Beyond Possible is being released under a Creative Commons License. 100% Sales of the album through bandcamp will be donated to Sea Watch (sea-watch.org). Please donate generously.

Beyond Possible is the result of a Lebenswelt/Lifeworld Virtual Partnership Residency between Jova Lynne and HYENAZ, through generous support from the Goethe-Institute and curated by Nadia Says for EXP_. Field recordings and visuals were gathered in Berlin, Germany and Detroit, Michigan. It was composed, mixed and mastered by HYENAZ, 2020. With special thanks to Jessica and Vness, who contributed their inspiring words in conversation with Jova Lynne.

The field recordings for Beyond Possible were gathered during July and August 2020, with the intention of finding and creating sanctuary. With sanctuary in our minds, we took a parallel journey in each of our cities, making three stops: 1-Fire/Hearth, 2-Water and 3-Cosmos.

In each of these stations we used the following methodology for gathering our sound and visual samples:

1) Grounding. Find a comfortable position where you can relax your body into the location. Think about grounding. If you feel comfortable, come as physically close to the ground as possible. Lie on the ground. Let whatever parts of your body that touch the ground sink deeper into the ground. Concentrate on rooting. Put your sound device on the ground and mm press record. Capture the ambient sounds located there.

2) Deep Listening. While letting the recording run, think about the sound that you hear. What sounds do you hear closest to you? What is more distant? What is even further away? Take note. You can also move your body in small micro-orientations to signal that you receive the sound. It could be an arm movement or a very subtle shift in your weight, depending on how you are positioned.

3) Articulations. From this grounded space, what words come to mind. Try not to edit yourself. Just say the first words that come to mind. Say them outloud so that they are captured by the device. Don’t worry at first about capturing a good recording, just let the words flow. Once you know what they are, pick up your sound recorder and say the same words again clearly into the microphone.

4) Colour. What colour association do you make or feel as you occupy this space? Does the colour have a sound? Does the mood produced by the colour have a sound? Make a sound offering into the microphone, a squeal, song, gurgle, scream … be free

5) Immediate concentric circle. From this specific place, take your camera and move slowly around your location in 360 degrees. This is the immediate circle and site of “home”. Move slowly so that you can notice details around you.

6) Travel with your mind in concentric circles starting with the closest circle and moving out further and further like the skin of an onion. Name what is there and what it means for you, what is its significance, personal, political, contemporary, historical, futurological.

7) First sound just outside the center. Leaving the center of your circle, go towards one of the sounds that you noticed during your deep listening. Get as close as possible to it and press record. Try to record that sound for at least 2 minutes without interruption and, if possible, without ambient interruptions

8) Found instrument. Find two objects within and around this site which can produce distinct sound and “play”. For instance, a wire scraped on a bench, or a tin can on the cement ground. Play your instrument while the recorder is set on the ground in a set location and record for at least 2 minutes. Let yourself record both distinct “hits” of the instrument as well as experiments in rhythm