Out there still are islands, not consumed by resorts and travelling influencers. Wide beaches are empty, wild animals inhabit the jungle and not even one car can be found. The local life flows slow, fullfilled with all-shared smile. Sometimes the strong wind comes bending the palm trees and heavy, thick rain purs, teaching respect towards imensity of the nature and reminding that all creatures are equal, no one more important from the others. But most of the the time, sun warms heads and hearts, allowing to find harmony when we stop being afraid and trust the surrounding world and ourselves. On one of these islands, the black coconut has been found.
“Black coco” is already the fourth album by a mysterious Flaner Klespoza. This time, the artist took a long journey that he wanted to fully commit to making music. After a few weeks of wandering, he managed to find the exotic paradise on one of the tropical islands he had dreamt about. It was there, surrounded by a jungle and the sounds of the sea, that he composed and recorded new tracks. That is how the “Black Coco” was created, on which we may hear not only electronic music but also field recordings from this trip.
Album is available in digital, as well as on very limited to only 33 copies cassette tapes. Both can be purchased on the label’s Bandcamp.
Flaner Klespoza on the „Black coco”:
Since I started recording music, I’ve dreamed about going to some tropical island and making the whole album there. Somewhere, after waking up each day, I could jump into the ocean, swim, and afterwards drink coffee in the accompaniment of cicadas. After this pleasing start of a day, my entire time I could spend on creating, unless I had no inspiration. Then I could wander around the neighbourhood with a recorder, in search for some interesting sounds. Just like that betwixt morning and evening.
Unfortunately, working on the album is a process, and holidays lasting one week or two can be time for settling in and finding one’s daily rhythm, at most. Working for a corporation, I put the dream on a shame shelf a while ago, where it was slowly disappearing under the thick layer of dust.
But then, on one wintery evening, while I was mopping around the house and looking for inspiration, something had spined my nose. Nothing strange this time of the year in Poland, with a big smog irritating one’s fragile nostrils. And so I sneezed, right on my shame shelf. Grey mite hairballs, flying in the air, had suddenly revealed my forgotten, shiny gold, blue, and green dream. I picked it up. It was pleasant to touch, smooth and a bit soft, still smelling like ocean, heated sand, and dark roasted coffee with coconut milk. I hugged it and felt warm inside. Then I decided to either do something with the dream or it would completely break and stop working, and dreams are to be fulfilled, not looked at. So I decided to leave. And that I do it this year.
For the next few months, I was wandering around the dark corners of my house, hunting for unused stuff I could sell. Then I learned that people buy anything when the price is low. This way, not only did I clear the space so I could put my beautiful dream next to the computer screen, but I also earned some money for a ticket halfway around the world. One way. I wasn’t worried about the return at that point.
After scrolling through a variety of pictures on the internet on the topic „beautiful tropical islands,” I picked one place I believed was on point. Nice, sandy beaches, coconut palm trees, a tropical climate, and exotic plants In short, paradise If that wasn’t enough, free power and wifi for the day. So around June, I booked the flight and took all the free days I was left with this year. Giving no explanation, after one of the colorful festivals at which I had played, I flew to my tropical island to make some music.
It was the beginning of July when I arrived at the postcard-like paradise. However, it turned out to be inhabited by a strange type of tourist I want nothing to do with. I had always seen this type as exceptionally invasive. I felt trapped and had to run away. It took me half a month to find an alternative island on which I would make my field studio. During that time, I ended up in both beautiful and horribly horrifying places. I’ve seen big cities and small villages.
I lost some savings on the way, but finally I found my dream place. It was clear water, wonderful beaches, and completely empty, so I was able to swim naked without worrying that someone might be staring, and I want to point out that I am a quite shy boy. I lived in the jungle with a breathtaking view of the whole island and easy access to the most wonderful sounds I could record while sitting on the porch. Soon, I also got used to sharing the space with various creatures, from insects eating geckos up to fist-sized spiders often hunting under the bed. I slept with cockroaches, and evenings I spent with moths, beetles, wasps, or hornets, attracted by light. Together, we listened to frogs. I didn’t only get friendly with mosquitoes, but they were quite well put off with incense, yet not enough not to get new bites each day. Sometimes I saw a bunch of monkeys sleeping on a tree next to my cottage or fury squirrel-looking friends jumping on palms. Also, mice, rats, colorful birds, and many kinds of hens, extracting worm-covered pasta lying on the ground. Rarely, but I saw snakes I feared the most. But it was enough to learn to mind each step, and they were getting away themselves.
After a few days there, having found my daily rhythm with a new microbiome and new little roommates, I began to make music. The time was going fast, and even faster came the end of my holidays. But I made my decision not to come back, not before I recorded the whole album. I had not spoken a word to my manager, moaning about upcoming deadlines and projects, all with no bigger sense in the middle of wild nature. So each day, for a few hours, I was logging onto my company’s laptop to click something, even though it seemed absurd.
In fact, my entire energy was focused on the music at the time. I thought that if I was to be fired, that was the right place to be. I stopped worrying about my „performance” being proper, and I began to create sounds. On mornings, I loved to jump into the sea, lying on my backs, drifting in my own thoughts, admiring swimming clouds and palm leaves dancing in the wind. Later, I was catching noises from the wind, rain, cicadas, birds, or dogs. I edited them on a computer and placed them in my tracks. I composed new melodies and programmed new rhythms. I was writing a new story. Piece by piece, the album was getting shape, starting to live, up to the point where I could buy my return ticket.
That way, I fulfilled my dream and recorded „Black Coco”.
Links:
Label’s website: https://somnambuliczne.pl
Label’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/somnambuliczne
Label’s Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/somnambuliczne
Artist’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flanerklespoza
Artist’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flaner_klespoza
Artist’s Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/flanerklespoza
