The dream-like impressions and whispers of cold, quiet days in an Oklahoma town led John to the ideas and motifs that formed Vice Versa Suite. Written partially in an apartment above a bicycle shop and partially on the highways in late autumn, the collection of songs and compositions were spurred on by reading the yearnings of Dylan Thomas, listening to the ethereal compositions of early Yasunori Mitsuda, and the poignant yet relatable melodies of Shogo Sakai and Keiichi Suzuki. Says John, “I’ve always been enamored with the musical scores of video games and the stories they entail, they are impossible to remove from the storyline, the geographies, the characters and their lives.” In a single night at Tiny Telephone studio B in San Francisco, John worked with engineer Jacob Winik and tourmate M. Lockwood Porter to record this suite of songs and piano ideas and produce what became Vice Versa Suite. Having never been given a true release outside of a surprise bandcamp drop, the opportunity to hear these songs on vinyl is an unexplainable joy.
