It took time, but after some unbelievable coincidences and a random computer glitch, I unearthed a big piece of the core that I’d been searching for: my adoption. But reading Eli’s intensely personal, unedited journal entries shook me to my core and inspired me to do some digging of my own. And while questions raised in the film about what gets handed down from one generation to the next were especially intriguing to me, I had barely scratched the surface of what any of that really meant in my own life. Having recently turned 40, I had been examining issues concerning identity and sense of self. Information on Droge and Puzzle Tree Music: HERE H igh res photos, album artwork and music links: HERE And on that day in September, she addressed an email to me, attached a couple of documents and clicked “send.” MORE» Next, Eli was faced with a big choice: how much of her own story would she share? She worked through that decision by writing in her journal. In that turn, they discovered the heart of their movie. Eric and director Eliaichi Kimaro had already been cutting the film for four years-on and off-when it took an unexpected turn. I had already been working as the film’s composer for over a year, creating a catalog of musical sketches that editor Eric Frith was using as a temp score alongside a handful of instrumental mixes from my album, Under The Waves. It began when I checked my email one afternoon in September, 2009.
It is, to quote the film, one of “real lived life.” The change I’m talking about is bigger than a resume. This gig changed my life-not in some surface-level career way (even though by completely giving myself to the documentary feature, A Lot Like You, I earned my first film producer credit).