about the cassette

Hailing from Chicago, M.A. Tiesenga is a musician, composer, and multidisciplinary visual artist currently living and working in Los Angeles. As prolific as they are autodidactic, Tiesenga’s creative practice encompasses not only composition but also printmaking, pen and ink drawing, visual scores, and participation in numerous musical groups, including the Eastman Saxophone Project—of which they are a founding member—and the Grammy-nominated collective Wild Up. Across mediums, Tiesenga balances a rigorous attention to craft, procedure, and structure while simultaneously creating space for spontaneity, play, and the stranger fruits of creative mysticism.

To date, the majority of Tiesenga’s musical output has existed in a live performance context, largely inaccessible commercially. Heavy Earth marks their first official solo release. Comprising two long-form instrumental pieces, the record forms a diptych of sorts—an evocative and artful pairing that showcases the breadth of Tiesenga’s aesthetic concerns. Deep listening—while not essential to appreciating the music’s beauty—will no doubt reward the listener.