Dreaming In Gamelan is a new release by musicians Bill Brennan and Andy McNeill, who combine their expertise — both as composers, McNeill at home in the studio, and Brennan as a long time member of Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan — on the album.
The album, an independent release that drops October 24, is the culmination of a journey that saw it begin as the score for a documentary on the CBC network back in 2001. Subsequently, a suite of music from the film saw a live performance in Massey Hall. The material has evolved and developed during the ensuing period, and combines the traditions of West Javanese music with contemporary experimental, jazz, and ambient modes.
Canadian electric violinist Hugh Marsh adds to the instrumental mix, and he also co-composed one of the tracks with the duo. Marsh has previously worked with innovators like Jon Hassell, Joseph Shabason, and Loreena McKennitt.
Live instrumentation and electronica come together in this unique music.
We spoke to Bill Brennan and Andy McNeill about the project.
Bill Brennan & Andy McNeill: The Interview
“I was approached to do this score for this documentary,” Andy recalls.
The producer had seen Bill performing with Evergreen, and thought it would make for an interesting soundtrack for a documentary on nanotechnology and biotech.
McNeill says coming up with the track titles, such as Tunnels of Light, Morning Beams, Cloud Forest, and the title track, Dreaming in Gamelan, inspired a kind of overarching narrative for the album over time.
“This whole journey idea, and dreaming,” Andy says, “the cinematic parts are just inherent to my approach — lots of textures, lots of space.”
“A lot of what we do,” Brennan says, “I would say Andy more so, is in the world of telling a story through music.” He notes that’s in contrast to telling the story via lyrics.
“It being a documentary about the future of medicine and how the industry was looking at that time,” he says, “[it was] forward thinking.”
He enjoyed the idea of writing within that concept, to enhance the ideas presented, but also leave room for people to pursue their own thoughts about what it means.
Developing the Music
“I think that the pieces started taking on their own lives in the years afterwards,” McNeill says. “Some are pretty intact from the original.” Other tracks, many of which began as short cues of a minute or two for the action on screen, were expanded and further developed. “Grooves added.”
“The first session, we had a week together with the instruments, Bill and I, improvising,” Andy says.
The violin was added later, along with over dubs.
“Certainly, some of our pieces came from improvising, some were through composed,” Brennan says.
As he points out, Indonesian music often incorporates improvisation in a way that is not unlike the practices of Western jazz; i.e. there is a structure, with specific sections where musicians improvise. The improvisation itself typically follows a traditional pattern.
“The sessions that we had were based on improvisation,” Bill adds.
Genre?
Between them, the pair play a variety of traditional and modern instruments, including boning, panerus, kendang, jengglong, peking, gongs, percussion, keyboards, and vibraphone, with McNeill adding electronics, bass, and various treatments.
“What are we going to call this? I like that,” Andy says. “[It’s] seemingly uncategorizable. People with open ears, it’s for them.”
“I think of this music as being in that ambient world,” Brennan offers.
The electronic and acoustic elements blend together seamlessly.
“I think maybe the reason that it connects well is that the electronics are built around the acoustic elements,” Andy adds.
He explains that the final version includes granular processed versions of the original recordings, rather than added layers of synthesizer. The last track, Reverie, is a 10-minute long ambient journey.
“It’s entirely made of everything you’ve heard before,” MacNeill explains, “folded, manipulated, processed. On a second listen, you’d probably pick up on those things.”
“It becomes part of the composition. It’s a compositional tool,” Brennan says. “I don’t think it’s necessarily an addition.”
Dreaming In Gamelan by Bill Brennan and Andy McNeill
Why Release the Music Now?
“I think we always felt after recording it, that there’s something here,” Brennan says. That’s what led for the live performance at Massey Hall by the Evergreen Club.
They began to think of the music beyond the idea of a soundtrack.
“A suite of well formed pieces of music,” Bill calls it. During the two decades that the music was brewing, Brennan moved to the east coast. It was a matter of simply having the time this past summer to work on it.
The music’s long development has some advantages, as McNeill points out.
“Having the luxury of years to listen to them, and figure out what to do to make them fully developed,” Andy says, “the music is the better for it.”
The project has also reinforced their bonds as musical collaborators.
“We’re looking for another excuse to work together,” McNeill says. “It’s definitely a meeting of two worlds, and two minds.”
“I learned a lot from Andy working together,” Brennan adds.
- Dreaming in Gamelan will be available on October 24, 2025; you can preorder/stream/buy [HERE].
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