An Introduction...
The best collaborations in art or music are those in which methods, communication, styles, aesthetics and even visions are starkly, dramatically different. Cam and I have collaborated together many times in our art and music projects, synthesizing our seemingly mismatched artistic concepts into one. At the end of our projects, everything simply falls perfectly into place. In collaboration we create songs, films, and plays, and produce visual artwork that we could not have ever invented on our own.
Cam is a dedicated electronic musician with a studio full of instruments: guitars, a Theremin, drum machines, samplers, synths, pedals, and keyboards –– both digital and analog –– from around the world, and even vintage pieces from different eras, all in immaculate condition and lovingly and safely arranged on a bright red table. Cables are color coded and organized neatly as they wind their way along. His inspiration comes straight from his heart, his memories, affections and eternal poetic spirit.
I am a visual artist, a puppeteer mostly, though I do play guitar and write songs as well. My studio is full of paint, glue, fabric, wires, tools, and blocks of wood for carving. My beautiful Martin guitar has been battered in our travels and even daily life with me. There is a flurry of books to inspire, and strange materials to conspire in forming characters to act out the stories spoken to me from other worlds.
After so many years, I finally realized that the reason we work so well together is because we share our values in common, values like Integrity, Enthusiasm, Empathy, Reliability and Eco-consciousness, to name a few. Our love is where it all begins.
Naturally, our newest art project –– our electronic musical instrument boutique, The Midium –– is a collaboration. The Midium is the result of our dreams, our creativity, and our values. We curate our collection of brands based on our shared values. Every brand we showcase is special and belongs in The Midium. The inventors and builders behind these special brands are truly magicians who create new ways for artists to explore the art of sound; they share our values and stay true to their own. We enjoy getting to know the people behind these amazing, unique musical instruments, effects units, and accessories. The inventors and manufacturers are part of our dream of connecting artists with the instruments that will express their unique sound, to change their lives by making the songs that float through their minds into a reality that others can hear.
The artists who discover their instruments through The Midium are an essential and sacred part of our dream. Each artist that finds a new voice and creates new music with one of our special brands is connecting the spirit of themselves through music with all who hear their work, with the creators of the instruments they used in their great work, and with us, too. We are honored to be part of this connection, this vast collaboration.
Incidentally, we started The Midium in the months just before our baby, Melody Nightingale Wednesday was born. Now as we watch our little 6-month-old daughter grow up, we are watching what started as separate wishes, individual goals, and even unique destinies become one collaboration for the two of us –– and hopefully the three of us (Melody seems to love music already)! We are watching The Midium connect more and more artists who visit our boutique to their musical aspirations each day, and we're honored to do so. We are enlightened by conversations with you and inspired by the music you so kindly share with us.
The mental and emotional alchemy that is art becomes so much more powerful when it is shared. That is, for me, the most important reason why we ask you, the artists, who visit The Midium to connect us with ways that we can listen to your music. As artists, even simply as Earthlings, we long for the connection that music can bring. It is joyful, magical, to know that we were part of the process of furthering your musical gifts with the simple act of providing a place where unique brands of instruments and accessories can be acquired and discovered.
By opening our online boutique, our immersive art project we call "The Midium" is actually just getting started. Our ultimate goal for The Midium is to be a beautiful surprise we are gradually unveiling. There is much more to this big dream, this grand collaboration, and you are all part of it.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Love,
Erin