James Callan

Ancestor#

Artist’s Statement#

Music, like all art, is a form of expression. But music, for me, is the most mysterious. Why? Probably because of my lack of understanding around it. While I am someone who sings often throughout the day, and can’t seem to stop drumming with my hands and feet (even with my teeth and saliva squelches), I have never, despite my many attempts, learned to play an instrument beyond the most basic of basic skills. Reading music is like climbing a ghost of Mount Everest - it is very taxing, for one, and lacks materiality. My mind is untrained for the task, and there are no fingerholds, no footholds. Simply put, I fall into a deep crevasse each time I try. It’s hieroglyphics, and I am blind besides.

Metaphors! (Also lacking materiality). But honestly, music is a mystery to me. I was only able to put my singing and hand-tapping and saliva swishing to actual, audible composition when musical software became available, and the midi keyboard presented the music to me in such a way that those hieroglyphics translated to language I can understand, and use.

This song, Ancestor, is one from my Asimov: Robot tracks, a 40-track collection inspired by Isaac Asimov’s Robot books.

About the Artist#

James Callan is the author of the novels Anthophile (Alien Buddha Press, 2024) and A Transcendental Habit (Queer Space, 2023). His fiction has appeared in Apocalypse Confidential, BULL, X-R-A-Y, Maudlin House, Mystery Tribune, and elsewhere. He lives on the Kāpiti Coast, Aotearoa New Zealand, where he occasionally makes music.