On today's episode, I talk to musician Rafael Toral. Born in Lisbon in 1967, Rafael has been intrigued by the potential of sound and the functions of music since he was a teenager. Working with electric guitar and electronics, in the 1990’s he pioneered a blend of Ambient and Rock and recorded acclaimed albums like Wave Field or Violence of Discovery and Calm of Acceptance. In 2004, he began the ambitious 15-year project entitled Space Program, which used experimental instruments to explore an approach to electronic music based on silence. Rafael has performed and recorded with everyone from Jim O’Rourke to Alvin Lucier, Phill Niblock, Sonic Youth and so many more, and his latest album, Spectral Evolution, a synthesis of everything he's explored over the course of his career, was just released in February on Drag City. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!