The October Turn

Busting the 20 degree celsius mark over a holiday weekend in the middle of a Canadian October is about as strange as finding imagery of change on a Caribbean beach where the temperature and sun beams flirt within a very tight and predictable margin. Two weeks away with Mar alongside the still turquoise waters & white sands gives a seemingly infinite set of moments to feel connected in some way. It's a side of me that isn't unlocked very often in this northern climate, and emerges when I drift closer towards the humid sun of my birthplace, Trinidad.

My father enjoys telling me stories of his past, navigating the oceans and seas of the world, the ebb & flow of the currents & tides. I spent so much time in the water that even in the night, I could feel the frequent movements of the sea from my abdomen to my grown sea legs. Waves traverse the globe and crash into the shores, pulverizing some ancient rocks into fine beach grains. The horizon is cut straight by the blue sky at the unattainable distance. I found out later that our minds give into the illusion, believing its much farther away than the 3 miles where it actually lies. It's true you can never catch it after you start running towards it, but then again, the possibilities are much closer than we'd like to think. It's funny to imagine that the Flat Earth Society put all their chips into a belief bet that could have been revealed, merely 3 miles out.

Monica Farago is a personality you'd love to meet. Her's is a character that has grown to fill all the seams of her spirit. Multi-faceted & energetic, I was honored when she decided to write an article about You Are My Symphonic's two releases: ABOA & IFYFOM. She speaks of my love affair with aviation & goes as far as to call me a "musical master chef". A great friend & music lover, thank you Monica for all your support. You can check out her article at the following link:

Toe Jam Mondays: You Are My Symphonic Blends Intelligence & Beats

I remember to one year ago this weekend when I shot the footage with Mar, Vas & Kelly at Le Massif mountain in Quebec, Canada. David Woodford edited those images into this beautiful piece. If you haven't already seen it, I trust this will help wrap you in the colors of the season.

Leaning into the turn through October,

Vish (You Are My Symphonic)

YAMS Featured by No Ripcord & Interviewed by Nanolog

Well the start of August has been a furious push forward for the release of "I Found Your Faces of Montreal" (IFYFOM). Within the span of a week, I was delighted to hear such positive feedback on the album which was accompanied by some very exciting requests!

First off, the highly acclaimed online indie music & film magazine, "No Ripcord", has featured You Are My Symphonic in their monthly "Your New Favorite Band" feature where they profile two under-the-radar acts. That in itself was highly rewarding for me, but, it turns out this is also a competition! The artist whose profile article receives the most 'Tweets' and Facebook 'Likes' will win the title of No Ripcord Readers New Artist of the Month along with one month's worth of free banner advertising and a coveted spot on our monthly podcast, The No RipCast. So, check out the link below! I hope you enjoy the article & please vote!

Your New Favorite Band #6: You Are My Symphonic

Simultaneously, the heart-on-sleeve photography & music blogger behind "Nanolog" has reviewed the YAMS catalogue from "Afternoon Birds of Arima" (ABOA) to IFYFOM. Those albums seem to come along at the right time in a very sunny Scotland & I thoroughly enjoyed reading this personal take on the albums. He also asked me to participate in his "Seven Questions With..." series which is an open-ended conversation starter to find out what makes artists tick.

Nanolog's 'You Are My Symphonic' Post

Seven Questions with Vishal Kassie AKA 'You Are My Symphonic'

Onwards With August,

Vish (You Are My Symphonic)

Afternoon Birds Of Arima

Last summer, my good friends Richard and Keisha asked me in their casual way to write the notes that would start their lives together. The character of the next three seasons found their way into Afternoon Birds of Arima which was played at their wedding at Santa Rosa Catholic Church in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago on May 16th, 2009. This album also marks the 22 years it took for me to return to my birthplace and to explore a life that I once knew.

The Northeast trade winds that we felt pass through the curtains recaptured those childhood images that became faded and helped paint the lines of the pages that you'll write together.

For Richard And Keisha.

released 26 June 2009

All music written and produced by Vishal Kassie

Vocals on Rainfall In Arima (Closing Credits) by Anna Farago

Copyright US Library of Congress SR 634-229

Tell Me How You Loved The Year, SCQ!

SCQ just revealed a year-end feature designed to celebrate this year's diverse line-up of artists. I was equally thrilled and surprised when SCQ contacted me with interest for my contribution. You can read my answers to his email interview and those of the other artists, producers and label-heads that were placed together across five days of musical stories

YAMS' Answers

Skeleton Crew Quarterly's Year-End Review

On The Shoulders Of Friends

With my past album's releases limited to my family and close friends, I've been overwhelmed over the last few weeks by the response to Afternoon Birds Of Arima. Thank you for feeling compelled to play it for others and for letting You Are My Symphonic be a part of your soundscape - I'd love to hear your stories.

This wedding album underwent transformations through each passing season of its creation and seems to continue on while traveling the world but only on the shoulders of the following friends:

Bolachas

Exile On Moan Street

Apllywarch

Shiannikureru

DMAT Matters

Last.FM

Very special thanks to Interfase - PuroJazz and 4ZZZ FM for including YAMS in their playlists alongside some great electronic and ambient artists!

Interfase - PuroJazz

Interfase Podcast

Enola.Travel

4ZZZ FM

As always, sincere thanks to the Skeleton Crew Quarterly for their continuing support. Check it out and I promise you'll find something new and exciting. Caution: Albums everywhere - This may take you a while!

Skeleton Crew Quarterly

Afternoon Birds Of Arima

Last summer, my good friends Richard and Keisha asked me in their casual way to write the notes that would start their lives together. The character of the next three seasons found their way into Afternoon Birds of Arima which was played at their wedding at Santa Rosa Catholic Church in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago on May 16th, 2009. This album also marks the 22 years it took for me to return to my birthplace and to explore a life that I once knew.

The Northeast trade winds that we felt pass through the curtains recaptured those childhood images that became faded and helped paint the lines of the pages that you'll write together.

For Richard And Keisha.

(Link Replaced by Bandcamp.com)

1. Afternoon Birds Of Arima (Opening Credits)

2. Almost Time (Flower Girls)

3. Painted Lines (The Bride)

4. Walk Out With Me (Leaving Santa Rosa)

5. Rainfall In Arima (Closing Credits) - Vocals By Anna Farago

Looking forward to your comments or email me at youaremysymphonic@gmail.com !

Skeleton Crew Quarterly Reviews Afternoon Birds Of Arima

Many thanks to SCQ for reviewing YAMS' latest album Afternoon Birds Of Arima:

SCQ Rating: 80%

From the moment I hear the first lilting piano notes of Afternoon Birds of Arima, it’s a knee-jerk reaction for me to recall You Are My Symphonic (AKA Vishal Kassie)’s evolution to date. Moving from found-sound folk – at first traditional (Through the Forest With My Love), then more ambitious (Let Ring Indefinitely) – to laptop-based songwriting (often bordering on electronica and post-rock), Kassie’s is a discography that would tongue-tie most. Yet two years after This is January, the recording that found him toying with loads of synths and greater production, You Are My Symphonic returns with Afternoon Birds of Arima, a largely instrumental mood-piece written to soundtrack his friend’s wedding. As if it needs to be said, Kassie has thrown the ace of all double-takes.

If in doubt, listen to the opening title track; a fourteen minute splash of cinematic ripples all padding off the parameters of his piano-coda and cresting back into itself. With each pillow-soft collision and expertly timed six-string echo, ‘Afternoon Birds of Arima (Opening Credits)’ seems to puff out its chest, growing not out of pomposity, but out of grace. That its fourteen minutes feels like three is merely a footnote when ‘Almost Time (Flower Girls)’ ushers in, carrying those aforementioned piano arpeggios into a virtual cascade of saintly synths and low-end keys. As with the opening couplet from This is January, these tracks are halves to a whole; suites which together either invoke sweet memories or capture new ones. A much-needed reprieve is found in ‘Painted Lines (The Bride)’ as Kassie ditches much of his palette and lets silence play its key role in a bell-chiming aisle-walk that paves way for the album’s most emotional apex, ‘Walk Out With Me’. Whereas This Is January negated some of its impact by stressing its own presence with conflicting styles, Afternoon Birds of Arima’s singular focus gives credence to these occasional heaves of drama. In other words, we embrace the warmth and anticipation of these movements as if we’re at the chapel, hillside, beach or city hall; breathing in those moments of forever, whether they prove to last or not. If there’s a fracture in the focus, it’s last track ‘Rainfall in Arima (Closing Credits)’, which despite remaining true to the album’s tone and progression, seems like an unforeseen epilogue after the church-bell close of the preceding track. Maybe that’s just me getting caught up in the imagery though; after all, the track boasts an unexpected but smooth vocal performance by guest Anna Farago that wraps things nicely.

Now a word on weddings: we know nearly half of them fail, that they take up our weekends, that open-bar is the greatest draw and small-talk among extended family is tantamount to Chinese water torture. Yet we can also recognize that indescribable feeling of watching two people you thought you knew well, standing in front of each other as unnerved and flushed as first-date romancers. Whether it’s the cash-in expectations of twenty-first century matrimony or (hopefully) the thrill of actual wedlock, people behave as though it’s judgement day at weddings. And it’s that flirtation of permanence, that these two souls might spend their lives hopelessly grateful for one another, that keeps an honest-to-god magic to weddings. Afternoon Birds of Arima encapsulates that do-or-die romanticism and, for that reason alone, shouldn’t be considered exclusive to ceremonial soundtracking. At the very worst, this curious release boasts that You Are My Symphonic might be the best wedding DJ ever. At its best, Afternoon Birds of Arima is an ambient must-listen; Kassie’s first post-classical outing which finds him at home with his production and his muse.

SCQ Full Review of Afternoon Birds of Arima