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The Improvised Dreamscapes of “Maybe We Leave”

Ryan Buell "Maybe We Leave" Press Photo
Ryan Buell. Photo courtesy of Ryan Buell and Garrett Gleason
Garrett Gleason Press Photo
Garrett Gleason. Photo courtesy of Ryan Buell and Garrett Gleason

DC based guitarists, Garrett Gleason and Ryan Buell, have teamed up for an experimental collaboration titled Maybe We Leave. Recorded at the historic Black Cat this past October, the album’s foundation was pulled from 3 hours’ worth of guitar improvisations which were later developed into full compositions.

“I met Buell back in 2014 when his group Kabob-o-Taj shared the stage with my group Cartoon Weapons at a festival in Silver Spring, MD” Gleason recalls. “It was immediately clear that we both had a similar desire to push ourselves on our instruments while creating music that both invites and challenges listeners.”

It’s not readily apparent that album relies so heavily on improvisation because of the crystal-clear production and mixing by acclaimed engineer Sean Gotkin. It swings drastically between moods and tempos giving a dream-like sense of scale and speed between varying musical ideas. Pulling together elements of jazz, prog, alternative rock, and electronica, the technical precision of both guitarists is awe-inspiring which makes the off-the-cuff nature of the whole experience even more exciting.

“In finally getting to make a record with [Ryan], we got to do things in a way that serves our desires to both improvise with others and maniacally produce in our homes without anyone telling us what to do” Gleason says. “A treat for me was that our decision to not get in each other’s way in the production process yielded songs that share guitar parts. Therefore, the listener gets to hear how either one of us interprets and develops a musical idea, almost like a glimpse into each of our imaginations, and the album has incidental themes throughout it as a result. This was a unique process for both of us, and I am deeply proud of the result.”

Maybe We Leave is available now on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and BandCamp. Find this and more great music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.

Garret Gleason and Ryan Buell Q&A with Alchemical Records Aug 29, 2022
Join us August 29th for our in depth interview with Garrett Gleason & Ryan Buell about their collaborative album "Maybe We Leave".

Charlie Maybee

Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.

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