Chris Rusak Featured in Essay on Wildfire and Perfume

Last year, journalist Kitty Guo asked me if I would like to have a conversation about wildfires, after a friend had told her about my incense perfume Io and thought I might have something to say on the topic.

Although her interview was mere weeks before quarantine, and before the horrific wildfires of 2020, how it feels so long ago and like a record skipping in a locked room.

Kitty discusses the chemicals which make up the smell of smoke, talks with ecology experts about our wildfire problem, and juxtaposes California's tinderbox by interviewing perfumers who've made notable smoky fragrances: Tyrannosaurus Rex by Antonio Gardoni (Zoologist), A City on Fire by Josh Meyer (Imaginary Authors), and my work. A snippet:

"Smelling Chris Rusak’s IO was a revelation. It was the closest I’d come to finding the wildfire fragrance I was searching for — a rich, heady, smoky fragrance that instantly summoned the towering pines of Yosemite at the height of summer."

And that this is all happening while I'm remixing Io with Timbre is a very big mood...

It's a very entertaining read. Kitty asked me if I would share a link to her story with my collectors. Obviously, I said yes: Where There's Smoke: Perfume and California Wildfires

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