Writing the songs on Chaos by Design felt like accessing vignettes from a dream, uncovering words and melodies from the depths of memory and imagination. Sitting down with my guitar, I found myself talking with ghosts and coyotes (Cicadas, Ghost, White Coyote), escaping into a mythological paradise (Arcadia), and returning to the sepia-tinged world of childhood and adolescence (Pirates in the Woods, Sarah).  

The title track, Chaos by Design, arrived with more urgency, asking me to consider deeply uncomfortable questions like: Am I living my best life? Am I wasting my talent and my time? But what started with existential panic quickly turned to radical self-acceptance (“If you told me I could be anyone, I’d still be me”). 

Although Chaos by Design has a driving, percussive feel, the rest of the album has a laid-back, folk/Americana sound, like on the gentle fingerpicking of To the Rain, or the laid-back Country/Americana groove of Melody.  I dipped into jazz on Swimming Pool and Breathe Again and fell in love with the gentle bossa nova style of the old Gerry and the Pacemakers song Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying.  

But within all these songs was the same yearning -- to find meaning in chaos. To highlight moments that make the general messiness and challenges of life feel worthwhile.  

The album was recorded at The Plant in Sausalito (now 2200 Bridgeway), as well as Ninth Street Opus and Fantasy Records in Berkeley.