With a sound that combines warm, analog instrumentation with digital, electronic soundscapes that can metaphorically carry a listener to another place, the new EP from Verskotzi – real name Joey Verskotzi – titled ‘ARC 001’ which PopWrapped are delighted to premiere, consists of three songs that address how our past shapes and defines us both in the present and for the future.
Asked about the creative process to the EP, Verskotzi says: “The first song that I wrote for this project was “Miss You So”, the single. It actually started with a voice memo recording that my wife had sung while we were at dinner one night. She was inspired with an idea and just sang a few lyrics into my phone, one of which was ‘I’m having a moment, having a day…’ and I loved that so I sampled her vocal and started building from there. At the very end of the song, I let the whole voice note roll. It’s my favorite part of the track. Before I released my debut electronic /experimental album “No. 90” in 2019, I did a lot of acoustic/folk music and wanted to bring some of that back to my world. This song feels like a foray into merging my past and present self, artistically.
He goes on to add: “Once I had that song – “Miss You So” – pretty close to finished, I wrote the intro track “Witnesses”. It had been a while since I started a song just on an acoustic guitar, so I did that one early morning over a cup of coffee. I immediately sent it off to my dear friend and an incredible cellist, Dan Lawonn, who you hear playing cello on the track. Lyrically, there’s a lot of anguish in this song, so I wanted that to come through towards the end as more distorted, warped, mangled sounds start coming in. I grapple with the unknown and afterlife, like anyone else, and feel like this song sonically goes to that place where you find peace and fear all at the same time.
The last song to come together was the instrumental outro, “In The Cloud”. I wanted this to make the entire journey, or arc, feel like there was a sense of closure. There’s a bit of anxiety wrapped up in the first two songs, so this felt like my equivalent of taking a deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. I chopped up a bunch of parts from both “Witnesses” and “Miss You So” and infused them into the outro. I feel like it stands on its own while nodding at the other two.”
Give ‘ARC 001’ a listen below and for more information on Verskotzi, give his page a like on Facebook or follow him on Instagram and Twitter.
