Plans for Samaritan Press 001 began in early 2013, shortly after the imprint was founded. Releasing the first official catalog number with Al was important to me, as the creative relationship we've built with OM has made for some of my best and most fulfilling work.Al's intention in music and words deeply resonates with me as an artist and friend.
My interpretation focused on the story of Elijah, as mentioned in the lyrics:
"And rise Elijah. From death through the ghost field. The empty tomb electric. From sepulcher flows the stream. As siddhas roam the mountain. Jonah. "
The depiction of Elijah (back cover) is fairly traditional with some slight twists. To me, Elijah is representative of a contemplative life and the song evokes a specific period of isolation as described in the biblical narrative.He is crouched in a cave on Mt Horeb. Ravens gather with bits of God's nourishment. I feel that those who live hand-to-mouth must believe in a sort of providence as illustrated in the story. I included a skull atop the tree stump as a symbol of rebirth, a trust in God and nature.The image of the raven (insert) is a further elaboration on the scene. This time I imagined the tree full grown, having enveloped the human spirit/skull.
Al Cisneros, Rickenbacker factory 2013
The chipboard sleeve was printed on my Chandler & Price press (circa 1910) . The press is powered by pumping a foot pedal (treadle) to rotate a large flywheel which powers the press to print with a "clamshell" type of motion. Though an edition of 1000, the jackets were printed in two passes.The dust sleeves were also printed on the C&P.This called for many,many hours of printing and contemplation and,as a good friend once pointed out, manually powering a sort of wheel of dharma (dhammachakra) to imprint the image. The image is physically pressed into paper as the grooves of the record are imprinted into the vinyl, an overall archaic and laborious process, which embeds an intention and energy in the object. I hope that the final object conveys the reverence for music and art that Samaritan Press represents. The main insert is a 3 color screen print along with various other ephemera that I include with mailorder copies.The matrix labels were hand stamped and the jackets were then manually folded and numbered. You can see a short video of the process here.
DV D 'Andrea, Samaritan Press 2014
I want to thank everybody who has purchased the release so far. Your interest and support has been extremely encouraging and a sure sign that I will continue the series of music releases. I have a few proposals out there and I'm certain that the next release will be very exciting. More details to come. Samaritan Press 001 is available for purchase here. A portion of money from online sales will be donated to a charity of Al 's choosing.
