Old “About”

So, like, it’s a record label?

Kind of? I guess.

Hi, I’m Joseph Fisher-Schramm. I went to college for music. I’ve written and played since I was quite young, and in high school, made a goal to never make two songs that were too similar. Maybe a quixotic goal, and not a practical one, as I learned later. But it kept me curious.

Eventually, I ended up with a lot of music (and some not music) written, but no way to compile it into a strongly cohesive album. A Study in Expression – an obvious play on Sir Arthur Canon Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet – popped into mind one day in a bass sectional. I quickly wrote it on my method book.

In May 2015, I released an EP of electronic music with field recordings, called A Walk. It’s still around. I used A Study in Expression as the sort of project name. When I started putting together some of my own music, it became a blanket-band name for whatever music came out. Eventually, it seemed better to list my works under my own name (partially because it makes it easier to connect my music to my books, you know, cohesion,) so A Study was an ether. Then, I realized that it could be an art collective, to help promote my friends and their work. Then, I started buying a distribution service for my friends’ and my music. I began producing for people. Now we’re publishing projects that I’ve not touched. I guess that’s how things go, and how they grow.

A Study in Expression does not take copyright on what it publishes – the artists keep their masters. I do my best to help people make their work the best it can be, and I ask everyone I know to help me make mine as good as it can be. Money means a whole lot less to us than making good work, and fun work. That’s part of my enjoyment of juxtaposition – A Study in Expression essentially is everything I believe in as an artist. We should have the privilege to keep the audience guessing, as long as the work is genuine, whether that be serious or silly. And if the world likes it, then we did our jobs.

Thank you for reading, and for taking part in this adventure. We’re just people, and we don’t do this without you.

Joseph Fisher-Schramm