photo by Radim Schreiber, from his book Firefly Experience

graphic design by Tamara Albright / Allvibe Creative

sync. fire.

1. Photinus carolinus 15:00

2. blue ghost 15:00

3. sync. fire. 24:00

This album is a tribute to fireflies on sultry Southern summer nights, as well as a capture of some of my synesthesia.

Before you read the rest of the description, I encourage you to listen, at least once.

These words will wait for you.

Some observations about the 2 kinds of fireflies that inspired this album – fireflies that I saw (and “heard,” synesthetically) in the Smokies.

This description prompted me to find better language. My favorite option is from Robin Wall Kimmerer, who proposes “ki” (singular) and “kin” (plural) to replace the object-ness and unalive-ness that comes from “it.”

1. Photinus carolinus

I use the Latin name to identify this specific firefly  among the many synchronous firefly species throughout the world. P. carolinus gather by the hundreds and thousands, and after sunset, kin flash together. The very bright, yellow flashes are not synchronized, meaning not all on and then off together. Rather, the fireflies flash individual patterns all at once, for several seconds. All around you, hundreds and hundreds of flashes—represented on this track by the cascade of the chimes.  The darkness glitters the way light diamonds on ripples of water. Then kin all cease flashing, together, for fewer seconds—represented on this track by the sustain of the chimes. And then kin resume the thousands and hundreds flashes, followed by synchronized darkness.

This synchronized light and dark becomes a kind of pulse. For me, a kind of breathing, of the more than human world.

2. blue ghost

The Latin name of these fireflies is Phausis reticulata, though I prefer the more poetic name. Blue ghosts glow, not flash—meaning light from an individual firefly lasts much longer. Kin flashes are also not synchronized. Blue ghosts fly lower than Photinus carolinus. The glow is a gentle sustain—represented by the low gong tones on this track. Even during the darkness from P. carolinus, the soft blue of blue ghosts lingers, as kin hover close to the ground.


3. sync. fire.

The first 2 tracks of the album depict the respective fireflies in isolation, as you might witness kin with separate, focused attention. This track is the full, immersive experience of being with kin together.

When I was a child, summer was the most sacred time. I lived in a city, but I considered mySelf a forest dweller. I lived among the trees, who were my teachers, my keepers.

And the trees and the creek and the world were bustling in the summer. Not the muted cold of winter, no. Rather, the summer world was moving and bustling all the time. Growth and noise, all day and all night.

I was in awe, always, and wished I didn’t have to sleep. My favorite summer creatures were and are fireflies.

(I am also fond of the sonic creatures: crickets, katydids, cicadas. As such, I am especially delighted to release this album in a notable year for cicadas, when 2 broods emerge, for the first and last time in hundreds of years.)

In the summer twilights of my childhood, I found a place to sit and be mesmerized at the sights and sounds emerging from the shadows of the trees.

I never tried to catch any in a jar. Partly because I was intimidated. Even though kin are tiny and fragile relative to humans, I was somehow afraid that kin could do something to me. Whereas the realistic likelihood is that I’d harm kin.

But who wants to do that? Being in a glass jar seemed a miserable fate. I’d rather be with kin outside.

All my life, I’ve looked for fireflies. I once skipped all the headliners at a music festival because every evening I went to a hillside full of fireflies, flashing over ferns.

I didn’t see synchronous fireflies until well into my adult years, after wanting to see kin for decades. 

As a synesthete, when I saw synchronous fireflies for the first time, I immediately heard kin as well.

Afterwards, I tried explaining to people, unsuccessfully, with a lot of hand gestures and sound effects. I never made enough sense for them to understand.

And so I searched for the right instruments to convey my aural experience. The result is this album. I hope it conveys the hypnotic beauty and magic of these fireflies.

Over the years, I’ve seen fewer and fewer fireflies. Chemicals and pollution are bad for fireflies. As is habitat destruction, often for the sake of development or gentrification, though increasingly for cop cities. Pesticided lawns. Light pollution. Climate change. Ecocide. War.

Humans often fool themselves into hubris, as though we’re the strongest and most significant life on the planet. Whereas the opposite is actually true: we are the least important. The least important, the least needed, the most destructive, via habitat destruction and pesticided lawns. Light pollution. Cop cities and war. Ecocide. Climate change.

In a world fixated on content creation and frantic grasping to be influencers, I disengage. I go to the actual content of actual creation.

And so I watch fireflies, when I can find kin illumination in the dark. I listen to the light. I breathe with creation.

We live by the grace of our ecosystems, and insects are the dealbreakers. As E. O. Wilson understood:
“If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed 10,000 years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.”

Living in right relationship and stewardship with the land is essential not just to our well-being, but to our very survival. Many nations and governments are doing a terrible job, which is why returning to indigenous leadership and supporting land back are necessary to find balance within our fragile ecosystems, on a resilient planet.

I hope that when you hear what I’ve heard, the music can help you see, in your mind’s eye. That when you hear what I’ve heard, you might see what I’ve seen.

May you remember the interbeing we have with these precious, sacred beings, and with all life.

Thanks for listening.

attribution & gratitude

Recorded live between rainstorms, at Turtle Moon, in the new moon portal of June 2024.
Released on the summer solstice & full moon portal, 2024.

Skyeris – concept, production, instruments

Irons – audio engineering

Radim Schreiber – album image, from his book Firefly Experience

Tamara Albright / Allvibe Creative – graphic design

Lia Jhayelle, LC, Tamara Albright, Jennifer Gorell – generous & thoughtful listening

Scott Buck – deep insights musical, technical, & beyond

Robin Wall Kimmerer – language & wisdom on the more than human world

photo by Radim Schreiber, from his book Firefly Experience

graphic design by Tamara Albright / Allvibe Creative