EAU CLAIRE — As musician Peter Phippen reflected on the release of the album “The Phantom Moon,” he stressed that this was not a solo effort.
“I wanted it to be a true collaboration — not somebody dictating, ‘Hey, you play this,’ ‘You sing this,’ ‘You go into the background,’” said Phippen.
While Phippen is well-known as an established rock bassist, he also has a distinct connection to the flute. This musical side, he notes, was an accidental discovery at the age of 31.
“My flute collection collection is pretty vast, my wife goes, ‘Why do you need more than one flute?’” Phippen said with a laugh.
His collection of flutes from all over the world — from antique Native American flutes to the Japanese shakuhachi — give each of Phippen’s pieces a unique sound, and sometimes they blend to make something truly otherworldly.
Phippen often collaborates with Ivar Lunde Jr. Lunde is an award-winning classical composer with piano concerto, choral and string quartet pieces coming in the near future. But, just as there is more to Phippen, there is more to Lunde as well.
“I have always been interested in popular music, so that’s a no-brainer,” said Lunde. “I have always thought it would be fun to be a part of any ensemble who would have me.”
Though he stated that sometimes his classical background was treated negatively, it wasn’t with Phippen, and Lunde recalled the two experimenting with unique sounds, saying that Phippen “has an innate ability to just mesh with what I have been doing.”
“Having experience in the classical idiom is not a bad thing at all, because music is music,” he said. “I know [Phippen] is not thinking of structure when he plays, but he is. For him it comes natural. He just keeps playing.”
“I’m thankful to [Lunde],” Phippen said. ”He’s really good — not just as a musician, but as a recording engineer and placing things in the mix where they belong. He knows I like a lot of dark effects and ‘ghostly’ stuff. That’s what I’m going for with the flutes.”
In the duo’s last two albums, “Primordial Forest” and “Earthly,” Lunde’s synth backings combine with Phippen’s flute playing to provide an atmospheric soundscape, and the otherworldly sound continues with “The Phantom Moon,” which was released this Halloween. Like its predecessors, the new tracks have been labeled by many names — new age, dreampop, ambient music — but the end result defies easily falling into any particular genre.
Phippen noted, though, that for “The Phantom Moon,” the approach was a bit different.
“Usually [Lunde] and I go in and the main flute line and the most basic synthesizer line are the first two things to go down and then they go down live,” he said, “so there’s a performance and then we improvise on top of that, but we don’t control the improvisations.
“And this time it was done differently; we wanted to do something different. So [Lunde] says, ‘Let me come up with some things. Let me make some beds for you to play over, for you to improvise over.’”
Phippen’s part then ended up being completely spontaneous, as he went in without hearing any of Lunde’s initial backings.
But then there was even more change for the new album in the form of vocals courtesy of singer Paulina Fae, which blend with Phippen’s flutes and add to the surreal and haunting nature of the album’s tracks.
“I’d say my music lives in the realm of dreampop, though my recent songs often take the form of soft, drifting lullabies,” said Fae. “I think it could be described as ethereal and atmospheric music that moves through half-remembered dreams.”
“When I heard her album, ‘Ghostbirds,’ I immediately wrote to her, and I was like, ‘Wow, I love your new album,’” recalled Phippen.
“[Phippen said that] my voice would be a right fit for what they were envisioning, and I was immediately intrigued by the project — how could I not be!” replied Fae. “It began with [Lunde] sending me the bare bones of his compositions, to which I recorded my vocal parts. The first set of songs already included [Phippen]’s flute pieces, while the next set did not, creating two distinct recording experiences I truly enjoyed. For those later pieces, [Phippen] would add his otherworldly flute work in response to my vocals.”
Phippen was also enthusiastic about Fae’s piano playing, which is featured on a few of the new album’s tracks, including “Longing Cries.”
“What makes her piano playing special to me … is she chooses her notes wisely, and she leaves so much space. If you hear tinklings on the piano, you think: that’s just the right note in the right spot.”
The album has already started getting radio play in the United Kingdom, despite not even being out for a month. It has become part of the rotation for One World Music Radio’s New Age Radio Show as well as with the station’s radio host Steve Sheppard, who has played its tracks with other ambient and electronic music.
The artists stated their enthusiasm not just for the project itself, but with how they hope their audience receives it.
“The project awakened a new layer of musical expression within, one that felt both freeing and transformative. Collaborating in that way opens new doors, inviting growth and unexpected ideas. I feel deeply fortunate to have been part of ‘The Phantom Moon,’” said Fae. “I hope listeners are carried into the landscape of each track, noticing the textures, the interplay with voices, flute and instruments, and the subtle layers that give each song its own life.”
“When you look at the moon, you can dream, and it’s far away. You have this big white circle and all of the blackness stars around you, and that’s what I think when I hear ‘The Dream Diary,’ for instance,” said Lunde. “Just listen and immerse yourself in the music.”
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