by John Pollard

This wind is cold. Chilling. It is subtle. Almost unnoticeable. In fact, most of us won’t notice it. Slowly, the effects build – again, almost unnoticed – and build. There are layers. There is no perceptible pattern and the rising din creates a sort of vertigo in our minds. Confusion sets in. We feel trapped. As if there is no option, but to. . .

And, we often do.

—

Many of us, myself included, look on disdainfully from a distance thinking, “How could someone do that? I cannot believe anyone would be so stupid!”

Sometimes, suddenly, we realize that we too have done that. That we are equally as wrong.

This can be shocking to us.

—

When Barry explained the concept of the show, I was pretty excited. I loved the idea of a response to art. I loved the idea of collaborating to create an emotional response from the viewer/listener.

Barry asked about Judas’ betrayal and said, “Do you hear some sort of percussive response?”

I said, “Well, I suppose you could.” But what really came to mind was a long huge groan. (In fact, I didn’t hear any percussion!)

I looked at all the passages that discussed Judas’ betrayal. I reflected some and let it swirl around a bit in my mind. Nothing fresh really came to me.

Then Barry sent me his visual representation of the Station. He had explained the vibe a bit in our original meeting, but I had no idea what he would finally do.

I wanted the music to reflect the subtle nature of sin. How it builds slowly, almost without notice, until things feel almost out of control. A snippet mixed in from a standing mavis jam session helped create a nice sense of confusion. I think we’ve all been there.

Barry had explained how he wanted us to see ourselves in Judas. I thought that this would be somewhat shocking to many of us. So I wanted to represent that shock, that sudden realization.

I’ll love to learn how you felt after experiencing this Station – and the rest!