One day I was having an epiphany about a photo series that would include really hard men, you know the Hell’s Angel type doing really soft things, like playing with puppies or smelling flowers, etc. I thought this would be an amazing way to show that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover (although that said, most people do wear their inner essence on their outer sleeve.) In a very synergistic moment, my friend, Timo from New York called to tell me he just collaborated with a cellist, Kristen McCord to create an ethereal, ambient body of work and they were naming it, “Biker Period.” I was blown away because that became the perfect name for the visual I was getting. What if rough men got their period and experienced that type of emotional vulnerability that women do each month? Of course, apart from a couple of courses in college, I am no photographer, but the two fit together all the same.
Biker Period is the first ambient music to challenge the top contender on my list, the mighty Brian Eno. Their Myspace page, which describes them as “visual/experimental/southern rock”, is humorously oxymoronic being filled with a string of repetitive somewhat disturbing images and descriptions of being part heaven and part hell. As you wait patiently for the player to kick in (depending on your connection and how well the Myspace server is doing that day), there is no doubt that if heaven had theme music, this would be it.
The song “Wall” begins with lilting guitars that fill my lungs with new breath and once the cello kicks in, tears well in my eyes and make me optimistic for a better world. It may sound a bit grandiose but this makes me experience the beauty of melancholy. Many great saints have said the beauty is in the longing and “Wall” is the perfect song to reflect that longing of your truest desire and inspires fearless faith.
“Balls” kicks in with a little more gusto. The urgent plucking that acts like a door knocking, asking, “Are you there?” The cello responds and lets you know that I am here and I will be there for you as long as you need me. The crescendos reflect the vicissitudes of our lives; the changes in our moods when we feel like we are swinging from a vine, back & forth and wishing for the stillness of serenity while trying to find it within no matter what is happening externally. At one point, you experience bliss and literally hear the cawing of birds. You realize you are present and aware of the moment, which is a rarity in our lives that usually are filled with thoughts of a limiting past and projection of a future that doesn’t exist.
The gravitational pull of “To” almost inspired me to go into spontaneous meditation. Again, they use lilting sounds to draw you into their experience of heaven. You go through the darkness of a moonless night to the light of the sun and then back again into the dark to experience the journey all over again. They add a bit of vocals to accentuate the tone of the instruments, adding more delightful crescendos (honestly, who doesn’t love a good crescendo?)
“Meat” is the darkest note of the bunch and a hint of the hell that they describe. There is a nightmarish tone to it and screams of frustration that are only short-lived but feelings we have just the same. This song being the shortest of the bunch, says to me that the negative doesn’t have to outweigh the positive and if we can drop what we don’t desire quickly, we are more apt to get to what we do choose for ourselves even faster.
Biker Period is only one of the many musical projects that Timo Ellis has going on. Check them out on www.myspace.com/bikerperiod, Timo at www.myspace.com/therealtimoellis and Kristen McCord at www.myspace.com/kirstenmccord.
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