Empty House

Fleetwood native Fred Laird (Earthling Society, Sonic Shamen, Taras Bulba, Empty House) has been making weird lo-fi psychedelia since the early '90s. He formed spacerock band Earthling Society in 2005. In 2018 Laird called time on the band and decided on a new venture: Taras Bulba, taken from the classic novel by Gogol. Laird's main influences are David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti, Yukio Mishima, Can, Bohren and der Club of Gore, Popol Vuh, 13th Floor Elevators, Les Rallizes Denudes, '70s/'80s UK dub, Alice Coltrane and Flying Saucer Attack. 'Mushin' was recorded over a three day period in March 2021. The idea was originally based on the music set out by The Taj Mahal Travellers' freeform soundscapes, Midori Takada's marimba and harmonium excursions and Usuma Yakoto's minimalistic rhythms. The Zen Buddhist approach of 'No-Mind' or 'Mushin' was adopted in the freewheelin' way the album was created which was in a consciously unconscious manner with no actual idea or blueprint beforehand. Pick up whatever instrument is around and play and see what happens. The instruments that were around at the time of recording were organ, guitar, bouzouki, shakuhachi flute, dizi flute, temple block, Tibetan bells, biscuit tin, a Buddha radio, one of those drums that hippy buskers plonk about on outside Scope, congas and a Gakken synth. Some field recordings were created by capturing a leaking faucet in a garden centre and the eerie sound of some bamboo chimes recorded in Fred's garden the day after the first lockdown started (no traffic on the roads, up in the air or out in the street).