photo from fall 2017
How do we find our way from a deep place of disconnection? This song Way Deep Down has been in transformation since the first verses, chorus, chords and melody came to me more than a year ago. The song was inspired first by typical a bus ride through downtown and along Hastings towards Nanaimo where I was living. I met a man who seemed to have hit rock bottom in his desperation for connection. He kept asking over and over if I liked dry gin. Although I haven't experienced physical addiction, I recognize that desperation in myself at times in my life when I felt unworthy of respect or value. It's a universal human feeling. The song came through me to heal whatever is holding us hostage in order to get through it to a place of balance.
Then in November last year, there was a fatal fire in the home of a family at my kids' school. My kids were carpooling home nearby when it happened and we found out later what happened. I felt so much sadness and empathy for the family having tried to save the child, carrying scars physically and emotionally. Yet I also saw the school come together to gather clothing, food, raise money for the family and offering counselling to students. So I wrote the bridge to the song, putting that sadness, anger, and hope into the music. When we release the song, I would like to dedicate it to the family, to survivors of fire and "the realm of hungry ghosts", those of us who are balancing a fire just as devastating on the inside.
We have had creative feedback and added elements from Kiki Connelly, Benedicte Schioetz, Max Serpentini.