About Us

​I am excited to have finished the first part of my multi guitar piece “rainbows at night” written on the North Shore of Maui June - November of 2022.

​

rainbows at night is a 6 month/ 41 song musical diary.

​

the first 12 songs of rainbows at night are titled “becoming the wave” intertwining my journey with the journey of a wave to land. Oneness, nature, peace, freedom, journey, existence, power, contemplation, angst, struggle, spirituality, joy are key elements in this work.

As beautiful as days are on Maui my favorite time is between 6pm- 6am (when does one sleep) I generally waited until 8pm to play guitar/write. Staring out a window facing the ocean, looking at millions of stars, sounds of waves crashing, massive rocks in the ocean being thrown around reverberating through the earth, heavy sporadic winds and rain storms nature is always present and on the move.

 

 

history :

rainbows at night was originally conceived on a one month trip to Maui in Febuary of 2021. I knew I would moving to Maui in the near future and planning on playing a lot of guitar. Fifteen months later I finally found a beyond dream place on the North Shore that offered complete peace and awe.

​

writing process:

The writing process involved creating guitar loops and letting the music evolve through playing over the loops. I then would create the next song based upon a continuation of the story/last song. The only song that was 100% rehearsed was the introduction track “becoming.” The rest of the songs are mix of written and improvised parts.

​

recording :

The recordings are from the first takes as with all of my art it is important to keep purity and “in the moment” as possible.

rainbows at night was recorded by Tyler Purcel on January 7, 2024 in philadelphia, pa

 

playing style :

during my stay in maui i created a new guitar body out of a rare incredible piece of koa laminated to single piece of mahogany. the mahogany has hollow chambers that adds a vocal quality to my tone. my tone/expression relies on using generally my right hand index and middle fingers to pluck the strings in combination tremolo, finger slides and vibrato on the fretboard.

​

gear:

mauicaster (check out the making of the mauicaster below) / mesa boogie mark V / boss loop pedal

​

videos:

i didn’t plan on doing time lapses when moving to maui in fact it took 5 weeks to say “let’s see what this button does” on my phone and was instantly blown away with the results. i usually started recording at 4:45am - 6:30am and various times at night depending on what i saw. the videos have not been edited to enhance from the original other than minor cropping and speed changes to match the music but i love the color and emotional palate that the videos provided me.

​

live performance:

rainbows at night is written as a multi part guitar piece and i would love oppurtunities to perform it live along with the video in solo / 3 guitarist or full band settings.

 

rainbows at night dissection:

 

0 - 2:44 part 1 : becoming :

meditation of what it has taken to get to where i am at in life/ who i’ve become / who i’m becoming

notes : disc golfin in kahului / wes at Ho’okipa

 

2:45 - 4:55 part 2 : sightless :

becoming mystic, becoming amorphic, becoming the ocean

notes : venus rising to left of full moon after bright sun

 

4:56 - 6:25 part 3 : Dear ____ :

survival, Dear nobody? , when you are on you are your own

notes : creating the rings to the hand carved mirror VENUS #3. The circle guide was hand made to create non perfect rings (see below)

 

6:26 - 8:19 part 4 : rainbows at night :

ride the wave

notes : ride from Makawao Forrest (wes dawg and i saturday get lost and panic adventure) / first time using the “mauicaster” / mega shelf cloud rainbow to the left of Haleakala / advanced woodworking planer technique working at the great PACIFIC MILLWORKS / my amazing 20 minute ride to work at PACIFIC MILLWORKS / o that final turn on the Hana Highway (you know you gotta stop at Ku'au store with Hagman and wes to get a Shaka Pop coconut lime ice pop, banana bread, latte, couple ipa pounders and beet salad before you hit baldwin)

 

8:20 - 9:42 part 5 : transform :

to truly transform.

notes : i loved when the ocean would get that ice look to it / saturn rising / love the change of cloud direction / storm on Thanksgiving 2022 / moon and saturn rising / retreating rainbow

 

9:43 - 11:39 part 6 : t(h)rough : through :

moving in one side and out the other //// trough : lowest part of wave … to be stuck in the t(h)rough

notes : venus to the left of moon / moon saturn / massive night time clouds / venus faintly rising

 

11:40 - 13:29 part 7 : soft visions (is this just life i’m stealing ) :

contemplative, what is real, what is important

notes : white out storm causing a power loss to island and day off aka “maui snow day” / lava flow fields from 1790 / largest swell on south side june 18 / cows at Ho’okipa

 

13:30 - 14:15 part 8 : the crest :

the top of the wave , gnarly

notes : turn it up , create a portal …. DO THE ED LOVER DANCE

 

14:16 - 15:41 part 9 : collapsing :

energy dissipating .,

notes : venus

 

15:42 - 17:37 part 10 : washed :

clean, peace, thankfulness

notes : the way the moon rose and reflected over the Pacific !!!!

 

17:38 - 18:56 part 11: goodnight :

weary reflections

notes : sunset at Baldwin / insane pink pyramid sky

 

18:57 - 20:13 part 12 : goodbye :

‘til next time maui! featuring the love of my life for the last 8 years wes (from the future),

notes : wes at Ho’okipa / Baldwin / Makawao Forrest /​