Elijah Jamal Asani (,,, as long as i long to memorise your sky ,,,) - Album of the Month (May)

An exclusive interview with Elijah Jamal Asani discovering his creative world, practice and spirit conjuring ethereal soundscapes of the great Grand Canyon...

May 07, 2025

“in the summer of 2022, i spent sixty nights @ the grand canyon as an artist in residence. throughout my linger alongside the canyon, i followed the native wind whisper(s) until we found quiet, i mooted each theory re: how the canyon came to be, & realized the sky never falls asleep no matter how sweet a lullaby i play…”

Every month I share with you an album that I’ve been listening to that I think of very, very highly and pairing it with an exclusive interview with the artist —

This month, it’s Elijah Jamal Asani — anti-disciplinary Nigerian-American artist bred in Chicago & based near the River Wimahl — with his latest album ,,, as long as i long to memorise your sky ,,, released on AKP Recordings.

Sculpted from field recordings made on site at the Grand Canyon during an artist residency in the Summer of 2022 ,,, as long as i long to memorise your sky ,,, is an audio journal comprised of letters/sonic confessions spoken between the Colorado River and the Arizona Desert as they converged to create the landscape that we know as the Grand Canyon.

An invitation to slow down — to linger a little longer — to follow the wind’s lulling whisper, and let your gaze discern where the land meets the clouded horizon.

Each track shares intimate glimpses into the sedimentary sentiments between these natural swains; blending intuition with intention ,,, as long as i long to memorise your sky ,,, is a vivid stroke of abstract romanticism patiently wandering through ethereal ambient compositions.

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Hi Elijah. Thanks for taking the time to share your reflections for Sonic Tapestries. Let’s begin with your album ,,, as long as i long to memorise your sky ,,, — where did the inspiration for this record come from?

i spent 60 nights at the Grand Canyon in the summer of 2022; while i was on the rim i had heard about the divinity of the Canyon, how it is a sacred portal for some of the Natives of the land, & the many different creation stories about how the Canyon was created. in such a vast and sacred location, there are not many places to hide from our truths; in turn i felt closer to myself, & i felt glimmers of sacredness during my time there.
so during a three nights long journey inside of the Canyon, i made it to the place where the Colorado River and the Canyon walls touch. after the day long journey, i lie my body on the shore of the River to rest - my ear making contact with the land. as i lie there, i began to hear some sounds that were new to me; something like an underground _________ . & after a few listens, i realized that the river was whispering to the Canyon walls,, and the walls were communicating back; splashes echoing off of the stone that morphed into sweet nothings // gentle reminders that the River has been, is and shall be carving into the desert. i turned on my field recorder as they both softly answered back; those audio-files / sedimentary sentiments are what uu hear on this project. to the River and the Walls it was something sincerely intimate; to us we call these endless conversations the Grand Canyon.

Your residency in the Grand Canyon seemed like a truly extraordinary opportunity to work in such an exceptional environment. How do you personally go about connecting your experiences in the field to the sounds you summon in the studio?

yes, that residency @ the Canyon allowed me to truly take my time as i meander(ed) and got to know the land in an intimate way. there is energy in environment, so having an extended amount of time in one location allowed me to be a part of, sit with, lie next to, ask questions, learn lessons, and capture that energy in a profound way. most importantly, the Grand Canyon has a divine/spiritual/holy reverence that the Native’s of the land honor. their lineage & ancestry is deeply intertwined to the canyon, so it was beyond energy honestly, & it forced me to move with more intention & respect of the land.

“…the acoustics of a place tell that energy just as much as the visual representation.. so whether i fight that truth or embrace it, some amount of energy from wherever i am located will subconsciously always find its way into my art.”

During your residency was there a particular interaction or experience that resonated with you deeply?

there were many profound moments, tho one that i can best put into words was the opportunity to perform with and getting to know Native American flutist Aaron White. not only is Aaron a magician with his flutes,,, he is just as importantly a good man & it was an honor to be able to play music with him. we had an improvisational performance at desert view watchtower and there were moments where him and his flute were undoubtedly speaking to the land and the sky, and the sky seemed to talk back to him in a way that still resonates with me to this day.

How important is setting to your creative writing & recording process?

when i connect with an artists work, i am always intrigued to learn where they are from/where they are based because i know their surroundings & their immediate culture both have an intrinsic influence on their creation process. setting/location contains energy that may alter the way we perceive said location; & the acoustics of a place tell that energy just as much as the visual representation.. so whether i fight that truth or embrace it, some amount of energy from wherever i am located will subconsciously always find its way into my art.

How much of a role does field recording take in your creative practice? Do you seek out particular sounds or do you prefer to wander, record and listen back in the studio?

field recording for me feels like capturing a time capsule of tones or allowing a story to tell itself by simply being in a chosen environment. while i am field recording, i like to truly take my time as the process is a combination of intentionally seeking a sound/area that i would like to record, yet truly being open to meandering into unexpected directions to record other moments along the way.

How do you go about integrating musical elements into your music? Are these interventions guided by your field recordings, or perhaps it's the inverse?

for this project in particular, the sounds that i captured at the Canyon are the foundation / band leader of everything uu hear; all of the other instrumentation simply maneuvers around & inside of the field recordings in order to expand on the creation story. almost as if the field recordings are the desert & i acted as the river; carving into the sounds with intention until we create something new.

You have cited Carlos Niño's communal sound & Hiroshi Yoshimura’s kankyō ongaku music as creative inspirations. What other great influences have inspired your artistry?

slow cinema & the meditative hypnosis that comes with showing rather than telling has shaped my approach to art in the past few years. some inspirational directors for me are Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Jessica Beshir, and Andrei Tarkovsky. their art does not tell uu how to feel or force anything upon uu ,, but rather invites uu to slow down and be closer to yourself within the moment of a new tempo.

“…I am a keeper of bells & chimes, because they remind me of/feel like a source prayer to me; + when i am playing them they allow me to be closer to or simply feel like the wind for that moment”

The first track off the album — goodnight in muav ♭ — begins with a beautiful soundscape of wooden instruments, it's such an enchanting sound that reminds me of the ema prayer plaques found at the entrance of Japanese Shinto shrines & Buddhist temples — can you tell us more about the origins of these sounds?

i resonate with the comparison of those sounds to a prayer plaque. i am a keeper of bells & chimes, because they remind me of/feel like a source prayer to me; + when i am playing them they allow me to be closer to or simply feel like the wind for that moment. what uu are hearing throughout “goodnight in mauv♭” is a pointillistic collage of the few bells & chimes that i brought inside of the canyon with me; they are mostly played by the wind & heavily intertwined with the songs of the mountain chickadees.

This album possesses such a beautifully delicate warm signature — could you share some of the creative techniques you used to create this sound?

i wanted to find ways of telling the visuals of the canyon rather than inherently showing, so there are many moments in this project where i used sound to mirror the imagery/contours of the canyon. e.g., similar to the shape of the limestone, sandstone, and supai layers that curve and form the top half of the rock formations that are most commonly associated with the canyon - i utilized slow attack to mirror the shapes of these stones and long delays to signify the abundance of these formations. that coupled with the innate warmness of the field recordings…surreal earth tones…

Could you share a little about your studio - do you cherish any particular equipment?

Roland sp404 & Ableton are the mother board of my studio setup. Ableton has been my go-to DAW for the past decade or so, & the sp404 allows me to channel my roots as a producer and blend previous tendencies into current sonic explorations; like swapping chopped samples for field recordings.
Since moving to Portland, i have been able to witness the way Brown Calvin from Brown Calculus utilizes effect pedals as a producer/keyboard player, & it has really altered the way i approach live instrumentation. as i continue to find a work flow that i can comfortably translate from the studio into live performances, i am exploring other sonic worlds (i.e. granular manipulation, synthesis) which keeps me on the prowl for new instruments, pedals, and constant expansion of my methodology.

What projects do you have coming up in your timeline? What's the best way to keep updated on your creations?

i am:
~ seeking the ____ that i believe in most
~ learning to take care of/be honest with my art in hopes that it takes care of me
~ actively looking for resources that will sustain me as an artist / support my desires to create at my most potent
~ archiving my published works on my website: www.elijahjamalasani.love.

Each month all paid subscribers will be entered into the prize draw to WIN AN EXCLUSIVE VINYL COPY of the album of the month!!!

For your chance to win a beautiful vinyl copy of Elijah’s “,,, as long as i long to memorise your sky ,,,” just sign up via the link below: