"This album has been an incredible journey for me. It was very challenging to make most of this album without my hands. The full LP is a larger collection of songs than I’ve ever put out before but consists of music I made during that time. These first seven songs really started the project for me, and the process of learning how to create music with my disability. I’m grateful for EDS and learning how important creativity is to me, I don’t need hands, fingers, to make music . I realized I had my mind, community, (toes) and creativity to push myself. This EP is only the beginning, but it means a lot to me. I hope you enjoy it."
– Tele
Sometimes, on the other side of a break-through moment is a full-fledged breakdown just waiting to happen. For Californian producer/pianist, Telemakus, it was only a few short months after the initial success of his debut album 'The New Heritage' in late 2021 when he was told that he might never be able to play the piano again.
The budding Indo-Mauritian multi-talent had set out to make his mark with an ambitious new sound: one that revitalized the fast-playing excitement of peak 1970’s Jazz Fusion and re-imagined it through the modern day DIY techniques of home-recorded bedroom beats – all alchemized with a reverence for the past and ambitious plans for music’s future.
The record was quickly gaining steam upon release, with radio support coming from the likes of KCRW (Chris Douridas), BBC Radio 2 (Huey Morgan, Cerys Matthews), and Jazz FM, then going on catching the attention of coveted media outlets like The New York Times and NPR – and, perhaps most importantly to the lifelong music lover behind the artist, he’d even come to earn the approving co-sign of some of his heroes, such as Flying Lotus, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, and Butcher Brown.
Excited to build on this newfound acclaim, and poised to do so with a hard-drive perpetually full with countless demos and new ideas for his next album, all of that momentum came to a screeching halt all too suddenly, when soon after the album’s release, Tele sprained his wrists from over-exertion. What appeared at first to be a mostly minor injury, and temporary obstacle to his piano playing, would go on to become months of ensuing pain with a concerning lack of progress being made in his recovery. After countless tests, referrals, and specialists, the ambitious 22 year old with a promising future in music just outside his grasp, was given the life-changing diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome – a genetic connective-tissue disorder that doctors warned could be a fatal threat to any career as a full-time musician.
Unable to use his hands for any extended period of time, thus unable to record new material for the foreseeable future, Telemakus was at a crossroads. While anticipation was growing for a sophomore effort from the promising new artist, his future had never looked so uncertain.
Persevering through the hard setbacks that his EDS brought with it, Tele was determined to carry on, and circled back on an earlier conversation with the indie label Fresh Selects to help devise a plan forward. Having recently completed a remix for their act, Sons Of The James, Tele knew that the label had a decidedly hands-on approach to their A&R work and project development, making them the right fit for the task at hand. Now having a discerning outside ear and surrogate set of my hands on board for the project, the pair began to comb through the troves of unreleased material recorded before his injuries. After sending each other various track selections, notes, and ideas back and forth, the album’s concept started to emerge: a narrative through-line that told the journey of everything Tele was currently going through.
As the bones of the album started to take shape, a rallying cry was sent out to some of Tele’s most trusted peers to help finish what he’d started. In a moving show of community, collaborators both old and new all came through to lend a hand where they could. Now playing along to his unfinished pieces were bassists Chino Corvalán (Radio Juicy) and CARRTOONS (recent NPR Tiny Desk star), drummers Raghav Mehrotra (‘School Of Rock’ on Broadway, NBC’s ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’) and bobbyy (Bobby Granfelt of High Pulp), guitarist and vocoder innovator takoda (Minaret Records), prolific saxophonist/composer, Ted Taforo, and a slew of still to-be-announced special guests.
Thankfully, towards the end of an expansive two-year process recording the album, having now made it through the worst of his injuries, thanks to multiple medical procedures and a strict physical therapy regiment (all while finishing up his graduating year at UC Davis, no less) – Telemakus was able to again be (literally) hands-on with crafting his sophomore LP and seeing his vision through to the end.
The result of those efforts live in ‘Eight Ring Revival’ – a boldly dynamic sonic journey through the stages of diagnosis, therapy, recovery, and all that comes with it – expressed through virtuosic solos, beautiful chords and break-neck switches, laid over propulsive breakbeats and woofer-worthy basslines.
But, these things take time. And so, while Telemakus and Fresh Selects work on putting the last finishing touches on their ambitious endeavour, they’ve decided to let the rest of the world get a taste of what they’ve been cooking up. Here now to whet the appetites of the four-course meal to come is ‘Seven of Eight’ – an action-packed EP that shares the first 7 songs of the forthcoming double LP epic.
Rounded up here are the three singles that Tele has been piece-mealing his audience with throughout 2024 – the double-whammy beat combo “Fluttering,” forward-thinking prog-fusion workout “Future Overture,” and explosive funk of “The Love Bomb” – as well as four previously unreleased heavy-hitters. “Away Back” (heard here it’s more raw demo form, currently still being sharpened up for the full-length) suspensefully raises the curtain with a cinematic synth build before blasting things off into the stratosphere. The rip-roaring journey continues with the triumphant announcement of “The Return of Tele” – a proud reminder of our protagonist’s singular voice and signature playing style.
Perhaps most notable of the new work is “FYIB (Only Right)” – at least for its origin story. Defiantly made against doctors’ orders – recorded and programmed using just one hand (only [his] right), the titular acronym of “F*** You, I’m Back” marked one of the earliest resurgences in Tele’s playing ability, refusing to let his injuries hold him back any longer. You can feel the sheer, palpable joy in the recording as the re-inspired musician mischievously relishes in the brief refuge from his nearly two years of mandated time off.
Rounding out the final seventh of the 8RR saga’s first leg is “Sushi Funk” – a concise connective-tissue interlude that’s as raw and pungent as both halves of its namesake. These seven songs, meticulously crafted and thoroughly refined for maximum replayability until the full-length is ready, all serve as just the first arc of what will become the ‘Eight Ring Revival.’
Tracklist:
1. Away Back (Demo Mix) (feat. Chino Corvalán, Bobbyy, takoda)
2. The Return of Tele (feat. David James, Ted Taforo, Amarinder Singh)
3. FYIB (Only Right) (feat. Ted Taforo, Chino Corvalán, David James)
4. Fluttering
5. Sushi Funk (feat. Chino Corvalán)
6. Future Overture (feat. Ted Taforo, Chino Corvalán, Raghav Mehrotra)
7. The Love Bomb
