Haunted Castle Music
Stay Wild
The story behind the castle walls of Kramies adventure-inspired EP.
On Nov. 17 2004, I started my life over. The day prior I had taken my addiction to lowest point that one could go. So starting the following day, I told myself that I would do whatever made sense to me and had a positive influence in my life.
I realized that I needed to veer off my path, to create a new one. A better one. One where I am expanding, evolving, and traveling.
Fast forward to 2017/18, and after years of writing and releasing music, I found myself wandering the landscapes of Ireland, surrounded by the beautiful walls of Shankill Castle.
All my past EPs have been stories that I would process and think out entirely, start to end, but this time the story came to me in a moment.
My new story started when I set out to find a new sound that would be inspired by living in the castle and landscapes. I was looking for something that would transport me into a different time. Every morning, early at dusk, I would walk the grounds alongside the hundreds of crows - that would fill the early morning with a haunting sounds. I would sit in an old farmhouse within the castle walls during the day, and write. Then at night I would walk again, gathering wood for the stove. I would sit there and watch the outside world be still. I would try to lose myself in this environment. I felt comfort, scared, happy, loved, and I felt relieved to be in such a place. I felt one with everything that was naturally happening. From the cool Irish breeze to the eerie dust and through the silence of giant trees I found a oneness, an important purpose of belonging.
The story for the EP I found is of an elderly man who lived in an old European town and in his early age lost someone he truly loved. Instead of moving on, everyday for the rest of his life, the old man kept a routine and walked the cobblestone streets to town, gather his food, and walk back to his cottage. Along that path he would pass a beautiful rolled forest and bits of the sea. Until one day, after waiting years for that someone to return, he saw a light coming from the forest. For that split second, he decided to veer off the path, off his routine, and head into the woods. He walked and followed that light for days. Finally he came upon a fairytale of distractions that made him feel very alive again. While tucked in these woods, he tried to remember that person’s face. His mind was forgetting the person he loved. He was overwhelmed with guilt because he wasn’t waiting anymore. Yet, he never returned back. Finding himself happily distracted by what he came across, he let go of his longing and of his past story.
Out of this entire experience and story, “Of All The Place Been & Everything the End”, has become my personal diary of letting go of my previous story. I’ve always had a love affair with Ireland and this experience is what life is about. Between travel and being able to do what I love, I have found myself in places that I never thought possible. Writing this EP in the castle seems to have brought it all together into a personal ending and onto a new story.
