Matty Bovan and Derek Piotr Collaborate :: Audio Knit Playlist

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To celebrate Derek Piotr’s haunting new album Making and Then Unmaking (which I profiled here), Derek has collaborated with designer Matty Bovan to create a signature look and a custom playlist providing some of context for Piotr’s new album and the listening that went behind it.

Of the look, Bovan says:

“'When Derek first approached me to create a custom look, I was super excited as I always love special commissions - it allows me to explore real characters wearing my pieces. Derek is very interested in British folk life and music, so we connected instantly. I myself am always inspired by the traditions of the UK in my work. The look itself has a folk element, and we used hand-pleated deadstock Liberty prints, alongside a leather gingham apron, screen-printed with mountains and hand drawn on the reverse. The overall look had to be practical and reusable for many situations for Derek, and like myself and my work, the look had to strike the balance of wearability, but still interesting silhouette-wise.’

The two also collaborated on a playlist; not only to celebrate Piotr’s new album, but the musical heritages of traditionalism and exploration upon which it stands. The playlist features a unique juxtaposition of new and old, traditional and experimental.

Enjoy.

Playlist:

  1. AGF Top Off (Beyoncé remix) [unreleased]

  2. Almeda Riddle I Love my Rooster [Wolf Folk collection]

  3. Derek Piotr The Stake (Territorial Gobbing’s Honking at the Moon Remix) [DPSR]

  4. Madonna Bedtime Story (Orbital remix) [Maverick]

  5. Derek Piotr Odyssey (Matty Bovan score) [unreleased]

  6. Frank Edwards O Lampkins (1 verse) [IU ATM archives]

  7. Björk Bachelorette (Alec Empire The Ice Princess Remix) [One Little Independent]

  8. Björk vs Jean Ritchie Headphones vs Gypsy Laddie (Derek Piotr mash) [unreleased]

  9. Anne Briggs vs Lotic Reynardine x Slay (Derek Piotr mash) [unreleased]

  10. Derek Piotr Bolakins [DPSR]

  11. AGF Antye of Tegea CA 300 BC [AGF Producktion]

  12. Derek Piotr West Redding Woods Field Recording 2021 [unreleased]

  13. Mrs Lena Bare Turbyfill & Mrs Lloyd Bare Hagie Cumberland Gap [unreleased]

  14. Machinedrum The Relic [Ninja Tune]

  15. Derek Piotr Light-Years [DPSR]

  • Visit Derek Piotr’s official website

  • Watch the EPK for the new album

  • Follow Derek Piotr on Twitter

  • Follow Derek Piotr at Facebook

  • Purchase Derek Piotr’s music at Amazon

  • Purchase Derek Piotr’s music at Bandcamp

  • Read my profile of Piotr’s latest album Making and Then Unmaking

  • Visit Matty Bovan’s website

  • Follow Matty Bovan on Instagram

Derek Piotr :: Making and Then Unmaking

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Nearly every human story centers around conflict and character development. In many of these stories, we find many reoccurring characters.

The wise but enigmatic bearded wizard.

The strong but faithful hero; sure of who they are and their calling but not always sure of their circumstances.

Or, maybe the trickster, who is a cunning, sly usurper of the status quo, who can often shapeshift (including gender). leaving you to wonder who or what you just encountered; or didn’t.

The trickster might know who they are, but most people never will. Leaving everyone to wonder of even the trickster knows who they are. We can only ever know the trickster as they reveal themselves to us; in ever-changing form; in all the ups and downs; the tricks and turns; the slides and tumbles. Derek Piotr’s new album asks us to ask such questions.

Creating what he calls an “Appalachian cowboy record,” Piotr weaves trickster imagery and energy through a powerfully haunting and playful set of songs exploring the question of who we are versus who others think we are. In keeping with the up-ending energy of the trickster, Making and Then Unmaking is a sharp turn for the Piotr. The presskit calls the album his “most musically ambitious and emotionally raw project to date.” Most notably, this is Piotr’s first work to feature the guitar. Piotr has made his name so far in modern classical and DJ settings. He says that he: “had a massive taboo against guitar for my whole career... I felt it was extremely common, pedestrian, coffee-shop stuff, represented the most middling and mundane music on the planet.”

But thankfully, he changed his mind.

Throughout the album, guitar, dulcimer, pedal steel guitar, clavichord and banjo work to support these explorations of identity and loss and Piotr’s unique voice. That voice and its rawness is much of what makes these songs feel like we’re privy to some sort of intimate self-exploration rather than just being academic explorations of a musical genre. Piotr’s presskit says:

“The composer’s voice is foregrounded throughout, operating in a different register to that of the more recognisable singing voice used on previous albums.”

On the opening track, “From Your Window,” Piotr sings “I consume the wind who consumes me” over a hypnotic repeated rhythm and we can’t help but wonder if the life of the trickster; a life of continually changing and keeping up while keeping others at bay will ultimately consume those of us who chase this life.

Diving in to folk, rural, Appalachian, and Irish music. Piotr finds a musical world in which he can explore not only the trickster imagery, but himself. Asked about the album title, he suggest:

"Making and Then Unmaking" refers to building and destroying relationships ... ideas ... past selves ...”

We find this theme of changing, reconciling, growing and the accompanying confusion highlighted in “Invisible Map,” where Piotr sings:

“Things I hold on to make me want to change, but the more I change, the more I find myself holding on.”

It’s this internal struggle of identity that weaves the album together, and here, with slowly stirring strings over plucked rhythms Piotr sings out life’s eternal question: Who Am I? The solo a capella “Bolakins,” (Found at the Wikipedias as “Lamkin”) offers up terrifying answer to that question in the tale of a wronged mason who vows to get even. With only his voice, Piotr lays bear this tale of revenge and sorrow.

While “Bolakins” is certainly a standout track, I wonder if “The Stake/De'il in the Kitchen” most encapsulates the album’s themes. A song with plucked banjo and bagpipes about feeling like cyborg trying to find love seems to get right to the heart of it. What is programmed? What is real? Who can be trusted and why? The organic wistfulness of the banjo plays against Piotr’s mechanical thought: “I am a cyborg.” The bagpipes highlight the confusion; are we programmed? Does it matter? What is free will? Is love free will or something that takes us over? The metallic cyborg tinge plays against the organic instruments and feels like a metaphor for many of the album’s themes.

“Snow in Paradise” continues these themes:

“It’s a wall of snow in paradise / All of us changing for that better life / Did you manifest what means most to you? / Because you can’t resist?”

Later in the song, a saxophone weaves in and out of the melody asking us to reflect on these questions. I have time for music like that, and I hope you do too. These nine songs explore the notions of identity, change, love, and free will; all while Piotr challenges himself to take on a new musical identity. I can’t think of anything better than an artist who models what they explore. Form and function. Cyborgs looking for love, all somehow without losing hope.

Highly recommended.

Pre-order the album at Bandcamp (out 05/14/21). Watch the Electronic Press Kit here.

  • Visit Derek Piotr’s official website

  • Watch the EPK for the new album

  • Follow Derek Piotr on Twitter

  • Follow Derek Piotr at Facebook

  • Purchase Derek Piotr’s music at Amazon

  • Purchase Derek Piotr’s music at Bandcamp