'The Nerve' was compiled in 2017 and released as an incredibly limited cassette at a show I played in Portland, Oregon while on tour. I was definitely in a tight spot, super uncertain of anything, and just running blind at that point. My buddy Andrew generously offered to help me put a cassette together to sell my next couple shows, which was super kind of him. I picked out 6 favorites that hadn't been released at the time for one reason or another, Andrew put together some beautiful cover art, and then 15 copies were dubbed and sold—primarily at the Portland gig.

Every track on this release was recorded in a live take from a stereo out on my mixer. Over the years, I've gotten a lot better at capturing live takes and the tracks on here from 2017—"Twisting," "Impossible Layers," and "Distractions"—were super chill to work with and remaster. Fucking hell though, this was definitely not the case with the tracks from 2014-2016. I did my best clean 'em up and I'm pretty happy with the improvements I made. I do think they sound a hell of a lot better now, but obviously hindsight is 20/20, and I wish I could go back in time and smack myself for stupid ass habits like putting a limiter on the DAW track I recorded into, trying to make shit as loud as possible with no headroom for post-production or mastering whatsoever. I was a green baby caveman banging my head against the wall until I heard something that resembled what I wanted, which made rehabilitating these tracks a colossal undertaking that took a good amount of creativity and trial/error to get them where they are here.

Anyways, here's a tiny breakdown of what's on 'The Nerve':

"Collapse"
This was a staple in my live set in 2016, toward the end of my first stint in Portland. I always loved the seasick chords and dusty breakbeat on this one. This was in my set at a time where I was traveling with four drum machines and it was retired around the same time I realized how unnecessary and frustrating it was to travel with four fucking drum machines.

"The Nerve"
This was in the live set from late 2014 through 2015. Just a raw, gritty, and catchy lil' swinging house jam with a nasty bassline.

"Denial (New Jack Island)"
This one's from 2015. I really wish I could swap out the floppy, boomy kick drum I decided to use on this. I got it to a better place, but you still pretty much have to wear headphones to get the most out of this track. I included it because I do really like the sleazy, basement dwelling 90s vibe and it's also got some earworm moments.

"Twisting"
I still really dig this icy lil' downtempo breakbeat track. I hadn't heard it in years before I dug it up for this project. I recorded it in early 2017 on a dining room table in a small apartment in Madison.

"Impossible Layers"
This was how I opened my live set for the second half of 2017. I always loved this track, but there's a lot going on and a lot of changes, so it was always tricky trying to get it to sound how I wanted it to from room to room. If I remember correctly, it took me like 12 different takes to get one that I was happy with. I'm super stoked with how it sounds here.

"Distractions"
This was recorded in either late December 2016 or early January 2017 on just two machines—an A4 and a TR-707. It never made it into a live set and it was more of an exercise in working with limitations, making music with what's available, and getting my mind in another place. This one is dedicated to the generosity and kindness of Marcus K and Andrea D.

Enjoy.