Normally when I make music, I’m trying to craft something that sounds cool. I’m flexing a discipline of production that I’m familiar with. The Outlaw Ocean Music Project required me to be much more intentional and critical, fully digesting all of the information presented in the book and videos before aligning it into sentiments that would hit home for listeners. Growing up in Florida, I’ve lived near the ocean for a large part of my life and therefore I have much respect for it. After reading and consuming parts of The Outlaw Ocean, I still have that respect for the ocean but I’m also aware of the consumerism that’s taken over this vast expanse of water, and it was important for me to communicate both of those ideas in the music. It was exciting and a completely different flow. It was stimulating, and one of the best parts about working on the project. 

Music is an intrinsic and primitive form of intentional storytelling. We as humans naturally interpret and ascribe meaning to the things we consume. I was intentional in crafting a body of work rich in meaning. The process and the result felt incredibly informed and original, but also familiar and organic to me. 

J. Albert