PRODUCER | ENGINEER | MIXER

This is the first album ever recorded in outer space.

 

I worked on it collaboratively with Chris. All of his parts were done during his time in orbit as the Commander of the International Space Station, Mir, using an iPad and Garageband. Chris created an apparatus that held the iPad and mic in front of him in his sleeping pod.

 

When he and I met for the first time to discuss music, one of the most striking things was how intimate and isolated you are on a spaceship. You have this incredible perspective watching the world rotate 100s of times per day out of your bedroom window.

 

I really wanted the album to capture Chris's storytelling the way a Gordon Lightfoot album does... there is this bedroom aspect to the way Gordon's albums are that feels like he's sitting right next to you playing guitar - but there's also beautiful orchestral arrangements. We tried to find instruments that aren't typically used in pop music... contra-alto clarinet, bassoon, baritone fiddle, accordion, turkish clarinets...  For the end of "Big Smoke" I was given access to NASA audio archives and made a montage of several famous launches as well as Chris's launches.

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"I'm just the space cadet... he's the commander." - David Bowie

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