Thanks to Scott from Lazy Bones, I had the opportunity to send questions to Jordan via email. Some questions were even submitted by the fans all over the world. So thank you Jordan and Scott!

You can preorder Jordan’s new album entitled « Intersonic » here : https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/intersonic

How did the collaboration start? Why did you want to do a duet and not a solo album?

Steve H and I started making music together many years ago. He is a master synthesist and composer and we would enjoy getting together and improvising with our various expressive instruments. Getting together with Steve has always been a great musical outlet for me. A chance to dig into many of the cool new instruments that I love without any limitations or boundaries…
The reason I wanted to collaborate is that I’m really into the sounds and subtlety of what Steve does with his instruments and I enjoy when we make music together!

When did you record the album? How long did the recording/creation of the songs take?

The music on the album is a combination of pieces we recorded through the last 10 years of playing together with the majority of it from more recent sessions.
Most of the music was recorded direct from our sessions together in real time. There is not a lot of overdubbing. We are both really into the art of improvisation that is the heart of what is captured on this recording!

What instruments did you and Steve use?

Grand Piano, Synthogy Ivory, Roli Seaboard, apps like MorphWiz , GeoShred, Finger Fiddle, the Zen Drum, Euro Rack, Buchla Synthesizers and more!!

The piano has an interesting role in that album and Steven Wilson praised that sound. What kind of piano did you use (acoustic or VST)?

Both acoustic and digital piano sounds are used on the album… Everything from a Steinway piano to Synthogy’s Ivory virtual instrument. The advantages I got from going virtual on some of the music are that Ivory sounds so beautiful and because it lends itself to processing really well. Steve created some very unique almost harmonic reverb textures for the processing of the piano at times.

Is it just a one-off or do you want to push the collaboration further?

We will absolutely continue to make music together. It’s something we enjoy so much…

Some parts remind me of the works of Jean Michel Jarre, one of the French precursors in electronic music. Do you know him and have you been influenced by his records?

Of course I know him! I’m more influenced by groups like Tangerine Dream or Autechre and people like Ryuichi Sakamoto, Morton Subotnick or Richard Devine

Are the songs solely improvised or do they come from demos or existing patterns?

The way we work is we get a sound palette prepared, a mood and a basic (starting) idea of tonality but once that is all established, the music is improvised.

Any plans to do live concerts like what you did with Richard Lainhart?

We are exploring pathways for this. We are looking to collaborate with companies and institutions that work with surround sound and Ambisonics for our live presentation!

Do you want to use ideas or sounds used in Intersonic on future Dream Theater releases? Or in other words, do you think that that album will influence the next DT album?

I certainly love to take my expressive cutting edge instruments into the land of DT! Stylistically though Intersonic is more in the Electronica/Ambient dimension though…
Anything is possible… Remember the sound of the NOMACs????

Why did you accept to work with the CCRMA? And can you explain what you are going to do there?

I was offered the position of Artist in Residence at Stanford University’s CCRMA. I will be working on musical projects such as taking my current epic style PROG composition and arranging it for multi-channel surround. My basic plan is to engage the students in my musical activities and do a lot of sharing of ideas for the future of musical instruments and music as a whole. I’ll also do some concerts out there. Everything from solo piano to Seaboard/GeoSHred extravaganzas~~

Richard Chycki confirmed he was working on a new DT live album: can you tell us which tour it will be?

Stay tuned for more information about this… There is something in the works but can’t be discussed as of yet!

Interview by The Keyboard Wizard