"Jupiter meets Saturn" is a live performance recording inspired by celestial planets, the solar system, and interactions between music and painting. This album was created outdoors under the light of a full Moon in Pisces with the neighbouring illuminations of Jupiter and Venus. Flooding us with fragrant floral Jasmine undertones, is the essence of "The Lady of The Night" (Cestrum nocturnum) gently stimulating our senses whilst sharing our creativity together. Venus, a close friend of Earth, is also one of the brightest points in the sky. Venus meets Earth every 584 days and each time with a 144 degree angle (ratio 2/5), meaning that they will complete a full circle every 8 years, or 13 years on Venus. These numbers belong to the fibonacci sequence, which are also expressed in the way that plants grow on earth.

Jupiter and Saturn also have a 2 to 5 ratio in their slow orbit around the Sun. And the relation between the Earth-Jupiter-Saturn synodic line and Earth’s respective "meetings" with Saturn and Jupiter draws the Golden Ratio - this number is, yet again, derived from the fibonacci sequence. Seen from Earth, however, their orbits look more like a dance, with Jupiter taking 11 "whirls", while Saturn completes the "waltz" with 28 turns. The album artwork cover is a detail from an original fluid pouring painting that abstractly expresses, in colour and movement, the rare conjunction of Jupiter with Saturn. Even though they share much of the same hydrogen and helium mix in their composition, Jupiter and Saturn only "kiss" every 20 years.

When these two planets become intimately cosy and affectionate with each other in the sky, this creates a mighty profound effect on the universe. In astrological terms, the Jupiter conjunct with Saturn shows, in the composition of the zodiac chart, a sign of a stable, long-term bond, which is strong willed with prosperity and longevity. This ignited quite an enlightening effect upon us. You are likely to start recognising and appreciating the relationship and connection you have with yourself, others, the world and with those magical realms above us.

STArt and OCH’s dualistic bond weaves both their artistic practises with passion and expression. They intertwine energy, spirituality, movement, and intimacy, with abstract painting and improvised music processes, combined with an embodied creative sense of spontaneity. At the core of this collaborative album is a cross-translatory composition with mixed media paintings and electroacoustic sounds. OCH’s multi-instrumental sounds are visually translated by STArt’s involuntary movement with painting, and mark making, in a ritualistic meditative state.

STArt travels by hearing the music, feeling the energy, and moving in such a way that she embodies an instrument, playing notes of paint, line, form, and textures. OCH plays the saxophone, computer, and tuning forks. During the first track, he plays up to 2-3 tuning forks simultaneously, in an alternating soft rhythmic cycle, revealing contrasting sound frequencies as intuitive floating waves. For some moments, these tuning fork sounds take the shape of shifting amplified pulsating beats which are spontaneously synchronised with STArt’s brush movements onto a watercolor palette, in preparation for the next paint stroke.

An exhale is expressed both sonically and visually, with breath/wind sounds, and with hand and arm curved movement daubed in green turquoise paint, over the body of the canvas. When the saxophone introduces long tones and timbre, its reverberations are fluidly translated onto the canvas. STArt’s legs, toes, and feet move in a symbiotic motion with the sound journey, colouring the music with deep blue, red, and purple hues. Part of the saxophone sound is frozen which allows it to be layered on top of itself, and extended with echoes. These sound silhouettes are visually and physically collated onto the canvas with whirling, slow, and bilateral movement.

Another element used to connect the mediums of music and painting is a vibration speaker that carries the electroacoustic sounds directly onto the canvas. When placing this speaker underneath the canvas, cymatic patterns start to emerge that interblend the surface painting materials into a vibratory dance state. The resulting friction, like the sporadic paint brush dipping on the glass jar, adds an extra sonic dimensionality that is experienced in tandem with the fleeting audio synthesized sample grains. Accents and pitches are gently tinted with soft pastels and oil paints. Low and high timbres are explored both sonically and chromatically through a chiaroscuro play.

Colours expressed in this album offer healing qualities that relate to raising the auric field around electromagnetic bodies. When these colours are mixed, blended, and channeled with energy and sounds, in a meditative and present way, this energy is transferred to the physical body. This has a profound effect that stimulates our senses, softens our gaze, and allows space for intuitive mindfulness. These colours are also used in reference to the textures, hues, and shapes of celestial planets and meditations that guide the tracks.

Whilst you are listening to this album, notice how you are feeling, and what sounds are connecting with you. Are there any colours and shapes that come to your vision, any essences and flavours that you can smell or taste? Take this moment to play, write, move, draw or paint your visions, adventures, and experiences. We'd love to see or read about your experience, and you may share it with us following this link: start.och.pw/jmsadventures

"Jupiter meets Saturn" journeys you on a tangible, physical, visual, and auditory orbital experience to a sonic canvas cosmos, allowing you moments to shape shift and reconnect with your being, as well as offering a nourishing sanctuary for your senses.