Project History

     What started out as a single guy pointing a single mic at anything his ears were drawn to, eventually turned into, well, two guys, dozens of microphones and recordings of some of the most famous musicians in Java. In 1996 Kai Riedl, and his then band mate Josh Mckay, went to Indonesia as musical tourists collecting songs on handheld recorders. Those songs influenced their band of the time, Macha. A bonus disk of field recordings was actually included with Macha’s first album in 1997. Kai returned to Indonesia in 2001 to follow through with recordings he’d begun and then came back three more times with engineer Suny Lyons. The two, guided by their love of sound waves, recorded everything from children’s songs to full 30 member gong orchestras in a variety of locations ranging from rock studios in bustling cities to bamboo huts in villages off the grid. Every trip proved to be more musically enlightening than the last.

     Over the past few years Kai and Suny have been in Athens, Georgia listening to and editing these recordings as well as working on other music projects. Javasounds is entirely independently funded, so it has taken years of personal financing and the lifestyle that goes with that to make it happen. Thankfully, there have been dozens of people both in Athens and in Java who have given us guidance, technical help, and a variety of support (see thank you list under people). Javasounds is not the result of a mammoth record label, but rather of some sonic-loving souls expressing themselves to, for, and with you.

     The novelist and poet Henry James spoke to the point, “We work in the dark, we do what we can, we give what we have.”

     Javasounds is the first project by the newly formed SoundCompass, a non-profit dedicated to bringing musicians, listeners, and information directly together in a format that is enriching for all three. Thank you for sharing with us.
See Hopes for our hopes.