Challenger Deep
Dead Calm (first single from album) | Independent (2024)
Challenger Deep is a ten-movement work written for electronic chamber orchestra, and the 3rd studio LP by saxophonist/composer/producer Stratøs.
On a fundamental level, the album synthesizes the heavily emphasized audio production elements of Planets with the more compositional, thematic aesthetics of Hohenheim Suites to create something wholly new. As somewhat of a response to the space-themed debut LP, Challenger Deep investigates some of the deeper issues modern society faces, this time through an aquatic lens.
Stratøs' late grandfather Edward Codrington was a fisherman from Barbados in the early 20th century. His unique status as a master of his craft with a rare motorized vessel gave him access to waters that other fishermen couldn’t venture into. In the vein of 14th century Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, Stratøs intends to use this motif to tell a story where Codrington descends from the surface of the sea all the way down to the Challenger Deep, the lowest part of Earth’s deepest ocean, the Mariana Trench. His journey will be the catalyst for Stratøs to explore themes ranging from the effects of climate change, the ever-mysterious contents of Earth's oceans, to the fates of enslaved African people whose bodies never made it to the Americas and beyond.
PROJECT INFORMATION
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• Stratøs: executive producer, composer, lead engineer, production, mixing, tape transfer (tracks 01, 03-10), flute (tracks 02, 03, 04, 06-09), Native American Flute (track 06), Bb clarinet (tracks 02, 03, 04, 06-09), tenor saxophone (tracks 02, 03, 04, 06, 07, 08), bass clarinet (tracks 03, 06, 08) EWI 4000s (tracks 02, 03, 05, 07, 08), Minimoog Model D (track 04), Steiner-Parker Synthacon (track 01), Oberheim OB-8 (track 08), Roland Juno-60 (track 04), Roland Jupiter-6 (track 04, 06,), Roland Jupiter-8 (track 06), Prophet Rev2, (tracks 01, 04, 06, 07, 08), Mellotron (tracks 04, 06, 07), Grand Piano (tracks 01, 08) Wurlitzer 200a (tracks 04, 08), Rhodes Mark I (all tracks), Roland XV-3080 (track 05), Omnichord OM-84 (track 05), Fostex Model 250 (all tracks), lyrics (track 02)
• Julia Moffa: vocals, lyrics (tracks 02, 03, 06, 08, 09)
Joshua Bryant: Prophet-6, Nord Electro 6d (track 10)
Adam Hersh: Moog Matriarch, Oberheim Matrix 1000, Korg Minilogue, Rhodes Mark I, Rhodes Mark V (tracks 02-04, 06-10)
Daniel Durst: Moog Subsequent 25, electric bass, upright bass, Mellotron (tracks 02-04, 06-09)
Jermaine Paul: electric bass (track 10)
Myles Martin: drums (tracks 02, 03)
Ebs Daramola: drums (tracks 04, 06-10)
• Neil Cole: oboe, english horn (tracks 04, 07)
Madison SQRGRDN Dorsett: horn (track 04)
Kyra Harris: bassoon (tracks 04, 07)
Tristan Cappel: flute, alto flute, bass flute, soprano saxophone, Bb clarinet, bass clarinet (tracks 02, 03)
Yakiv Tvietinskyi: trumpet, flugelhorn, Rhodes Mark I (tracks 03, 04)
Nathan Kay: trumpet, flugelhorn (track 02)
Nick Crane: trombone (tracks 02, 03)
Alex Mansour: piano, cello (tracks 02, 03, 06, 07, 09)
• Telemakus: Sequential Trigon-6 (track 03, 10)
Olga Hornachenko: bandura (track 04)
Virginia MacDonald: Bb clarinet (track 10)
Melanie Charles: vocals (track 08)
Cookie: vocals, lyrics (track 10)
• Becket Cerny: assistant production, assistant engineering (drums) (tracks 02, 03)
Jordan Temple: producer (track 02)
• Conor Rayne: engineering (drums) (tracks 04, 06-10)
Chris Sorem: engineering (drums) (track 02)
Sierra Winter-Klepel: assistant engineering (drums) (track 02)
William Corduroy: tape transfer (track 02)
Samuel Peters: mastering (all tracks)
• special thanks:
Julie Ann Hancsak
Eric Hancsak
Frank Moffa
Joshua Bryant -
• Dead Calm:
Look into my sunken stare
Where days drift into the light
A window to your hollow glare
And dark mellowed by the night
Empty sea of frozen air
Time is your destined plight
To live is to endure despair
So show me the way
And day after day
When sails will betray
Where stillness can play
So show me the way
And day after day
When sails will betray
Where stillness can play
So show me the way
Just show me the way
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