Eabametoong youth self-records ‘electronic, industrial’ album

Pearce Wastaken said the title of his self-released album, Voices Without Words, is the feeling of living in Eabametoong or any other northern community.
“It was just the way I felt about being in a reservation. You’re enclosed and very isolated,” the 22-year-old said. “The struggles and stuff you face, you have to live with it for a while.
So (on a reserve) there are people who have voices, but people can’t hear him.”
Voices Without Words, which was released earlier this year, is an instrumental album which Wastaken said is “a whole lot of ambient sounds.”
“It’s very dark but very peaceful at the same time,” he said. “I like to combine both chaotic and peaceful elements to the music I do.”
While there are guitars and orchestral type of instruments, Wastaken said most would consider his music to be “electronic” or “industrial.”
Going towards that sound was an evolution for Wastaken, who said he first started playing guitar when he was 14.
“My grandmother gave choice between video game set or guitar,” he said. “I already had a video game set so I chose guitar. It wasn’t the best guitar.”
Around that time, Wastaken went through a “gangster rap phase.”
“I couldn’t much feeling from it so I switched to rock,” he said.
As time progressed, Wastaken started listening to Nine Inch Nails, Black Light Burns, “more of electronic hard rock stuff.”
Wastaken said he usually made up his own melodies and riffs, as he found it difficult to learn other musicians’ songs.
Three years ago, Wastaken bought MIDI keyboard, which allows him to record onto a computer.
Using software such as Logic Pro, Wastaken was able to recreate orchestral instruments such as pianos and cellos, and employ various effects to his music. He often used drum software to create beats.
He recorded the album on his own through the computer.
Voices Without Words features nine songs.
The sound of the album “varies through each song,” he said. For instance, the first song he recorded, “Methadone Memory,” is “a very simplistic song with synths and a cello.”
On other tracks, “you’ll hear sound samples of screams or you’ll hear peaceful sounds from a synth or harp or piano.”
Since releasing the album online, Wastaken said it’s received positive feedback.
“It’s getting good feedback from Asia, surprisingly,” he said, adding that he has a friend with connections in that region.
Wastaken hopes to record another album in the near future.
Voices Without Words is available on iTunes, CD Baby, Soundcloud, Amazon. All can be accessed through his website: www.pearcewastaken.com