Slowly floating off like a lost melody in the ocean
Off the shoulders and out of the chest,
Helping the soul find the space between drowning and floating,
All along the shore.

The wash of low end drowning deep as an undertow,
Drums creating violent waves and swells slowly washing away the past,
Staying afloat with an anchor of a heart


In the ocean twilight that drowns dreams,
An ambient lit buoy to hang on to when the need to be light helps in the damp darkness,
Creating a compass pointing beyond the storm to a horizon of safety and a feeling of home.

All along the shore,
It’s never noticed until your heart drowns into a life jacket.
Seen yet not seen.

Hiding in plain sight.

————————————————————————————


About a year ago I was given the opportunity to visit the island of Lesvos as a recording engineer, composer and sound designer for a rad group of artist gathering and hearing stories of refugees and refugee families.

Hearing these stories created a dynamic shift of my mind and soul. While I was documenting what the asylum seekers had to go through to survive, I could feel it all. Both the good and the bad. I could feel how it was cracking me from the inside out, exposing my ignorance to the reality of the camps and peoples migration. Guiding my awareness of my own privileges as a man and a passport carrier

Experiencing this spectrum was just the tip of the iceberg of the complexities of the systemic violence happening between the EU and the island of Lesvos and its refugee population. And to be honest, my capacity to clearly articulate this violence will never match my emotional response that I can communicate with music and sound. I can only hope this song can do justice to the strength, vulnerability and the will to survive exuding from the wonderful people we interviewed. This song is me honoring all those stories I heard and people I met.

For just a moment, float like a life jacket in an ocean of sound. Feel these people like how I felt the people in the water that floated their way onto the shores of Lesvos. Let your self drift like a life jacket finding its way to land in the dark.

This composition is an auditory healing process broken down into 4 movements:

-The life vest at the beginning of the journey
-The ocean and the journey with the ocean
-Floating in the ocean at night
-The life vest at the end of the journey


For more information on Island of Lesvos please follow these links:

Diotima

Life Jacket Mountain

We want our island back

Migration Policy Institute

Covid 19 in the camps

Kara Tepe

Greece Island refugee camps during Covid 19

Living in Moria Camp


Crisis in Greece

UNHCR

Moria Camp Testimonials

Lesbos migrant crisis:

Relationships Between refugees and locals


As well as follow these links for resources on how you can help by donating time, money or even just attention:

Connect By Music

Solidarity Now

Home For All

Apostoli NGO - MKO

Fenix Aid

Better Days NGO