For Mae by 1970s Film Stock

On July 6, 2023, my maternal grandmother passed away after a short illness. She had a profound impact on my life, and on the lives of all she knew. She always encouraged my music-making, and helped foster my love of film, even taking me to my first independent cinema. In the days following her death, I played guitar for a few hours while thinking of her, letting the emotions and playing flow, and recorded a video of it. Months later I revisited the recording, and noticed a melody line I kept returning to. I used this as the starting point for the writing of this song, "For Mae."

When I listen back, I can hear the melody as a symbol of her grace, and I hear the detours as changes in her life, I hear the playfulness as her positive spirit, and I hear the flashes of dissonance as moments of conflict, not only challenges she faced but also emblematic of times in my life when I didn't feel as connected to her, through distance or outlook.

But the melody returns. The love is always there.

Thanks for listening.

With only an electric guitar and a small army of pedals, Eddie Garcia builds complex little symphonies of sound, microcosmic devotionals to a world of kaleidoscopic wonder. Garcia woos listeners into an atmosphere of neon, upon which fluorescent melodies dance in tightly scripted patterns. These imaginative instrumentals are entirely absorbing.

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