DIGITAL ACTIVITY

When Geoff first started thinking about the Digital Activity project, he spent a lot of time in the studio searching for something new to sink his teeth into. He experimented with different ways to manipulate the tools he was using, but everything he came up with sounded too familiar. "We listen to a lot of music around here and there was always something else we could compare it to."

Eventually, Geoff became captivated by the early inkling of Rock Ambient music he'd begun to mess with. After years of writing nothing but popular songs, Geoff thrived on the creative freedom of composing soundscapes that allowed him to stretch his musical muscles into some brand new territory, using themes, textures, sounds and elements not normally found in traditional popular songwriting.

The results of the Rock Ambient experiment became DIGITAL ACTIVITY. Each track is an adventure to a totally different musical place. These compositions usually start from a point of familiarity and at some point drift off course for a short sonic adventure before falling back in line to close out the track.

WHAT IS RA?

Geoff dubbed Digital Activity's music, Rock Ambient— instrumental music that is not the sound of waves on the shore, wind in the trees or 'Music for Airports,' nor is it electronic beeps and buzzes with sweeping filters and Roland 606s. It can be background music to energize your environment, enhance your state of mind and arouse your subconscious. It has more edge, more punch, more guitars, extreme dynamics, and more complicated orchestration than traditional 'ambient.' Add one more ingredient, a backbeat, and yeah, you CAN bring it to the foreground and crank it up for an aural assault or a quick dance break.

There is an interesting mix of texture and concept to Rock Ambient—each track has ebb and flow, twists and turns, from loud to soft, and frantic to soothing—all in one piece of music. It isn't boring because in most cases there is a melody or theme that holds each piece together. "I'm not concerned about combining the unexpected or concern myself with butting melody against dissonance. I use whatever bridge works best to connect the storyline and keep the piece moving."

THE ROCK AMBIENT PROCESS

"In short, when a variation on the theme or even a new idea emerged while working on a song, I'd normally erase it or set it aside to be worked on later as a separate composition. A lot of times these new ideas had a strong melody—sometimes they rocked and other times they were mellow, but they weren't songs; they weren't 'enough.' I didn't have a use for them on their own. I began to save these snippets in a Rock Ambient folder. Before long I had a collection of short, interesting pieces. I decided to link them together in a sort of digital blender to see what would come out the other end.

"What resulted were musical journeys or soundscapes. They seemed very 'ambient' to us as they had no real pop structure; they just sort of rambled on, connected through dynamics and arrangement. It turns out we were excited by what we heard coming out of the speakers and DIGITAL ACTIVITY was off and running.

A FEW LAST WORDS

"Remember, this is Rock Ambient NOT Ambient Rock; there is a difference. As I said earlier, this music is quite unlike traditional ambient that is strictly a background that mellows you out. This is not the ambient music you are expecting. RAM was created for use as either a background to enhance your environment or a foreground to freak to.

"I know there will be some tough critics out there who will say I'm delusional. But there will be that one person who 'gets' what I'm doing and that will be the starting point."
— GW