Window displays can be art pieces in themselves. Holiday window displays at department stores draw crowds on the regular and legions of people make their careers out of window dressing But a band behind the glass? That's exactly how Troy Gatrell aka Way, Shape or Form crafted his new EP, Nixed Emotions. While the set is due to drop on April 1, this isn't the first chance the public has had to have a taste. In fact, Gatrell recorded the tome in the public sphere, taking up residence in a Richmond, VA gallery space to assemble all five of the songs from scratch. The process and public display was part of the Soundview Project, a joint venture between Egg Hunt Records and branding firm Release the Hounds who provided the gallery space as a means to raise awareness and donations for local music education. For the month long recording session, the public could stop and take a look at Gatrell's progress from behind a glass window as well as donate instruments for local schools.

"The project was both intimidating and exciting to think about when it was first presented to me," says Gatrell of his initial reaction to the experiment. "Up until this, all of my recording has been doing in a closed room, usually with headphones, so no one can even accidentally hear it. It made me realize how "secretive" my recording process usually is, and certainly took me out of my comfort zone."

On "Soft Reset," a melodic guitar chord meanders through a lush atmosphere of electronic embellishments while Gatrell contemplates reversing the passage of time and taking things back to the start. The lyrics and vocals were the last thing he recorded for the project, tackling it all in one go as his residency was winding down. "It was all done during one session from 8pm until around 4am near the end of the project," he recalls. "It's the most challenging, but also the most rewarding and it's always the last piece of the puzzle..." The moment ended up being one of the most special of the whole project. "Being in that space all night, observing the street and occasional cars and pedestrians, really added to the moodiness and darkness that the songs already had as instrumentals."

As for what Gatrell would wish for himself in granted the power of restarting something, he errs on the side of calories and carbs. "I have a penchant for eating whole pizzas occasionally, does that qualify?" he mentions humorously. "It's always the best idea I've ever thought of... pre-pizza. It's not my fault though, if they would just lower the delivery minimum I wouldn't have to always get larges!"

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