The Understory

The Understory, the second track on my album, The Human Element, is a sort of companion piece to Oceanic Ignition, the first track on the album. While Oceanic Ignition focuses on the impact of humans on the ocean ecosystems, The Understory is centered around deciduous forests. Specifically, it refers to the lowest level of the forest, where so many important processes occur that are essential to the world’s biosphere. I wrote the piece while working my second summer at Interlochen Center for the Arts in 2022. During my summers there, I spent a great deal of time hiking various trails in the Sleeping Bear Dunes area, as well as around the many nearby lakes and recreation areas. I had also recently finished reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Overstory by Richard Powers. That novel centers around the now-proven theory that trees within a forest communicate with each other through the release of various chemicals. When we humans breathe these compounds in, they actually trigger positive mental health responses, which is why so many of us feel calmed by natural habitats like these. This reality inspired me to think more about how interconnected the forest ecosystem is. On my hikes in the summer of 2022, I regularly observed various remnants of human contact from trail erosion to litter. Then, one day, I saw a blaze on the trail which was so worn that it was blank. I took a photo of this blaze, and it became the album cover for The Human Element. I found this worn blaze to be a symbol of truth: that our presence on this planet, however damaging it has become, will eventually fade as all species do. Whether that means colonizing planets beyond Earth or going extinct due to climate change, our time is impermanent and often fleeting. The Understory, as a title, refers then to our collectively tacet understanding of our mortality. But it also serves to remind us that the world, and ultimately the universe, will go on without us. I find that to be beautiful. Musically, this piece is heavily influenced by the French metal band Gojira. The riffs are relatively simple, but there is a persistent emphasis on rhythm and groove which makes it exceedingly fun to play.