Mark and Justin, as members of the group And Also The Trees, had worked together since
1988.
In 1993, whilst touring Europe, they met up with Italian born vocalist Antonia.
During a break from concerts, the three were invited to a psycho-acoustic experiment
organized by a psychiatrist friend in Switzerland.
The evenings were calm and warm.
The event was to take place up in the mountains in a secluded spot not far from
Nietzche's summer home.
The seed of the idea: A combination of clinically pure MDMA, high altitude and prolonged
exposure to very wide panoramic sound fields.
Powerful radio-linked loudspeakers hung from four immense helium balloons sited north,
south, east and west. The entire area, a natural auditorium, was covered by an array of
remote microphones which were carefully fed-back into the system.
Digital delays, phase shifts, sub-sonics, complex harmonic sweeps and slow rhythmic
pulses were added.
Any sound or movement within the range of the feed-back loop was captured and allowed
to affect the output.
Everything and everyone present could be detected by and interact with the system.
Some sang, some danced, others simply did nothing.
Participants began to notice time dilation effects, hyper-enhanced long vision, and
increased chroma-perception...all this plus positive unconditional emotional contacts.
People spoke afterwards of having a complete understanding of something completely
inexplicable or meeting with the Absolute.
But this was no "near death" experience...far from it.
G.O.L. returned to Oxford to follow/explain the experience and to write new songs for
now and the next wave of synchronous human awareness.