Thought I might try and articulate my thoughts and motivations for this site. I'd like it to be two things. The first is simple enough: I'd like bird and whale to be a place for people to be able to easily have access to music I've made. The second is a little more abstract: I'd like bird and whale to be a place where people can discover a really wide range of amazing music. I know so many people that have extraordinary music collections. I thought I would invite them to share that music online by putting together mixes.
I think we're at the precipice of a real revolution when it comes to how music is listened to and thought of. I suppose some of these changes are wonderful and some aren't. I'd like this website to try and embody some of the positive things that are going on in music/technology right now.
I'm not exactly sure how this fits into the discussion, but I'm pretty much constantly disappointed when listening to the radio here in Chicago. It's rare that I ever hear two songs back to back that I think are solid much less a half an hour or an hour of music. I couldn't begin to guess what forces are at work that keep that ratio so low, but it seems like the web offers an opportunity for me to try and do better. I should note too, that this is in wild opposition to all of the amazing music I hear live in Chicago and the recorded music I'm introduced to on a daily basis by friends.
Another motivation is a nostalgic belief in the MIX TAPE. I used to make mad mix tapes all the time back in the day. There's something about that hour or 90 minutes of music that really lets you travel. I loved to curate the sounds from one to the next. To play with how the songs related to one another and to the whole. I guess it goes without saying, but this website suddenly lets me pass out mix tapes to everyone at once. Bam!
On a final note, I hope it's apparent that I have nothing but the deepest of respect for the musicians whose music is represented here, but if I have stepped on somebody's toes, and you would like some thing removed from the site please send an email to birdandwhale (at) gmail (dot) com.