There was one particular session during the recording of our debut self-titled CD CHASM, that I remember well. You could call it a fluke-flute incident. Early in the project we had started working with a new sound engineer, John Perez who was also the owner of the studio we were recording at: Audioworks (Glendale, CA). Hence, John really didn’t know us.

The session began and was rolling along with Mike in the recording chamber doing flute over dubs, while John and I sat in the control room. Things seemed to be going fine until Mike started swearing at his flute. I wasn’t too concerned because I had seen him work like this before and he always ended up with a great performance. Still, there was a funny vibe in the air this time. Mike was becoming quite frustrated about not getting the sound he wanted… take after take…arguing with his flute… and then something happened that sent him ballistic. Right before our eyes, he reeled back and slammed his flute into the microphone stand ! John immediately jumped up running into the recording booth yelling "#%$& !!!" in fear that his pricey AKG microphone was going to take the next hit. I ran in after him trying to calm everyone down. What happened next was a bit loud and commotional, but eventually the dust settled. Fortunately, there was no blood and John’s microphone was spared. However, Mike’s flute was noticeably bent on an angle where it hit the mic stand. We all just stood there staring at it in silence. Then calmly, Mike raised it to his lips and began playing a happy little ditty like nothing had happened ! Despite the damage, it was still playable. And instead of throwing us out of his studio, John simply asked, "Gentlemen, shall we continue?" We agreed to give the recording another shot. Remarkably, Mike’s next few takes were so good that they ended up on the album. Those solos can be heard on the song "Wesley." A great performance after all indeed.

The flute was later repaired and given to a young music student. Mike got a new Armstrong concert flute, which he’s more careful with these days. He jokes about the incident saying that Mozart may have created "The Magic Flute," but he has the distinct honor of creating the "The Angry Flute."

-Mark Esakoff

One of my favorite memories from the analog archives of the first Chasm record is seeing the look on John "Golden Ears" Perez' face whenever we would come in for a session with some completely non-rock or homemade instrument. At the time, I guess John's clientele leaned heavily towards metal and rap, so when Chasm would show up, he'd get this kind of "so, what are you going to break out next?" look on his face. Recorders, alto flute, luitars; he would just look at us and laugh. But nothing beat the session when Mark brought in a hunk of 2X4 lumber and a saw, which he rhythmically hacked through at the end of the song "Jessica." Between that and the swirling of bamboo branches, and a wine decanter filled with air rifle B-B's, I think John considered us quite mad. Still the homemade percussion added a unique texture to "Chasm," and continues to be a large part of our sound, even after I talked Mark into using electronic percussion sounds on "Panorhythmica"...

-Michael Whipple

During the recording sessions for Panorhythmica Mike and I often discussed music in terms of visual imagery. It soon became apparent that the choice of metaphors we were using corresponded to the sounds we were each trying to get. We saw eye to eye, or more accurately, ear to eye. When one of us would use visual terms like "smoke", "wood", "purple", "green", etc. to describe music, the other would instinctively know what he meant. This visual-aural language we had developed between us during the recording process ultimately became the theme of the album… seeing with the ear.

Naturally, we tried to come up with a name for the album by combining something that’s visual-aural. I proposed the title "Panoramic Rhythms." Mike, immediately upon hearing it said, "Panorhythmic!" It was instant, we both liked it. Later, he wanted to add an "a" to the end it so it would roll off the tongue… "Panorhythmica." I preferred it without the "a", but he passionately argued for it. I conceded defeat.

The theme of seeing with the ear continued into the CD cover artwork. I contacted an artist friend of mine, Tom McKeith, who in the past had offered to do the next Chasm CD cover art as a favor. I had a concept for the artwork that included a face in which the ear and the eye were switched around. This image was in part inspired by a psychologist / philosopher named William James (1842-1910) who I remembered studying while in college. James hypothesized that if the ears could be surgically connected to the visual portion of the brain and the eyes to the aural portion, one would be able to hear colors and see sounds. I pictured this as an ear placed in the eye socket and an eye placed in the ear canal.

While discussing this, Tom mentioned he had just finished reading an article about people who actually have a neurological disorder similar to this called synesthesia. People with this condition have severe problems sorting out reality. Luckily, we were able to sort out our conversation and actually began seeing ear to eye. He was able to follow my convoluted inside-outlook. Tom took the idea as a challenge knowing it would be difficult to draw something like this without it looking scary or like a Picasso. His first attempt looked like this picture1. His second attempt looked like this picture2. And the third attempt is what became the final cover art for the Chasm CD, Panorhythmica.

-Mark Esakoff