This is a concept album
Brought about by a change of scene.
I went over to Frankfurt at the end of July 2007 and stayed in Bornheim, a 5 minute bike ride from the centre of town. I shared an apartment in Burgstrasse (street) and was fortunate enough to stumble upon Musikhaus Bornheim at the end of it. So, taking the hint, I hired some recording gear and set up a little studio and got to work.
The place and people inspired the concept - that of being Alive in Bornheim - and not long after, I stuck a microphone out of my 4th floor room and recorded the midday chiming of the bells, coming from the beautiful church at the end of our street. They were in the key of D and so I composed a song ‘Alive in Bornheim’ there on the spot… ie. for as long as the tolling took (3mins). Just for the record, some of the songs contained herein have taken 15 years to see the light of day, so you see there are no rules….. The main thing is to communicate a feeling and I hope this selection does that.
It was a point in time, and this was the work I worked on, for whatever reason.
I was Alive in Bornheim.

John Gordon