A Journey of Place and Time.

The sand. The sea. The wind whispers secrets of a forgotten time. A small plane flies to the middle of nowhere.  A bus rambles across the Andes into an ancient empire. A camel labors through the sands of the Sinai desert.  The mountains are fading away. This is a journey into the uncharted regions of love and place. A common thread is unraveling. In everything there is a distance between us. We need to find the connection again.

Since 2009 Zach Ashton has seen the world in ways that many could never imagine. He has rooted himself in fading cultures and their primal connections to the secret to life. What he discovered is evident in his musical compositions and photographs. 

The Distance Between Us was recorded during the months of March and April of 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The city of Rio often conjures images of 1960's spy movies and the rich lounging with bikini clad beauties on the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. Though this seems tempting, we were there to mark a moment in time. Through friends we found an amazing studio on the hillside of Gavea near the famed Rocinha Favela. There we took our inspirations and began the task of capturing moments within sound and time.  The sessions lasted late into the night and often would end over a drink at the renowned Bar Jobi, which was still crowded at 4am.

None of us could have ever imagined the fruits of our labor. The sultry energy of Rio was captured within the recordings and the haunting rhythms of Brazil's musical heartbeat can be felt in every chord. We came to Brazil for it's energy and to see what it would be like to have Brazilian players give their interpretation of Western Music. They gave us their souls and this is why The Distance Between Us will live with us in our hearts forever. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. 

- Zach Ashton

Certain projects require special attention to sound when mixing. We decided to mix the album at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, California. San Francisco is the perfect city if you need to concentrate. Located in the Tenderloin district, Hyde Street is responsible for many amazing recordings from the 1960's and 1970's. Neil Young, Santana, Clearwater Creedence Revival as well as modern rock bands such as Green Day and Train have all worked at this historic studio. Studio A houses a vintage Neve 8078 console which we became very acquainted with. Grammy-winning producer/engineer Alan Sanderson felt quite at home mixing on the analog board. We could feel the warmth of the music as it poured through the speakers. At times we felt as if we had been taken back in time. A time when tape machines had the last say in what a song would be. Special thanks to Jeff Cleland and Charlie Beutter for their hospitality.