I created Epicycle at the very beginning of my musical journey. Burning Man in 2000 had blown my mind and sparked something in me, and I was deep into sci-fi literature at the time. In fact, a science-fiction novel called Second Earth inspired the entire concept. I imagined the human species escaping a doomed Earth and traveling through space to save itself, and I poured that narrative into the music. The album unfolds like a futuristic odyssey and ends with the final human drifting alone in the cosmos, sending out a forlorn signal in “The Final Transmission.” 

What’s also special about Epicycle is how it was made. This was my debut, and back in 2001 I didn’t even own a computer for music. I crafted everything with live hardware – old-school Electribes, Roland samplers, random drum machines, guitar pedals – all recorded straight to tape. Each track was essentially a live jam that I stitched together into a coherent story. No multi-tracking, no post-editing luxuries – just raw performances captured in the moment. I even released Epicycle as a double-CD because I had so much material flowing. Listening now, there’s an organic, unpolished energy to it that I love. It’s the sound of me discovering my voice, blending ethereal soundscapes with trancey rhythms and not worrying about genre or rules. I had no idea if anyone would even hear it. But after I self-released it in September 2001, I started getting feedback – especially from the West Coast burner community – that these long, driving songs were taking people on a journey. That meant everything to me. In a way, Epicycle planted the seed for what would become the “Random Rab” sound: a mix of the earthy and the otherworldly, born from live experimentation and big imaginations.

One more pivotal thing happened in those early days: the sunrise sets. Around the time of Epicycle, I played my first dawn DJ set at Burning Man – almost by accident – and it changed my path. I remember thinking no one would show up at 5am, so I could play my gentler, more emotional music without judgement. Experiencing that deeply emotional sunrise with a crowd showed me the power of vulnerability in music. It taught me that my “lighter” ambient material (some of which had hints in Epicycle) could truly move people. After that, I was hooked. I vowed to play every sunrise I could. So when I think of Epicycle, I think of new beginnings in more ways than one: the birth of my recording career and the dawn of the sunrise ritual that’s become such a big part of who I am as an artist.

TRACK LISTING (DOUBLE DISC):

1.1 The First Eye

1.2 Locura

1.3 Myopic Machine

1.4 Absence Of Light

1.5 1,000 Year War

1.6 The Luminous Spiral Code

1.7 Above The Divided Desert

1.8 A New Order

1.9 Rebirth Of Flight

1.10 Exile

2.1 Dawn Of The Endless Day

2.2 Second Sun

2.3 Luscious

2.4 Beyond The Garden Of Earthly Delights

2.5 The Ice Flower Nebula

2.6 Eventual Playa

2.7 Void Behind The Void

2.8 The Final Transmission

2.9 Coda