atriums.”
Standing as the third studio album from multi-instrumentalist and composer Owen Carswell, MFA is both a look into the past and the future. Combining elements of Owen’s debut album “Deluge” through the watery and meditative ambient swells as well as elements from his sophomore release “In Between Here and Never” with his use of orchestral touches and hypnotic tape delays.
Music for Atriums is a meditative experience unlike many other in the ambient/drone genre. Owen has long believed that there is a connection or link between musical frequencies and brain functioning. The purpose of MFA is to utilize certain frequencies in a way that promotes healing and relief in the brain.
174 Hz is believed to relive pain and stress, 285 Hz heals tissues and organs, 396 Hz releases fear and guilt, and 417 Hz facilitates change.
All of these frequencies are implemented throughout the 40-minute runtime of Music for Atriums. The low humming swells drift in and out like the ocean tide while delicate melodies rejoice above. Let the music fill the halls of your mind and flow like waves in the ocean, or blood through the heart.
As 2023 was drawing to an end, I found myself harboring an intense sense of anxiety. 2023 had many highs and lows, and the thought of leaving it all behind and moving into a new year felt strange. The music of “Drones for the Next Century” had been evolving inside of me since I made the cover art in November of 2022. It is a sonic representation of me coming to terms with the past year and the ambiguity of the future. Track one “Dim Lights Across the Night Sky” begins with a sample from my high school graduation in May of 2023, it felt like a pretty fitting start to the project.
The concept of an “indefinite silence” is one I think about often. There’s an eerie sense of unknowing when thinking about how long it will be before speaking to that person again, if ever. It’s strange to think someday you will speak to them for the last time, whenever that may be.
The only word I can use to describe this album is crushing. Recording for “In Between Here and Never” took place over a six month period (October 2022 – March 2023) during which I was going through one of the lowest points of my life. The Music of IBHAN is beautiful, however there exists a deep weight and dread underneath that cannot be denied.
Recorded during a week of pure isolation, the Weight of Time is an intimate experience between the listener and the music. I didn’t leave the house once during these seven days, I sat with my thoughts and spent hours upon hours in every room of my house staring at walls. Towards the end of the seven days, The Weight of Time was recorded in a few hours. The music really manifested itself.
“Deluge” was my debut album. I recorded it in the summer of 2022 while I was still 16 years old. I didn’t really know what I was doing, I was trying things and seeing what worked. Despite my uncertainty towards my first album, It turned out better than I could have ever hoped. To this day I am proud of what it stands for in my catalog, even if my skills were not as honed at the time of its recording. I am currently remastering the album to better align with my initial vision of the project.
Unorthodox Existence 