Your Music by Zach Burba

The past 3 years have been trippy as hell. It’s hard to get any peace of mind when the toxic cycle of bad news and Instragam-scrolling commences every morning. They say that the human attention span is now lower than that of the average goldfish and I believe it. I try to combat this modern darkness by taking long walks, and when I get out there, I start to hear music. Little songs pop into my head with words that hardly sound like my own. I’ve got thousands of voice memos on my phone that try to capture these fleeting melodies and I’ve adapted some of the best and worst of them alike into Your Music.

I spent the most recent chapter of my music life finishing a studio album with my band iji (coming soon), and working hard on albums for other songwriters (Skulls Example by Dear Nora, Dolphine by Mega Bog, Drone Butch Blues by Your Heart Breaks & more). This work was incredibly fun to do but it left me craving the experience of making music all alone in my room, so I borrowed a 4-track Fostex tape machine and started going wild. I’d remember an old melody I wrote, jump into it, and ride off into an instrumental fantasy. I collaged completed songs with voice memos, improvisations, and field recordings. Any visitor to my house would be asked to quickly sing something or contribute a solo. I practiced complete trust of my ideas, trying to fully remove my filter. I avoided checking levels or fixing errors. I strayed from the plan many times. Nothing was off limits. I was having a blast.

By the time I had finished about 45 minutes of right-brained tape slop, I called it good, painted a cover, ordered some cassettes, and put together a lil’ live set so I could perform the album at some upcoming shows. To me, this tape feels like an honest peek into my confusing inner world. It used to be my music but now I’m giving it to you.

Enjoy it if you can!

Thank you,

Zach Burba

only iji.

iji.world