Grooved Whale marks the beginning of my inquiry into the world of the whale.

In 1996 I was invited to join a research team in southeast Alaska studying the acoustics of the Humpback Whale. It was thought that with my background as a classically trained musician, I might be able to identify subtle patterns in the acoustic activity of the whales that were not readably evident to the scientist.

After three years of being immersed in the data collecting and analysis of whale sounds, I found myself faced with questions that lay beyond the scope of the scientific inquiry. I continued to travel up to Alaska in the summer and Hawaii in winter as an independent, all the while developing an approach that would encompass my more artistic leanings.

I had always been attracted to technology and a stint at the Graphics and Multimedia Research lab at Simon Fraser University brought me in contact with experts in the fields of cognitive and computer science, biology, behavior ecology, kinesiology and physics. The lab also introduced me to visual artists, choreographers, dancers and other musicians. Exposure to these diverse disciplines opened my eyes to various methodologies with which we can explore the world and provided me with unlimited inspiration and means of approach.

I soon realized that it wasn't just the acoustics of the Humpback Whale that needed to be studied, that the questions pertaining to a creature that lives in an entirely different environment needed included ideas pertaining to perception, cognition, social behaviour, evolutionary adaptation, intuition, instinct, emotion and intelligence.

And while I wasn't out to "prove" anything with my work, it seemed to me that investigating these questions through the discipline of musical composition was an extremely valuable method of inquiry for an acoustically -exuberant creature such as the Humpback Whale.

. This being realized, I wasn't content to study ideas of water from the world on land and I moved my studio and possessions to a 1949 wooden boat named Hacienda Good Karma . The boat leaked like a sieve and more than once I had to rescue my gear from a tenacious drip, but it was the perfect spot to contemplate waves, tides and transmissions. The album was composed and produced in its entirety on my boat and I'm sure if you listen closely the outside elements of wind and rain can be heard.

My exploration is now taking me into the world of movment and dance, tapping into the knowledge that lies not only within our brain but within our body. I am also embarking on a follow-up album, Liquid Belly, exploring in more detail the relationship between rhythm and movement. I feel I have only begun to scratch the surface of the Humpback's world and am looking forward to the insights that the continued exploration of the creative process will bring.