Spilling Open by Joey Reyes

“Montoya could forgive anything of a bull-fighter who had afición. He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. For one who had afición he could forgive anything. At once he forgave me all my friends. Without his ever saying anything they were simply a little something shameful between us, like the spilling open of the horses in bull-fighting.”

– The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway

My favorite musical memories from my childhood were the times I would go to my mom’s orchestra rehearsals after school and spend those evenings dozing off in the seats of the concert hall, listening to the music and watching the colors swirl around in my head. “Spilling Open” is my attempt to capture that liminal, hypnotic, and synesthetic state in the highest fidelity possible.

Mom was the one who pushed me to pick up the cello when I was five, and she urged me to stick with it when I was frustrated and wanted to quit. I recorded “Spilling Open” in the concert hall where she learned to play violin when she was a little girl. At its core, this album is the closing of a circuit, an artistic cycle between a mother and son. The first half of this album is solo cello and electronics, weaving a tapestry sewn from the private vulnerability and weight that our instruments carry across generations.

To help me carry that weight, I enlisted my closest friends and collaborators to round out the second half of the album.

“Skyline Drive” is an ode to infinite Texas that features Neil Lord and Rodolfo Smith-Villarreal III from Future Museums. Neil is a human encyclopedia of experimental music. Rudy is a hell of a drummer, and I’ve been watching him play in bands since we were both in high school in San Antonio. With this track, I wanted to capture the loose, Dirty Three style jams that the three of us have woven across fields of bluebonnets and ashe junipers over the years.

“Cumulative Layout Shift” features Bill Baird on his Magnetetractys and Thor Harris on gong, vibraphone, baritone horn, and something he ominously referred to as “the lowest wurli possible.” Bill and Thor are legends and I am lucky to have worked with them as much as I have.

“Deep Rest” features Lindsey Verrill and Jeff Johnston from Little Mazarn. Lindsey plays the flute and the bass synth and Jeff plays the harmonium and musical saw. We recorded this on a beautiful day at Jad Fair’s house, otherwise spent feeding horses and fishing scorpions out of the pool so we could swim in the golden hour. A perfect day of making music.

Andrea Gottardy did the album artwork, design, and overall make this thing look as pretty as it does. Jordan Willis created the promo video. Tessa Baker, my beautiful wife, pushed me to finally, properly record what I do. There are many, many more along the way who helped me with this project in ways big and small. My heart spills open with gratitude for all of you.

Joey Reyes is a cellist, composer, and live coder who has scored art installations, restorative yoga workshops, theatrical works, and nature films. His live performances are enrapturing, described by the Austin American Statesman as “simultaneously soothing and supernatural, and absolutely worth witnessing.”

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