TJ Dumser, aka Six Missing, is one of those guys who makes you feel better about the world just because he’s in it.

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TJ is a professional sound designer, mixer, and composer whose journey as an ambient musician started a decade ago with an accidental 15-minute guitar meditation that a friend convinced him to release. Fast forward and he’s an ambient playlist fixture with millions of streams who’s had his face on a billboard in Times Square.

But he’s as open, introspective, and committed to music as a mental health practice as ever. His recent album “Without Mind,” which you’re hearing now, began as a score for ketamine therapy sessions.

But what kind of ambient musician thrives on pressure?

How does he balance the demands of audiences and playlist editors with his own impulses?

How does he feel about AI-generated ambient?

And what is it like owning the tyrannosaurus rex of vintage analog synths?

I talked to TJ to find out.

We’re just getting started at Slow Fade, so please subscribe, leave a review, and share with a friend if you dig it -- it really helps. Thanks for listening.

- Steve / Good Sunset

Episode Notes:

Six Missing's latest EP, Passed Self

Six Missing on Instagram

Six Missing on YouTube

Korg P-3100, "The Polyphonic Tyrannosaurus"

Good Sunset on Instagram

Good Sunset on YouTube

Tracks played (in order):

• "Not Alone" - Six Missing
• "We Took Control" - Six Missing
• "The Whole Ensemble" - Six Missing
• "Sit Down and Play" - Six Missing
• "Took a Moment" - Six Missing

Special thanks to Navin Kala for the Slow Fade cover art. Check out our magical conversation in Slow Fade ep. 1.