Ex-air traffic controller creates electronic music to soothe anxiety

A Riverview man says he has found a new focus in his life after leaving the high-stress world of air traffic control for the world of electronic music.

Robert T. Wilson said hisnewalbum, Spectrum, came about after he retired from his job as an air traffic controller because of an anxiety disorder.

Speaking to CBC Radio's Shift, he says he'dalways been a fan of electronic music, but he'd never tried making his own. That all changed when he got his hands on some equipmentand found it to be very therapeutic.

"The doctors were saying, like, do something more creative," said Wilson.

Shift - NB9:24Riverview man turns to making electronic music

Robert Wilson started making electronic music as a sort of therapy after he had to stop working because of an anxiety disorder.

He always liked electronic instruments,he said because they're different.

"They sound other-worldly and space-y," said Wilson.

Creating and playing electronic music takes him "to a different headspace," allowing him toconcentrate"on the music and some of the sounds and tones and the progressions."

Wilson uses a drum machine, synthesizer, "a combinationof twoor threedifferent devices."

He says most musiciansrecordvarious instruments separatelyand then layer and mix everything together, but he doesn't work that way.

"Ifyou're hearing, like, four instruments at the same time that'sme, attempting to play four instruments at the same time. I feel like a musical juggler," he said.

Wilson has two daughters, aged12 and 8, and he says the children and hiswife all say he's happier and more relaxed since he started making music.

"It's definitely beneficial for my mental health."

Wilson says he is "perfectlycool" with creating the music justfor himself, "but the bonus is people actually kind of like the stuff I do. There's not really a market for it, but it's nice to get feedback ...onFacebookor Twitter. from people in Japan or someone inEurope or Germany," he said.

You can find Wilson's albumat Port Venderlay.Bandcamp.com.