"Originally conceived for a performance at the 2017 edition of the Slow SD festival at UCSD in San Diego, California, 'In the Garden of Eating' takes its core inspiration from Karlheinz Stockhausen's 'Gold Dust,' wherein the participating musicians are required to stay awake for an extended period of time prior to the performance. Borden and Flato's score instead calls for them to dine at The Olive Garden directly before the performance and consume of the restaurant's "endless" dishes until the point of physical discomfort - a calorically dense recontextualization of Stockhausen's vision.

"TJ asked me if we could fill a 2-hour slot at SlowSD and I was joking around to him and shot out the title 'In the Garden of Eating' as a dumb reference to both 'Inna-Gotta-Da-Vita' and the Garden of Eden," explained Flato via email. "I thought about that Stockhausen piece and placing physical and psychological extremes on the performer. The festival was about stillness, slowness - what would cause me to feel like that? Probably a large meal at the Olive Garden, one of my favorite terrible restaurants."

The version we present to you was recorded last year in Buffalo, NY and follows a slightly slimmed 75-minute version of the score built around varying patterns of microtonal just intonation intervals, as well as instructions on how to transition from section to section, thus providing opportunities for Borden and Flato to explore subtle deviations and side-roads along the way as the duo's microtonal guitar, cello, and various electronics glide across one other like so much cheap fettuccine alfredo.

In the years since the piece's inception, what began as a bit of an inside joke took on a deeper meaning. Flato now sees it as a meditation on his own disorders surrounding food, including diabetes, binge-eating disorder, and the use of food to relieve emotional distress.

"My diabetes was totally uncontrolled at the time of the original performance," recalled Flato. "No insulin nor medical treatment. I don't know whether it was some sort of self-test or a punishment, but I was in extreme discomfort up on stage. I was incredibly fatigued, and I think that comes off in the stillness of the music."

And so - we invite you to come in, have a seat, and don't forget, "when you're here, you're family."

Buon appetito!"-Full Spectrum