New Surroundings

First Snow of the Year: I’m Erik Sevenans, originally from Mechelen, Belgium, a town close to Antwerp. My journey in music began around 2005 as a bassist, and later, I took on the roles of singer-songwriter and guitarist in various indie bands. For years, we had a good run—playing shows, gaining some national radio play, and even performing in some major music clubs. But in 2017, life took me to Munich, Germany, for work, and I had to leave the band. It was a lonely, freezing winter that year, and I didn’t speak much German. Finding my footing in a new country, the snow-covered landscapes became a familiar and comforting sight, and that’s how First Snow of the Year was born.

Thom Shea is a photographer out of Salt Lake City, Utah who embarked on a journey to capture this eerie album, recreating the feeling of vastness, stillness and the beauty in it.

First Snow of the Year: This album is a collection of 5 minimal soundscapes with neo-classical elements mixed in. I wanted to communicate a feeling of solitude that one might feel while being in the middle of a big open landscape. The title Empty Country reflects this. The inspiration behind these recordings were primarily from long hikes I did last Feb (2023) by myself in such surroundings.

First Snow of the Year Before I started recording as First Snow of the Year, I didn’t know many ambient artists. My biggest influences were actually post-rock bands like Mogwai, This Will Destroy You, and Explosions in the Sky. I’d always secretly wanted to be in a post-rock band, and maybe I still will one day! Growing up, I was also heavily inspired by indie bands like Interpol and The Strokes, and even now, my love for jazz, classical, and metal finds its way into the music I make.