Aram Bajakian: Return

When you’re living in a city, you may not notice the sounds that its transportation systems make. The sounds that the subway makes when the doors open and close. The sounds of the turnstiles as you leave the metro station. You may hear these sounds thousands of times a year. Tens of thousands of times a year. And yet, try to recall the subway sounds of a city you’ve lived in but have left. You probably can’t remember them, can you? But if you hear a recording of those sounds they will instantly become familiar again. This piece is partly made from a field recording of a walk between subway lines in a metro station. As field recordings go, it’s not that interesting. The sounds are quotidian and rather banal. They could be from any major city.

Hearing the accordion reminds me of the subways in Paris, a bit of a cliché. But for me, the sounds in this recording were all new. When you arrive in a city for the first time, your senses are heightened. You notice how the air is different, so humid and thick in New York. You see how people walk, as I did once in Madrid on a Sunday afternoon. Tired with jetlag, but so excited, I noticed how slowly the older couples were strolling, arms linked, so regal. Some cities have a certain brightness to them, as Barcelona does, or a certain darkness at night, or haziness, as Rome does in the summer, or never resting vibrance, as Delhi does.

With this recording, I was returning to my rented apartment after a meeting. I just happened to start recording on my phone, thinking that the sounds would be something I might listen to in a few years. I wasn't trying to create anything. But I was thinking about telling family and friends about my experiences as an Armenian in Turkey, my ancestral homeland, for the first time. If you are from Istanbul, you might hear the sounds and think they’re not that interesting. “It’s just the subway. We hear this every day.” If you lived in Istanbul but left, you may recognize some of the sounds, and they may create certain feelings.

This piece is born out of a series of improbable survivals. Again and again and again. Surviving 500 kilometers on foot from Sepastia to Aleppo in the 40-degree temperatures of July as a ten-year-old. Surviving the orphanages of Aleppo for several years. Then migrating from Aleppo to Marseille. And then to Massachusetts. A long life working in a factory, but tending every day to a flower garden with fresh parsley. A loving family and the truest understanding of how precious life is.

About the artist

The music of guitarist and composer Aram Bajakian music has been called “a masterpiece” (fRoots), “shape-shifting” (FreeJazzCollective), and “sometimes delicate, sometimes punishing” (Chicago Reader). As a guitarist, “the virtuosic jack of all trades” (Village Voice) has toured extensively with Lou Reed, Madeleine Peyroux, John Zorn and Diana Krall. From 2018-2021, Bajakian served as the New Music Curator at Western Front in Vancouver, one of Canada’s leading artist-run centers for contemporary art and new music. Bajakian received his Bachelor of Music degree (Summa Cum Laude) from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he studied with Dr. Yusef Lateef. He holds a Master of Arts Degree in Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and Master of Music degree in Music Composition from the University of British Columbia. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia, where his advisor is Dr. Nathan Hesselink. His research focuses on contemporary and historic Armenian communities.