artist Adjei The Sound Sculptor

My name is Adjei and I am a musician from Edmonton, Canada. My instruments of choice are guitar, bass, and drums. In terms of tastes I’m into everything from classical to heavy metal, from folk to jazz and whatever lies between. I am currently a solo musician.

I began playing instruments around the age of 10 beginning on guitar then adding bass & drums shortly afterward. Early on I began recording the jam sessions I had with friends on a tape recorder & my interest in recording has only grown more over the years. In my grade 9 computers class I was given the option learn more about recording over the standard curriculum teachings & it was through this opportunity that I obtained my first recording program, Power Tracks Pro Audio.

Throughout high school I continued to learn more about recording through trial & error while playing in various bands/jam sessions. I made a series of original heavy metal recordings with my friend & fellow musician Jordan Glass for a group we called Gruesome Goat. We had some of these recordings played on the school radio station at lunch hours & at times jammed them out in the halls during breaks as well.

In 2006 Jordan lead a group called Black Arms in which I performed as the drummer. We spent many months rehearsing songs that he had written before engaging in a 6 months spell of performances at local Edmonton, AB venues such as The Fox Pub, The Rendezvous Pub, The Velvet Underground(Now “The Brixx Bar & Grill”) and New City Suburbs. During this time we again made recordings together for the Black Arms project. It was my first time working in more studio like conditions having a jam space to capture live drums as well as the other instruments. All the while I was in Black Arms I continued to write & record my own music in various styles to increase my musical knowledge & understanding. In December of 2006 Black Arms played it’s final show at The Rendezvous Pub with the highlight of the night being a drum battle between myself & fellow musician Cass with whom I also performed in jam bands.

2007 seen me travel to Montreal to attend the Trebas Institute for a Music Production & Live Sound course. I learned many things from my time in that course with regard to how recording actually works & techniques to get the best out of what you do have as well as problem solving. Most importantly however I learned that even with such knowledge there still remains a level of trial & error proceedings depending on the feel one is going for. I also really focussed on my own musical works, recording various tracks which culminated in a collection I dubbed “Demos 2007". The prize track from that collection sees me really venture into the world music genre. It’s one entitled “Shores, Jungles, & Deserts” & is  available for free download along with 2 other tracks from that time period on my Reverbnation page(Follow my  
links throughout the page for access).

Returning home to Edmonton in 2008 I began working on what would become my first full length album “Soul Of A Man”. It’s an eclectic mix of songs capturing my wandering musical eye which also features my first attempt at singing over top of my songs. These works are all written, recorded, & produced by me using my simple home studio setup & recording programs. Having no access to a proper recording facility for drums & percussion, I utilized free live drum loops available via the internet & edited them for more realism. I officially finished the album in the summer of 2009 & began streaming it online. “Soul Of A Man” has been available for purchase online since Fall 2010.

2010 saw the writing & recording of my second album “In Session”. It’s a collection of instrumental jazz/jam tracks born of various influences and styles. Some of the tracks do have lyrics associated with them but my intention this time out was an instrumental album so vocal version will come along at some point in the future. Again all tracks are original compositions with the exception of the track “Acknowledgement” which is a blues jam rendition of the John Coltrane track by the same name off his album “A Love Supreme”. The guitar & bass work you hear is me playing, the drums & percussion are live loops edited for more realism. “In Session” is also available for sale & has been since Spring 2011.