Hit Subscribe

for three electric guitars, electronics, and video
commissioned by the Mobius Trio

Hit Subscribe (2018) explores the ramifications of insta-culture, particularly the prevalence of “selfie” photography and how it relates to loneliness and control. While it has always been a collective human desire to find representation and remembrance in the best possible light, the ubiquity of digital cameras and digital editing technology has manufactured an overly curated, artificial, and perhaps hollow representation of who we are.

The opening movement Lurker begins with a wayward melodic line set over jagged, yet subdued chords. These textures are pitted against a backdrop of electronic guitar feedback to evoke the unpredictable and chaotic experience of browsing social media feeds. The endless bombardment of text and images offers snippets of a synthetic reality, and can often encourage some to become passive users, or mere observers in the imaginary competition of garnering “likes” and subscribers.

In Galerie de Glaces, the feedback loop metaphor is explored through guitar delay effects and the Ebow, which provides guitarists with an infinite amount of sustain. Like the famous Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, photo-centric social media websites provide users with an environment to relish in glorified reproductions of themselves without substantive discourse. In this movement, a musical “selfie” is created through the antiphonal treatment of a simple melodic idea. The motive is subjected to various mutations and becomes more restless, eventually giving way to a structural collapse as the musicians attempt to break free from the frame.