DISTANCE has clearly proved no obstacle for producers and songwriters Luke Garfield & David Arnold who teamed up to deliver their first EP offering: “Seven Bridges of Königsberg“.

Garfield, who is based at Banana Llama Studios on the Gold Coast, and Arnold who lives and works from his loft-studio in Nashville have aptly titled their collaboration “Board of Transportation”.

The pair connected as Board of Transportation in 2009 after Garfield, who was living and working in Nashville, took a 50-second musical cue from a film score he was mixing for Arnold’s band, “The Champion and His Burning Flame“. He transformed this short “snippet” into a haunting track “The Veil”, which impressed Arnold so much, he had to add his own vocals to the mix.

The two joined forces to create a unique blend of baritone and tenor voices, hushed and powerful tones, and a signature melodic groove. They took turns singing and writing and “Board of Transportation” was born.

Inspired, they started working on their next song, “Lines and Powerlines” but when Garfield and his wife, discovered she was pregnant with their third child, Garfield decided to move back to Australia.

“We weren’t sure how our songwriting would continue when I moved to the Gold Coast but we were determined to continue working together” Garfield muses.

Leveraging the power of the internet to share musical ideas, he would start a musical idea, toss it across the ocean to Arnold, who would take inspiration, write his own parts and send the track back for Garfield to finish.

In this way they pieced together the five-track EP “Seven Bridges of Königsberg”.

The EP is a mix of acoustic and electronic instruments with a touch of the avante garde and atmospheric.

This is all glued together with solid grooves and strong melodies. Their sound compares to that of Radiohead, Massive Attack and other artists who use a similar blend of instruments and atmospheric leanings.

Both Arnold and Garfield are accomplished musicians: Arnold has played saxophone, drums but now opts for the guitar as he has always aspired to be a songwriter. Originally from Kentucky, Arnold moved to Nashville to pursue music and now works as a songwriter, film composer and novelist.

Garfield’s musical background began at the age of 10 when he learned guitar, started writing and playing his own music in high school, studied music composition but fell in love with production and recording during his time at university. In Nashville, Garfield worked as a producer/recording engineer and Arnold’s band was one of his first projects after arriving in the US.

Separated by thousands of leagues of ocean and in opposite hemispheres, Garfield and Arnold are still deeply inspired by the possibilities of Board of Transportation. Their first release has been met with very positive feedback so plans to start work on a follow up release in the not to distant future are in motion.