The Expedition For The Future

Hi Friends,

They say a new age of enlightenment is upon us & I can already sense it's brew of pleasant thoughts. I've been looking back on the early few weeks of this year and have continually asked myself, "That's it? It's only February?!". I hope you are all experiencing moments that you'll cherish.

It's sometimes hard to define that exact moment when things started in motion for you. The momentum of 2012 began when The Skeleton Crew Quarterly (SCQ) ranked "I Found Your Faces of Montreal" at #5 of their 2011 top albums list. Finding my place on that well-guarded list found me completely speechless & capped off an absolutely wonderful year for You Are My Symphonic. Warmest thanks to SCQ for their post, and equally, to you all who have listened and made "I Found Your Faces of Montreal" a part of your experiences. My pride swells when I think of the possibility of you forging new memories with my album in hand. Thank you.

SCQ Ranks "I Found Your Faces of Montreal" at #5 from 2011

Jason Rodi of Nomad Nation is an explorer. He's currently on a cross sub-antarctic voyage to Bouvet Island which is the most remote island in the world. Over the past months, he's collected the visions of the next 50 years from school children, adults, artists, scientists, anybody really. They will placed in a time capsule & buried in the farthest point from humanity - a voyage to the future. It's been tough and on the eve of the landing on Bouvet island, Jason expresses his thoughts with the warmth of "The Light Across Your Face". It glows a feeling of "We Made It". I'll always watch this as a reminder of going there, wherever there may be. What is your vision of the future?

The Expedition For The Future (NotreFutur.org)

Last Broadcast Before Bouvet from The NOMADS on Vimeo.

Best,

Vish

(You Are My Symphonic)

Halloween's Weekend

Well in the usual last minute movements just before a Halloween party, I was scouring the streets and my mind for costume ideas. My morning meditation session yielded only visions of prop-driven costumes that had me carrying an inflatable anvil or round ended weights & a tattered and inverted umbrella. Props are usually my friends at Halloween. Last year, Mar & I went to the park and gathered up some leaves and branches while keeping watch for the cops as unsure criminals. Lots of tape later & with a stuffed toy owl sitting in my shirt, I was instantly a tree. Several thumbs up from constant judging tied to Halloween told me that I had pulled it off. But with a tight spaced party in the future plans for this evening, I figured I better tighten things up. A gorilla suit had a hold on me, but the heat would prove to be unbearable and the crucial drinking hole in the mouth was missing. A wig, curly moustache, a doctor's coat & a big novelty foam finger will make me some kind of weirdo proctologist, even to be confused with Borat. Fall forgive me, but wish me luck.

Best,

Vish
(You Are My Symphonic)

CBC Radio 2 Airplay & SCQ Review

It was by chance that I checked Laurie Brown's CBC Radio 2: The Signal playlist on my way out from work & I was thrown back in my seat when I saw You Are My Symphonic in the first hour of the broadcast. I started on with the social media & texting various friends and family. My sister, Ro, even called my mother, who's birthday was the same day, to help her dial into the CBC station out of Toronto. It was an extremely fulfilling moment to hear those first few scattered notes of "Autumn Will Fall in Love" hit the airwaves. A beautiful moment to be played, especially with the autumn theme of the broadcast. If that wasn't enough, the highlight description of The Signal Podcast #66 featured the uneasy history of I Found Your Faces of Montreal. Then, to cap it off, "I Traveled Home" was put into the rotation on Monday. Take the podcast with you in your autumn walks and don't be surprised to discover new contemporary experimental music with The Signal.

CBC Radio 2 The Signal Podcast #66 (First hour which features YAMS)

CBC Radio 2 The Signal (Full Broadcast Stream)

Exploring through the independent & experimental music scene can result in adventurous sea stories of the times you stumbled upon growing musical collectives, all-star mixers & masters and microlabels putting out handcrafted keep-sakes. Ryan Pratt, who is at the helm of The Skeleton Crew Quarterly (SCQ), has a well earned reputation for truly understanding and keeping up with the steady flow of albums, both personal and promotional, that land at his doorstep, giving the attention these albums deserve. With his endless support, Ryan has written a review for ABOA & had asked me to contribute to his Year End Review Feature back in 2009. This week, IFYFOM was featured in his Quarterly Feature which explores music tied to the natural growth or decay of a season. It's a great honour to have the album rated at 88% & to be at home with other autumn tones. Enjoy the review & the depths of music where SCQ is continually steering us towards.

SCQ Review of IFYFOM (Autumn Records Feature)

Best,

Vish

(You Are My Symphonic)

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)

IFYFOM Release Party at The Loyola Chapel: Filled With Good Souls

It was truly expected, given the long, vast & troubled story of the last four years, that the moments leading up to June 25th echoed the writing of "I Found Your Faces of Montreal". For several weeks, I had been searching for the right venue to both host my friends & family and to mirror the mood that I had envisaged for this album's first showcase. On a chance evening drive to a comedy club in the western Quebec countryside is where Paris-mate Stu & Helen fell into a conversation about multiculturalism & artistic possibilities, centered around The Loyola Chapel. This once Catholic stone church with high arched ceilings had been handed over to the University and it's up-keep & personality was being groomed daily by Helen. A few afternoons later, we sat on the side-door steps and charted out the initial ideas for the release party.

Over the coming weeks, I had the pleasure of rehearsing through the night in this ancient space, becoming familiar with her lights, shadows, acoustics & rustic smells. Like the strongest thread of "I Found Your Faces of Montreal", this first and most special show was pulled forward with the hands of my friends & family.

Truest thanks to Mar for sitting at the center of the chapel & listening for the right mix balance, Roshini for sacrificing 24 hours on a bus to only spend 24 hours in Montreal which most were filled with frantic preparations, Davy for stitching together & projecting the places that we've visited, My dear Toronto friends who made the trip to this city, The many friends that helped move pews & kept the energy flowing, Matei for preserving these moments through photographs, Helen & her crew for their support and extremely gratifying atmosphere, The passersby that walked in & enjoyed these moments, All the souls, both in body & spirit, that couldn't be at the Chapel, your support and love took a seat among us in the intimate cluster of pews.

The night surpassed all of my desires & my fingers felt nimble on the guitar and piano. I had the opportunity to speak with each of you after the performance about your reactions & feelings. I sensed your deep kinship with the music, visuals, atmosphere & their encircling stories. The success of the evening was revealed in those telling moments, when you felt how much you all are intertwined with this 8-song personal diary.

Your incredible generosity through the evening led to a total possible donation of 110$ towards charity. As many of you know, I have been a volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross and I have taken part in various relief efforts. Half of the donation has been given to the Canadian Red Cross to continue to support the victims of the Quebec flooding which began during the spring-thaw. My sister has spearheaded a few programs on behalf of the Lung Association aimed at enhancing our air quality & health. Breath is one of the basic & simple elements of life which is also directly linked to our emotions. The remaining half of the donation has been given to the New Brunswick Lung Association to help contribute to clean air initiatives.

I remember feeling awkward when answering that almost generic question when you meet new people: "So, what do you do?". Standard responses include listing the top line of your resume. Momentum gathered from the immense journey of "I Found Your Faces of Montreal" & this very special evening showcase with you all has solidified that my pool of words to draw from should always begin with musician, artist & to wherever that leads.

The Very Best,

Vish (You Are My Symphonic)

Photography by Matei Dragutescu Photography Alex and Matei

www.alex4d.deviantart.com & www.alexwedding.deviantart.com

From I Found Your Faces of Montreal

From I Found Your Faces of Montreal

I Found Your Faces Of Montreal

Mastered by Mark Beazley of Trace Recordings

300 Limited Edition CD & Digital

Total Running Time: 52:18

Release Date & Launch Event: June 25th, 2011

The Loyola Chapel, Montreal, Canada

Live Set, Visuals, Cocktails for Charity

Event Details Click Here

Press Release:

It seems almost fated that You Are My Symphonic’s love-letter to Montreal would be usurped by his previous stomping-ground but that’s what happened when, during a Toronto stay in 2008, Vishal Kassie’s laptop was stolen. For fans well aware of how location often shapes this songwriter’s muse, the symbolism was particularly treacherous; that the near-finished recordings – which chronicled the forward-thinking changes in Kassie’s Montreal life – managed to evaporate mere hours after he’d stepped foot onto Toronto concrete suggested he’d never left, or grown, at all.

A complete do-over, then, but one Kassie doesn’t lament for a second. In fact, the robbery set the gears in motion for a better album. “It took that moment to shake my guard and help me write some of those lyrics that I truly love now,” Kassie writes from his in-home studio. With the support of his friends and family already tied into the record’s narrative, I Found Your Faces Of Montreal suddenly swelled with new purpose. The record jumped from six songs to eight, while its title track – originally an instrumental – transformed into a lyrical centerpiece. “The aftermath of that whole experience was when I put down the lyrics to the title song,” Kassie remembers. It would be but the first of countless revisions, with each alteration adapting to the promise that one can never truly go back.

Re-recorded over a three-year span, I Found Your Faces Of Montreal also recounts a gradual shift from the electronic apex of 2009’s stopgap release Afternoon Birds Of Arima back to the folky CD-Rs Kassie began handing out nearly a decade ago. Organic instrumentation provides an anchor to You Are My Symphonic’s romantic sensibilities, allowing the lilt of an acoustic guitar (on ‘Meet Me In Trinity’) or a grizzled harmonica (‘My Father And His Sister’) to share space with Kassie’s now trademarked beds of ambience. Driving many of these compositions beyond their electro-acoustic loveliness are Kassie’s vocals, which convey yearning in a way that sharpens the album’s melodious veneer.

By romancing both the city (‘Autumn Will Fall In Love’) and, occasionally, its citizens (‘Rooftop’), these instances act as intersections to the rich, emotional geography of I Found Your Faces Of Montreal. Bracing our nomadic steps with wide-eyed meditations on love, ancestry and distance, You Are My Symphonic has inadvertently written the ideal companion disc for traveling alone. “As painful as it was to restart I Found Your Faces Of Montreal, I wouldn’t trade this new version for anything,” Kassie states, “It sounds right.” And as someone who has worked so hard at rediscovering his sound, it’s befitting that You Are My Symphonic also found home in the process.

Available At:

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