6th May - 12th June
Finding Myself in Trélex by Adam A. Neal
My decision to apply and participate in the Trélex residency was predicated on my need for a
structured, dedicated time and space in which to further a “back burner” project I’d begun over
a year ago. Following my completion of a doctorate in transpersonal psychology, the research
I’d undertaken with respect to the investigation of long-term missing persons precipitated a
desire to create a concept album related to the phenomenon. Having previously worked with
three music producers over the past 15 years to produce original songs of mine for various
projects, I decided that this musical project would begin with live performance and would
connect with my recently incorporated arts-based nonprofit, ProFound Arts, dedicated to loved
ones of long-term missing persons.
Trélex’s incredibly generous founder/director, Dr. Nina Rodin, gave me the opportunity to dive
into this project from the third floor of her 17th century house, overlooking the village
clocktower and a Swiss-kissed countryside of verdant farmland and nearby mountains.
Cowbells abuzz in the air, I ambled through field-adjacent paths and vocalized my melodic
structures as I awaited my intermittent commutes from the Trélex station to local cities like
Nyon, Gland, Rolle, and Geneva. I connected with numerous fellow artist residents, including
musicians and visual artists from England and writers from New Zealand and Portugal. While
respectively engaged in our novels, plays, songs, poems, drawings, and paintings, we also
found community time to share authentically and celebrate the time.
As I worked on my lyrics and melodies, I found myself equally pulled to revisit a novel I’d begun
over a decade ago. Without collaborating directly, the synergy of our group sharing inspired me
in ways unexpected. I wrote another chapter of my novel between my yellow-curtained
bedroom in Trélex and a train trip back from Lucerne. In revisiting my novel, its theme of a
young woman finding herself through unexpected circumstances illuminated a parallel to my
concept album involving a young woman becoming lost to her loved ones through such
circumstances. I came to learn that one of the residency’s greatest strengths is its inherent
trust in an artist’s process, which for most of us is nonlinear and unpredictable despite our
attempts to rein the muse through routine or self-imposed benchmarks. Having the flexibility to
work toward a different project for a short time without fear of faltering on some arbitrary
commitment to the other project gave my time a continual sense of freedom and authenticity.
Part of the process also involved my purchasing a new practice guitar from a store in a
neighboring city. I was fortunate to have an upstairs area of the house to myself, as the thick
floors contained any sound from disturbing below and barred any loud reverberation upward.
Each day when I did my vocal exercises, practiced my guitar, or sang through sections of my
lyrics, I felt comfortable knowing that I would not be infringing on the space.
Rediscovering my novel and acknowledging its connection to my current musical project has
proven fruitful, and I’m continuing to spend time on both having now returned home to South
Florida. I have been in touch with my fellow residents as well, and I hope to continue our
synergy for the foreseeable future.
No comments:
Post a Comment