MAPOVERLAP, duo with Jefferson Pitcher

Now available on Bandcamp: Thoughtful, free, and mostly acoustic duos with an old friend, guitarist Jefferson Pitcher, recorded during late nights in his quiet lutherie studio in Western Massachusetts.

Introductory words from Jefferson :

Mapoverlap is a duo with my longtime friend and collaborator Mike Bullock. We met a few times in my shop (just before the pandemic) to make some sound. Our plan was simple: he would bring the electric fretless bass that I had built for him, and I would play my favourite electric guitar that I’ve made (and kept). We would explore big, loud sounds. Feedback. But that isn’t what happened. I don’t recall why now, but Mike arrived with his contrabass, I had just finished building a flamenco guitar, and it felt wintery. So we decided to play acoustic instruments. At the last minute, I plugged a contact mic attached to a metal bowl into my pedalboard, and we were off. I’m not sure how best to describe the resulting record, but in my mind it references one of my favourite old duo recordings with Derek Bailey and Dave Holland (on cello!), which saw both players stretching; Holland playing more far out stuff than usual, and Bailey more tame. Mike made some field recordings in western MA, and I made some in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and these begin a few of the pieces. The title references the simple fact that Mike and I keep ending up in the same places. In my mind/ear our sound overlaps as do our maps. You’ll hear some drone, bowed strings, watery rumble, crackle and static, Mike’s signature, inimitable, prepared contrabass, lots of space, and our melodic wanderings as we push and pull each other through sometimes gentle, sometimes erratic phrases. In quieter moments, as we hear Mike and I both playing notes, it feels like one of the most intimate things I’ve ever recorded. We pulled out the electrics late at night, and the last piece feels like a reverb soaked boat, drifting in arctic ice as the sun goes down. Sometimes, the music tells you what it wants to be, not the other way around.

Jefferson Pitcher - guitars, amplified bowl

Mike Bullock - contrabass, fretless bass guitar