Today marks the 10th anniversary of my debut album, Edge of Wind.
The album really took its time back in the day. I think I “found” my ambient style around the year 2000. Who knew it would take 15 years before the first album? I had played some gigs, but the songs didn’t find their form, and I always thought it was more of a live act.
However, somehow some songs started to take their form. I was recording some ideas and processing the music that happened. I did some traveling abroad and also inside my head. In the songs you can hear the awesomely beautiful blue moment on the Galata Bridge in Istanbul as well as some painful growing moments and realizations.
On the day of recording I felt sick, but I knew I had to do it. I took some painkillers and drove to the studio. Back then I had a Yamaha G100-212II and a pretty newly acquired ’78 Fender Twin Reverb. We set them up in the large playing room and it sounded amazing. This was of course also thanks to my old trusty Korg A3, which has all these sweet delays and reverbs.
I had a great morning and most of that went straight on the record. After lunch I started feeling really sick, and although I worked a full day, the afternoon material didn’t sound so good. Afterwards I did some additional takes at home.
The title was coined by my late father. We went rowing on a beautiful summer day on our home lake. It was a calm day with some light wind gusts on the lake. He pointed behind me and said, “Look, there’s the edge of wind,” where the gust made some tiny ripples in the otherwise dead calm water.
The cover photograph was taken in Iceland, on the black sand beach of Vik. The wind there was ruthless; I had to lean against it to get closer to the beach, stepping on the slippery rocks. Then a flock of birds flew across the horizon and I got my cover. My son later set the type nicely to blend in with the birds.
The creation of the record was an awesome experience, a start of something new, something creative and beautiful.
Take a listen if you haven’t for a while, for example on these platforms:
› https://aleksi.bandcamp.com/album/edge-of-wind
› https://music.apple.com/fi/album/edge-of-wind/1444198557
› https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nFXLQjHvKxBIAnPvrDEQUhhUdFylnGCnk
› https://tidal.com/album/99232127/
