On 'Ghosts Of Galaxy Park' by A Day In Outer Space, The Archetype reaffirms and broadcasts his identity as a singer, a songwriter, an artist, and a no-bullshit human being. The Archetype is a remarkably self-aware person now living on the other side of a spiritual awakening that led directly to this record and probably saved his life. He’s been able to break free from past expectations, ego traps, and an outdated way of thinking that no longer serves his life or his music and uses this hard-won wisdom to find a way to thrive. At this particular moment in history, that’s saying something.


The record’s dark, folk-tronic tone speaks a testament to the mountain of personal and professional challenges The Archetype had to endure to allow it to exist at all. Coming out of a difficult, nearly fatal time in his life, he found the drive to change and become something more than he’d ever been by rewriting his life one song at a time. He has attained the clarity of a sage who knows himself fully, knows why he makes art, and understands that the only reward possible for his effort is the time spent actually making the music.


The road to 'Ghosts Of Galaxy Park' began in June of 2019, in The Before Times. The Archetype was still living in a shadow state, away from music and from his best self. He was digging through his considerable archive of songs and demos to pass the time and found a song he’d forgotten about. He posted it to Facebook, figuring maybe his friends would spin it. A friend with industry connections heard it and was aghast that someone of The Archetype’s talent was out of the game and decided to right this wrong. “He asked me what I needed,” The Archetype said, “ and I told him I probably need a miracle.”


This led to meeting late, great producer Bjorn Thorsrud (Smashing Pumpkins, The Frogs, Whitesnake, Marianne Faithfull), who became the spark of that miracle. The Archetype flew to Las Vegas and spent a couple weeks with Thorsrud, working on songs and establishing their relationship. The experience was life-changing and he had his moment of spiritual awakening. After far too long in a bad place, he clearly understood that returning to music was his way back to some kind of light.


Unfortunately, life happened and Thorsrud was redirected to other projects before ultimately passing away. At this point, The Archetype had no choice but redirect himself. His fire was lit, however, and he reached a level of self-belief he’d never known before. He knew he had to move forward. He immediately thought of producer and sound designer Mike Tholen (Jonny Polonsky, Ministry, Buddy Guy), who he’d worked with in the past. In one of life’s serendipitous happenings, The Archetype was on the phone with a friend discussing Mike Tholen when Tholen messaged him out of nowhere on Facebook saying that he’d heard The Archetype was recording again and he wanted to be involved. “That just didn’t feel like an accident, it was the real miracle.”


He called Tholen at once and told him the story up to that point. Tholen then told him to connect with Chicago music legend Jay O’Rourke (Insiders, Jay’s Garage Studio), who Tholen has worked with extensively, and engineer Teddy Thornhill and start tracking at O’Rourke’s studio. O'Donnell and longtime friend Chris Dyer formed Invoke Records as a vehicle to fund this new venture and work began. They pulled in veteran Chicago musicians including drummer Ed Breckenfeld and bassist Klem Hayes, which became an experience in old-school record-making for The Archetype. “I didn’t even have to tell them what to do,” he said,”they came in, laid down bass and drums and it was great.”


“At that point, what we had was a folk/rock EP,” The Archetype continues, “the songs all worked, mission accomplished.” Tholen, though, began expressing interest in co-producing the record, not just mixing. He wanted to take the record’s sonics in a more expansive direction and bring in disparate sounds from EDM and other places, a move TA was unsure of but quickly loved. Based on the results, all involved decided to continue production and make a full-length album.


Right about then, COVID-19 became a thing and all plans had to change. There was no way to track more material the same way as before with Ed and Klem during the lockdown. All involved knew they had to keep going and find the opportunity within the crisis. In this case, that meant that Tholen began creating rhythm beds and beats for The Archetype's songs electronically. This was what they had to work with so they went for it. It gave the tracks even more of a digital identity and worked amazingly well. It worked so well that they went back and remixed the first batch of material in this new style. The tracks had to flow like a true album and this was the only way to get there. The songs were stripped down to their essence and built all over again. Alex Stilts (REKT, Feederwire, O3), another brilliant musician and producer from TA's past, was also brought in to add to the magic.


All this was done remotely, of course, due to the pandemic by sending tracks back and forth between The Archetype, Thornhill, Tholen, and Stilts. After many additions, subtractions, and mixes, 'Ghosts Of Galaxy Park' came to life and ultimately mastered by Sterling Sound veteran Grammy Award winner Dave McNair (Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bruce Springsteen). It has been released initially through Invoke Records and includes a fully stripped down acoustic version of The 'Ghosts Of Galaxy Park' tracks called 'Marshmallows On Mars (The Campfire Sessions)' & includes alternate lyrics and arrangements for the songs 'Spacesuit' and 'Mojo Gun (called Hobo's Son on M. O. M. )'.

It’s an incredibly striking record in terms of both sound and content and, ultimately, tells the tale of a man who wouldn’t give up, even when he could have. The Archetype has opened his art to anything that feels right and it all works together because we’re not living in the old music business anymore. There are no boundaries and the process is once again fresh. Do yourself a favor and leave all your preconceptions about singer-songwriters at the door. You won’t need them here.


-Mike O'Cull-