
Jon Gee
Released July 18, 2024
Jonathan Gorsky aka Jon Gee is a composer, electronic musician, and multi-instrumentalist out of Pennsylvania. And Jon Gee truly ascends with his new release: 'Ascension'.
He is an independent artist with an extensive discography on BandCamp.
You might remember him as the one who closed the Patch-On: Reverb show. His performance with the SOMA Divina was spellbinding. Actually, go there now and watch it just for reference for the sheer bad-assery going on here. (Linked above, smarty pants.)
It was around the Reverb show when I started following Jon’s discography on BandCamp and saw what he’s released in a very short time.

Before I get into it, let me share what Jon has written on the BandCamp page for Ascension.
“I dedicate this album to my father. He was a Jazz DJ for over 30 years and a passionate lover of music of all kinds....This work was recorded and mixed live during the last six months of his life.
I used two synthesizers for the whole album.
Make Noise Strega, a glorious sounding synth I have loved since it came out. Being a Cortini fan and a synth player, I had to preorder it upon its announcement. Nearly 4 years later I still love it. The touchplates and unique delay patterns make it sound big with harmonics. It's my lead synth in over 60 tunes.
Neutral Labs Elmyra 2, Big low end and 4 voices, a fat filter and a super gnarly distortion circuit make this synth another big favorite. The harmonic tones I get are so rich and deep. Perfect for feeding into Strega's effect. I love Elmyra, and I'm looking forward to Neutral Labs next synth coming soon.
These tracks are deeply profound moments for me, helping find peace within, while I witnessed the end of my father's life. He saw times change, his children and grandchildren grow, and always had an open heart.”

Ascension is gorgeous. And the theme, at least to this writer, is sizzle. More on this in a moment.
The melancholy swooshes, and confident gestures in ‘Undercurrent’ transition perfectly into ‘Lysergic Ethereal’ with its Boards of Canada-style surging analog thickness and plodding slow steps until ending in a distorted full boil. This is tasty stuff.
Getting deeper we have the depth and wisdom of ‘Drifting’, waving like a heavy flag.

With the title track, ‘Ascension’, we come in at over nine minutes. And it’s no easy task to keep a listener for this amount of time. Still, this performance has the sizzling strength that actually keeps it’s spine for the whole time. Great work.
Sister tracks: ‘Organism-Birth and Death’ close the album poetically. Jon takes the depth and sizzle all the way to frizzle-fry territory, with fantastic phrases soaring crisply on top of the warmest bass notes. The production is so exciting in these two closers. When you skimmers give it a listen, make sure you make it to the end. :)
Let's talk to Jon.
Modular World: Can you tell us a little about your process making this release?

Jon Gee: "The making of Ascension started with a feeling that coalesced into music during daily improvisations. Making music consistently so that it becomes second nature. Come home, turn on the synths. During these improvs, there comes a moment when I think to myself, “yes, this is it” and I start the recording. The moment when all the harmonics start to reverberate perfectly together. When the frequencies start to shift my consciousness. Jam out until the magic hits.
I had been playing the Make Noise ‘Easel’ for years and then Neutral Labs Elmyra 2 came into my life. I wanted a third voice similar to 0-Coast’s growl and Elmyra answered that and then some…So I was able to add in a third note to the big chords and it was really powerful. 4 notes were too many. A simple triad was all I needed to really get the feeling flowing. Most of the album is sequenced and modulated by 0-CTRL, some by Metropolix".
The concept of sizzling that I feel is throughout these tracks--and the sound of this release in general---does that make sense to you?
"The sizzle is a big theme throughout Ascension. It comes from both Elmyra‘s distortion circuit and Strega delay circuit. Breaking through. Ripping the fabric of reality. I felt the strength of my father’s will to live dwindling. The other side was coming. Inevitably. Psychedelics are the closest I’ve come to witnessing the other side, and it sounded kind of like tearing cellophane. When I heard that coming out of the synthesizer, it was too familiar. Strega’s touch plates offer some really cool filter mods on the delay. It sounds like I’m tripping. So I went with it. The big chords come from constant trial and error. Because I’m using so much delay, intervals and chord changes are super dialed….The chord choices are purely based on harmonics. Tuning 0-Coast is a deep meditative practice".

Ascension is fantastically produced! Tell us how you recorded what we're hearing.
"Each tune is recorded straight into my computer, where I can edit it down if needed. Most of the time I just bounce the audio and start making the video for presentation on YouTube. No compression. I don’t like the compressed sound. Just mixing and live EQing. Let the synths and effects shine".
What are your next steps?
"Every day is a new chance to create something beautiful. Most of my jams go unrecorded. When the time is right and everything comes together, it’s truly something to behold".
Thank you for your music, Jon. Keep it coming, is all I can say.
Connect with Jon here.
Music is magical, healing, and inspiring. Thank you for sharing your creations and for showing me the passion of your process. What a journey this is! Peace and love, always.
Mind blowing and deeply emotional. Genuinely beautiful music.