Chiller is the juxtaposition between calm and anxious. The word Chiller can have two meanings, a "chiller" can be another word for thriller or something scary or chilling. While the other meaning is quite the opposite in referring to "chilling" or relaxing/calm. With every trauma there is the beginning of pain/anxiety hopefully followed by a calming at the end. This EP, to me, captures both and the inbetween.
About the Artwork:
"Meant to ward off evil spirits, modern Komainu statues are almost identical, but one has the mouth open, the other closed. The open mouth is pronouncing the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, which is pronounced "a", while the closed one is uttering the last letter, which is pronounced "um", to represent the beginning and the end of all things."
The Komainu statue in this photo has been with my family for as long as I can remember. It went from being outside on the deck of my first house up to age 7 when it was moved to the front door of my newer home in Livingston. I've always loved how menacing it looked. The tail has been broken for years now, but we still keep it together in front of the house. I never knew what it meant until I decided to use it in my album cover and when I looked it up, it felt perfect.
Drums recorded and engineered by Brandon Lipman in December of 2015
Sander Bryce - Drums, sampling, arranging, curating
Chris Lee - Guitar tracks 1 and 2
Brian Seltzer - Guitar tracks 2 and 4 and Synths on track 3
Henry Yavorski - Bass track 4 and Synths on track 3
Kevin O'Donnell - Bass track 2
Ian Eckstein - Bass track 1
Matt Sherbatsky - Bass tracks 4 and 5, Guitars on track 4
Matt Hull - Trumpet track 1
Evan Lawrence - Bass track 5
Nick Koechel - Bass track 5
Brandon Lipman - original samples tracks 1, 2, and 4
Samuel Ogoe "Canteen Killa" - co-production tracks 1, 2, and 4
Jonah Levine - Synth and keys tracks 3 and 5
Dan Stone - Guitar track 2, Synth track 5
Special thanks to Karen and Sloane Bryce, Katherine Kerr, People Like You, Pet Jail, BIGPAT, Alex "Coach" Pickert, 1997 Recordings Collective, Coach and Sons Booking, All of "Squad" in Boston for inspiring me and supporting all of my musical endeavors, and all of you who give enough of a shit to give this a listen.
With an organic sample-based approach to jazz music, H A U N T E R blends samples and live instrumentation as a duo while featuring many different artists.
This is album is like nothing I've ever heard. I love how the dissonance turns into cohesion and then proceeds to flow between the two. The jazziness of it, the tenderness of it, the lightheartedness of the sound in places...it really astounds me. I wish I could listen to it for the first time again. coitosk