From the coastal cliffs of Northern California’s Emerald Triangle, guitarist/singer/songwriter Piet Dalmolen proudly unveils Time Stands Still, his long-awaited debut solo LP released January 17, 2025. Boasting eight eclectic compositions, this talisman resonates through an ambitious amalgam of sublime psychedelic rock, soulful jazzy blues, and indie-Americana. Bobbing and weaving amidst the foundational synergy of bass, drums, and various keyboards, Piet’s superb guitar and understated vocals coalesce to create a dense, potent vessel of joy and vulnerability.

The core elements were tracked across several sessions in 2023 at Odyssey Studios, a rustic barn situated on a prairie overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was here that Piet focused his creativity and embraced leading a band; once the basic tracks were laid down, throughout 2024 he overdubbed guitar and vocals, and completed production at his own Universal Balance Studios in Arcata, CA.

A veteran studio engineer and session guitarist for two decades, these days he’s in DIY-mode across multiple roles for this intensely personal passion project many moons in the making. The versatility Piet employed was ably assisted by a trio of longtime collaborators; leaning on chemistry and geography, he tapped trusted NorCal co-conspirators keyboardist Matt Engel, drummer Tommy Fitzmaurice, and Ian Taylor to grow Time Stands Still from seed to tree. 

Piet was merely fourteen years old when he first found his purpose, discovering a nascent identity within the electric guitar, soaking up sounds, techniques, myths and legacies of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, then later onto Jerry Garcia and Trey Anastasio. Immersed in study and determined to grow, the fledgling axe-slinger developed an embryonic taste for the improvisational cosmos; eventually forming the underground jamband Nucleus, with roots in upstate NY and launching via Humboldt County, CA.

Throughout the mid-aughts, Nucleus toured like troubadours - regionally and nationally. They built some organic buzz, piled in the van, and grinded it out in the clubs, riding the winds of the psychedelic rock renaissance of those post-millennial times. The experience was equal parts educational and cathartic, and by the end of the line for Nucleus, an exhausted Piet landed back in NorCal to acquire his first recording equipment and pursue a burning desire to dive into professional engineering. 

In addition to a steady stream of studio recording endeavors that sharpened his ear and skillset alike, Piet Dalmolen spent the ensuing 15 years as a sideman with numerous Northern California bands. Over time, Piet the guitarist gravitated towards the prismatic work of Nels Cline, Julian Lage, and Derek Trucks, and these broadening horizons and expanded musical vocabularies began to seep into the voices within his own guitar. He liberally lent his voluminous talents to various projects, and played an assortment of lucrative cover gigs. Though grateful to be performing to people regularly, his creative spirit longed to reawaken the muse within. 

After the disruption and pause of the pandemic, Piet moved through a series of big life shifts and experienced personal evolutions. A supremely-stoked new surfer, he took a much-needed vacation to Maui in the summer of 2023, a necessary reset and recharge.  It was an influential trip for Piet that sowed seeds for most of the music heard on Time Stands Still. 

This intentional collection reveals a reluctant poet reawakened, mining inspiration from life’s trials and tribulations, and discovering knowledge of self amid the glorious environs of sacred Hawaiian Islands. Piet was staying in Lahaina when the dry hurricane winds swept the now infamous fires down from the mountain into town, and he hastily fled on foot with guitar on his back, eventually hitchhiking to the airport to get out of harm’s way and back home to Humboldt.

Feeling his creativity and productivity reinvigorated on the heels of this experience, Piet was motivated to embark on a new artistic chapter with this burgeoning wealth of fresh material. He drafted a local dream team of familiar musicians and saw it all fall perfectly into place. Three summer sessions and a couple more the following fall proved electric and kinetic. 

“I love my band for their talent, aesthetic, and easy-going personalities,” says Piet. “The older I get the more I appreciate having the right people that I can rely on and have fun with, and thankfully they believe in my musical vision.”

Not unlike the mystic majesty of riding a wave, Time Stands Still unspools into a colorfully-rewarding journey that laconically cruises down the line, in symbiosis with the mana connection. First launch comes with “Floating”, an uptempo romp that swings with a breezy tranquility and traces roots back to Maui. The vocals recall early 90’s Phish harmonies, with Piet’s guitar cruising atop a rollicking rhythm section. Second cut “Entropy” also nods towards the Green Mountain mindstate and soundscapes, a contemplative, obtuse tune that digs into angular prog psychedelia. 

It’s clear from the first couple cuts that Dalmolen’s choice guitar tones are neatly suited to the material, each texture apropos and element intentional. The heady “Cosmic Joke” riffs on the modern information era, powered by a fat-bottomed bass groove that appeared spontaneously at recording soundcheck, and slick Wurlitzer work from Engel. A nod to Alan Watts and a salient statement on the state of the union, Piet’s sweet guitar tone and lyrical solo drive home the proverbial punch line. 

Penned during his transformative spell spent in Lahaina, “Dropping In” employs a cheeky surfing reference, revealing a Steely Dan-scented gem that drizzles Moog keys atop ethereal passages, and scorching axemanship. “Being” serves as a weighty meditation and whimsical lyrical centerpiece. Piet wrote the first chorus on his hotel balcony anticipating the arrival of the Maui storm, and the second chorus on the plane ride home. 

“The pretty guitar coda is something that just came out of me the morning of the fires,” recalls Piet, “before we had any idea what was to come. And the wave sounds are my own field recording from the trip, not stock. It feels poetic to have them timelessly etched into a record that means so much to me.” 

Another idea that came to Piet one fine morning as he rose with the sun, “Falling Together” is something of a thematic counterpoint to the aforementioned “Entropy”; the cut incorporates understated soul influences into a piece that unpacks the paradoxical nature of daily life. 

A hymn mysterious and beautiful like the land itself, “Lahaina” was the first thing to spill from Dalmolen’s instrument upon arrival to Hawaii. An eerily foreshadowing composition that features subtle slide guitar, invoking what Dalmolen referred to as a “visceral complexity of emotions you can't quite put your finger on.” 

To conclude this kaleidoscopic excursion, Piet chose a surf-styled ditty that came to him in the shower, titled “Shark Pit.” Riding ocean waves is an activity that arrived later in life, coming to fruition during the pandemic downtime; in the interim few years, the exhilarating-yet-meditative pursuit has grown into a personal passion, as such, needed an original soundtrack of sorts.

Music manifested in the wake of seismic change, waves of grief and personal evolution, Time Stands Still traverses a wide swath of emotional and sonic topography: Floydian dreamscapes, prog-scented improv, sizzling surf-rock, while touching a plethora of points between. Time Stands Still was written, produced, mixed, and mastered by Piet Dalmolen. On this solo opening salvo, the musician monologues abstract musings, illustrated with ruminations on love, loss, fatherhood, mortality, and new beginnings. Sturdy songcraft couched in a bare-bones analog aesthetic, the gritty grooves get drizzled with earthy textures and tasty guitar tones, whispering sweet melodies that make the eyes well up and chest weigh heavy.