SOUND EXTENSIONS by Euie b Graham

I began my classical training from age eight on violins made by my grandfather, from a half size to three quarter, then to his “number 2” with a finessed fiddleback grain in high glaze. His Luthier’s hands I remember as large and gnarly as they would trace the creases of my palm to elucidate future prospects. I still have his now rather decrepit paperback on the ancient art of palmistry. His handshake was strong, almost a little too tight as he would explain that this was a good judge of a man’s character.
After ten years of scales and arpeggios working my way through graded texts filled with compositions by the gifted and deceased, a final concert in the embers of 1990 marked the occasion of my last musical performance on a stage, aside from in dreams and unrealised ambitions, when feeling expansive and intoxicated. Barely 12 months passed before my own strange sounds were committed to cassette tape for the first time, born of a natural necessity to do, and it was this background of prescribed exam pieces that gave me something to react against.
The music here was designed and used in conjunction with an artistic "happening". I was influenced by the medium of visual art (New Epoch Notation Painting), and it also shows an awareness of the minimalist composer Steve Reich and various other forms of experimental music.

Ending formal lessons on violin, I began writing songs in 1992, graduating to a four-track cassette recorder shortly after, and the addictive journey of composing then recording was entrenched. I continue, assimilating influences and forging my own way. I shy away from performing, I write, record then move on. I would love others to listen and enjoy, and hold out hope that I May find an audience.