I first started recording for this album shortly after I finished Melon Work Tape in February I wanted to make an album that could loosely tell a story but still leave room for a listener to interpret its meaning This idea was heavily inspired by Mac Demarco's Here Come's The Cowboy (2019) and Hiroshi Sato's Awakening (1982) I found Awakening on YouTube when I was 15 and It was sort of an introduction to "city pop" and Japanese Jazz Fusion and Hiroshi Sato became a hero and inspiration to me.

"During his high school years, Sato obtained a reel-to-reel tape recorder and began learning how to play the bass guitar and drums, recording his work in a garage. At age 20 he also began playing the piano, and later stated that "when I was 20 years old, I practiced so much that I was willing to give up the world if I didn't turn pro."

By 1982 He was already an accomplished session musician and moved to LA for a new start while in LA he had the idea for Awakening an album which parallels his new start with a new style and sound equipped with a Roland Jupiter 8 and the brand new Linn Drum LM-1 drum machine

"I went to visit the offices and when I saw a demonstration of the LM-1 Drum Computer there for the first time.I thought, "This is it!”. This was the most exciting machine I had ever seen. I had been using Roland rhythm machines (TR-808, etc.) and was getting a bit bored with them. But this one changed my music forever. That's when I decided that I wanted to make my next album in a one-man multi-recording style, like I used to do at [my father’s] the warehouse, rather than the style of recording I had done before, surrounded by studio musicians."

Hiroshi Sato created beautiful and moving songs echoing his recent divorce before his move along with missing his daughter back home he also describes that the album felt like an awakening from a foggy moment in his life

After researching Hiroshi Sato after all these years I realized I drew so many parallels from him, The one man band recording style I utilize in my tiny bedroom, the love for the LM1 Linn Drum Machine, and the innovation that stems from the limitations of vintage synths, practicing so much that I'd give up the world If I couldn't create music I wanted to create an album that told the story of one of my "awakenings" when I was dealing with a rough and foggy time in my life, I wanted to orchestrate the way things got better in the songs order and tonal feel I also wanted to utilize analog drum machines and a couple synths to mirror Hiroshi Sato's Instrumentation a small selection that forces me to make the most out of what the instruments can do I ended up using my Roland JU-06a and a Yamaha Reface DX for most of the tracks and Linn Drums of course with some old analog Roland drum machines as well. Guitar and Tape delay acoustic Drums made it in along the way too as I had a hard time in the beginning of recording deciding whether or not I wanted to make a 70's album or stay true to my homage to Awakening. This Album took a lot longer than I expected It was supposed to come out in June of 2023 but I scrapped most of the tracks because I was unhappy with them, In between different jobs I always tried to make time to record as a result this was very much a labor of love.

This album is a tribute and homage to the late great Hiroshi Sato

And also a thank you to the beautiful human being who taught me how to love agin, love myself, love others, and love life Thank you Sophia