Sounds Invisible Authority

Sound design is a relatively new phenomenon for me and, therefore, for Thought Merchants. Design and art have been my passions for as long as I can remember. Whether I was painting a masterpiece or doodling with friends, they were always my go-to releases growing up.

Now, I’m in a blessed enough position to design every day for a job, creating design systems and branding for incredible clients—living and breathing creation in every corner of my life. But something was missing, not in my work, but in the space where play used to be. I needed to find my release again—something new I could explore without the weight of expectations.

That’s when I fell in love with sound—not just music but the anatomy of sound itself—its power, psychology, and ability to shape behavior. What started as a casual experiment turned into an obsession. From FM synthesis to simple ASDR adjustments, the meticulous nature of crafting a sound felt familiar, like visual design in another dimension. Every tweak mattered. Every detail could change perception.

It didn’t take long before I started thinking about sound like I think about branding—less as an aesthetic choice and more as a way to shape emotion, to guide people toward a feeling without them realizing it. Sound has an almost invisible authority over us. The right frequency can energize a room; the wrong one can push people away. Fast tempos make us move. Certain chord progressions make us nostalgic. Even silence, in the right moment, can make us listen more closely.

Then came the moment when both worlds collided. I had been working with Prospective, a company championing local-first computation and rethinking how we engage with digital infrastructure. They had started a podcast to bring these ideas to life, but something was missing—the sound of it.

A podcast isn’t just about words; it’s about atmosphere. It’s about setting the stage for ideas and conversations to feel alive. And what better way to bring that energy than with disco? Disco has always been a genre of motion, of uplift. It’s built on groove, on the psychology of syncopation and basslines that feel like momentum itself. I leaned into that—carefully sculpting a bassline that moves between the kick drum, creating a warm and inviting groove. Every choice was intentional, just like in design.

I brought in a good friend, Avi Loud, to clean up the chords and ensure it was a certified hit. When the track finally came together, it did more than introduce the podcast—it framed it. It gave it movement and warmth and made the subject matter feel dynamic. It made an abstract conversation feel grounded, honest, and—most importantly—alive.

What started as an escape became an expansion. I wasn’t replacing design—I was deepening it. Whether it’s pixels or frequencies, branding or beats, the goal is the same: to make people feel something.

Have a listen to the full song here.