Having thoroughly explored this wild little system of nostalgic goodness, it’s time to get busy rendering a new work for the upcoming show at National Sawdust.

(look for audio examples on Insta, SoundCloud, and YouTube in the coming weeks)

This episode covers Alison’s challenge to Greg: to create a piece of music without using his fancy-pants composer craftiness. He’s not allowed to think about what he’s going to make, but has to abandon his training and use only his intuition to create music.

Here are the challenge results:
Greg’s Initial Improv: Four Sparrows Original
Greg’s Final Mixed Result: Four Sparrows (Final)

Fun little improv over a track for an upcoming collaboration we call… Vampyr.
(yes, it’s finally gonna happen later this year!)

Nor’easter. Blizzard. Whatever you wanna call it, it’s a lotta snow.

The bottom of that sundial is at least 3 feet off the ground and much of it fell last night.

And Scully slept though the whole thing.

It’s official: the internet has been a game-changer for music. Alison and Greg dive into how music is and isn’t valuable today, both monetarily and culturally.

As usual, their conversation is far-reaching. They talk about the usual suspects: Spotify, major labels, Napster, machine learning algorithms, and music for media. Of course, it doesn’t stop there. You’ll also hear about the desensitization of listeners by reality TV danger music, the Faustian deal we make as musicians, the sheer brilliance and stupidity of Hans Zimmer’s music, making beats for Drake, Lawrence Kramer’s defense of classical music as still relevant, and music’s current value as your mood for sale.

An EP featuring music composed for the new play Food and Shelter is now available on a wide range of streaming sites.

photo credit: Ira Wilner

Greg and Alison want to tell you why you should (or shouldn’t) go to music school. In this episode, they explore what it’s like to take a traditional path through music school, including how music school might be beneficial or detrimental depending on your own musical goals.

It’s a magical mystery tour through a diverse set of of topics, including the differences between composers and songwriters, learning how to music on YouTube, Greg’s mentor George Rochberg, the creative process in general, Stephen King, Thom Yorke, start-ups, Vangelis, musical embodiment, why Modest Mouse kinda sucks, and production music libraries.

Greg is a Doctor of Music in piano and composition from the Eastman School of Music (ooh la la!) and Alison has a master’s degree in music theory and quit a doctoral program in music theory and cognition at McGill University, so they’re well versed in the ins and outs of music school. They’ve both been students and professors, but each decided to leave the academic path years ago, and have been making it on their own in the rough world ever since.

Setting up for Food & Shelter – a ghost story for those who sometimes wonder if they themselves might be ghosts… A darkly moving fairytale about love. 💜🖤💜

Music was released in Feb 2022. Click Here to listen!