THE NAME

I was looking at a parking space. Somebody had stenciled COMPACT on the asphalt and got the spacing wrong, so what it actually said was COMP   ACT.

And I couldn't unsee it. Four readings fell out of that gap, and every one of them is the thing I do:

  1. 1

    COMP(uter) ACT

    A computerized music act. Some nights it’s only electronic instruments, no vocals, just wires and patterns.

  2. 2

    COMP(ing) ACT

    Comping, like in jazz: the chords underneath, holding the song up so the melody can go wherever it wants.

  3. 3

    COMPACT

    Compact, like the rig. One guitar, one small box of electronics, nothing that doesn’t fit in a parking space.

  4. 4

    COMP(osition) ACT

    Composition as an act. Writing a song is a thing you do out loud, in front of people, not only on paper.

But mostly it's a singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar, splitting the year between Tokyo and Los Angeles, playing small rooms in both.

— COMPACT