music for the winter solstice and a happy new year

welcome to synthquest: relaxing, ambient soundscapes, 100% improvised, unedited, live and of the moment. meditation music for music lovers and an ambient music anti-show! put on your sleep mask, sit in meditation, settle into shavasana, embark on your evening walk, draw yourself a bath, and get ready for synthquest!

this year, more than previous years, I have felt the season in terms of the winter solstice. a slow, at times unwilling, hibernation creeping over my energy to do most things.

and why shouldn’t it? though it doesn’t conform to the go-go-go of modern life, it doesn’t seem outlandish to me that the truth of our planet in orbit would affect us, governing us more fully than weary human constructs.

these are the forces we don’t see directly, but experience in the shortening of days, the turning of the weather.

deep in our bodies, we know we are more fully immersed in the shadow side of the cycling that makes up our days, months and years.

when I was improvising this live, I had a sense of wandering — in the moment, I felt like I couldn't quite figure out where I was supposed to go with it.

maybe this is a time meant for feeling a little bit lost.

i highly recommend listening to synthquest through headphones. i'll also suggest settling into someplace comfortable to listen, or listening during a bath, massage, on a walk, while you make dinner — basically wherever you go or whatever you do to relax and decompress.

episode timeline

1. 0:23 — 20 second music preview
2. 0:43 — episode introduction
3. 3:35 — music begins

about jen starsinic

synthquest is created by Jen Starsinic, a music artist, multi-instrumentalist, and community organizer living in Nashville, TN. She is the co-founder and artistic director of Girls Write Nashville, a nonprofit organization providing music mentorship and creative community to youth artists, as featured on NBC's Today Show and NPR's Here & Now. Said of her last studio release, EP Bad Actor —"there is a blissful aura that surrounds Starsinic’s sound, making for one of 2020’s must-hear albums."

about synthquest

synthquest is recorded live and livestreamed on Twitch currently on Monday and Wednesdays at 9pm CT/10pm ET/2am GMT. It is 100% improvised and unedited.

stay connected!

• synthquest live stream: twitch.tv/jenstarsinic
• website & email list: jenstarsinic.com
• instagram: @jenstarsinic
• twitter: @jenstarsinic
• listen to jen's other music on bandcamp

performed using...

• Korg Minilogue XD
• Nord Electro 5D
• Electro-Harmonix 95000 Performance Loop Laboratory