What's in a name? Well, according to Ricardo Iamuuri, everything! The title of his first conceptual album deserves a little unpacking. It’s not a conceptual album musically, rather the title alone sets the tone and the standard for what is expressed lyrically, allowing Ricardo to approach his subjects and songs with an acute awareness and a provocative delivery. The four mentioned characters are likened to Jungian archetypes. They are representatives or guides of human behavior and psyche, all carrying with them a sort of ancient collective symbolism. They become the puppets for Ricardo’s play, not in the sense that they have their own personalities and distinct voices but in the reflective light of perspective. The Shepherd clearly assumes the leadership role (religious figures, teachers and politicians), The Sheep represent an assortment of followers, passive and aggressive (even the rebel is consider to be a sheep, according to Ricardo), and The Guinea Pigs and The Monkeys symbolize a kind of dangerous gullibility and an entertaining new form of prostitution and slavery. Ricardo Iamuuri is not averse to owning all of these various characteristics, and he readily admits they make up his personal understanding of self.  The latter portion of the title simply explains the recurring theme consistent in the majority of his work, a balance between levity and gravity, knowing and believing, the child and the adult. In essence, Conversations w/ Shepherds, Sheep, Guinea Pigs, and Monkeys: Nursery Rhymes For The Underfed Minds....Vol. 1 is a window to the quiet conflict of a thoughtful human being determined to know freedom firsthand by way of embracing all of his natural limitations.