Brooklyn-based pianist and producer Theo Walentiny has found a new sonic palette with his sophomore project, "if the wind were visible". This project uses primarily electronic sounds and self-generated production techniques to achieve a unique, otherworldly sound. To be released digitally by the artist on November 11th, 2022, this *album* and *short film* will introduce Walentiny as an *electronic producer* and *filmmaker*. Theo has always had a love for electronic music, in particular, creating music with a computer and synthesizer. Over the course of the past two years he has been able to deepen this practice and treat the computer as it’s own instrument. At the piano, Walentiny identifies as an improviser and a composer, one of his goals was to bring those identities to a production-based environment; especially improvisation. Theo feels that is something that can often get lost while working on music with a computer present — while working on this project it was important that the music always felt alive. The album’s title, derived from the last track, is meant to be a metaphor for the way we interact with sound. Wind is something we cannot see, it only becomes visible by moving things in its’ path. If sound is the result of air moving and contorting, then sound is essentially creating wind that we can see — *with our ears*. The music that is a part of this project is meant to connect with this metaphor and bring listeners to a surreal visual place.

Walentiny — who also released his debut acoustic solo piano album “Looking Glass” last year, along with composing for septet and piano trio — wrote, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered "if the wind were visible" in a variety of places he called home over the last two years. With the turbulent state of the pandemic, he was moving between apartments and living with family often during that time. This project remained a constant for him regardless of where he was living and became a home in and of itself.

This album is meant to demonstrate another side of Walentiny’s work. He is known well in the New York Jazz and Avant-Garde scene for his acoustic contributions both as a leader and collaborator. Over the past couple years he has become a budding presence in the more electronic scene, working with artists such as Chase Elodia, Stimmerman and Secret Mall. While Theo has shared clips of his electronic work online, this project marks the first time he is formally introducing this other side of his artistic identity. His previous record received critical acclaim and encouragement from two of his musical heroes, Vijay Iyer (“Theo’s music bursts open with rich, complex emotion… dazzling juxtapositions of wildness and tenderness”) and Oliver Lake (“Theo’s compositions and improvisations are carefully crafted works of inspiration – his creative approach to time, space, dynamics and range are incredible.”) Some Highlights of “if the wind were visible” include the collaboration with kaleidoscopic vocals from Claire Dickson on “over exposure” and the angular rhythmic exploration of “chasing”, as well as the long-form visual poetry of the title track “if the wind were visible”.

In addition to the album, this project also includes a 9-minute short film for the title track “if the wind were visible”. Walentiny had the idea for the film spontaneously while composing the track. “The visuals and the music were revealed to me as one package,” says Theo. He envisioned a secret reality, one that lives behind ours, where it is people’s job to create all the wind that exists throughout the world. The main character wakes up in this new reality to find that he is not welcome. “While writing this piece, I began to feel that I was the main character — finding myself waking up there by composing it”, says Walentiny. The film was directed by a frequent collaborator of Theo’s, Chester Vincent Toye. Adam Gundersheimer acted as cinematographer. Shot in Los Angeles, Walentiny was on-sight to give creative insight and make sure the vision was as he intended. The film will release digitally on November 11th, 2022 alongside the album.

Visually, this project was heavily inspired by the work of David Lynch and Ingmar Bergman. Lynch’s work “*Six Men Getting Sick”* as well as the iconic TV show “Twin Peaks” were specific references for the type of visual language Walentiny was after. The visceral abstraction of the opening to Bergman’s “Persona” also contributed Walentiny’s vision for the film. Musically, this project draws influence from the sound worlds and compositions of Flying Lotus, Jockstrap, Tim Hecker and King Krule. While not trying to consciously emulate these artists, Walentiny has spent a lot of time with their work over the past two years — learning from them and letting their influence arise naturally in his own work. Another important influence for this project was the Surrealist art movement; particularly André Robert Breton’s “Manifeste du surréalisme”. Walentiny heavily identified with Breton’s discussion of ‘Psychic Automatism’ meaning “the dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason and outside all moral or aesthetic concerns.” This way of working reminded Walentiny of his own improvisational technique and created a sense of kinship amongst himself and the artists of that period. “if the wind were visible" is meant to take listeners out of their regular day-to-day and into something alluringly surreal.