Grouper

How a handful of CD-Rs changed ambient music

With ‘Way They Crept’, Grouper introduced her ethereal and psychedelic shoegaze sound in 2005. Initially released on her own label, the record was soon picked up by Type Records. This label specialised in experimental ambient, drone and electronica, genres into which Grouper’s sound can also be categorised.

By the time ‘Way Their Crept’ was released as Grouper’s debut, the music had already come a long way. The intimate recording was originally released on a handful of self-made CD-Rs on Grouper’s own Yellow Electric label before being picked up by Free Porcupine Society and later Type Records. It wasn’t an album intended for a wider audience from the outset. That only came about in 2008 when Grouper released her groundbreaking ‘Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill’ on Type. That album cemented her status as one of the most original voices in the experimental and ambient scene. Both Grouper and Type Records developed their own distinctive sound, one in which the listener can lose themselves with complete confidence.

Commune

Grouper was born Liz Harris in 1980. She spent her childhood in the Fourth Way commune in Northern California, in a secluded and rural setting. Life in the commune centred on introspection and meditation. The setting itself was an oasis of open space and silence. This would later become central to her music, in the way the material breathes, with sounds appearing and disappearing like rolling landscapes. She drew inspiration for her stage name from the commune’s nickname: ‘The Group’. ‘I wanted something that referred to me without referring to “me”’, Harris once said. ‘At its most stripped-back, the music felt like a group of sounds, and I was simply the one who grouped those sounds together.’ When an artist identifies so closely with her sound, the question naturally arises as to what extent the artist is still simply someone who brings the sounds together? Or is it precisely because her sound has had such an impact on the ambient scene that we, as listeners, can no longer separate it from the artist?

Silence

Growing up in this secluded environment has had a profound influence on her musical and artistic vision. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree under her belt, Grouper is also interested in sound art and experimental music. Her personality – modest and reserved – is reflected in the introverted seclusion that shimmers through her music. Think of the ethereal, airy vocal lines in ‘Way They Crept’, sounds that drown in fading tape loops and thick layers of reverb, or field recordings that dissolve into a hypnotic, melancholic mist. The environment of her childhood stands in stark contrast to the DIY scene in Oakland, California, where, in the 2000s, Harris became involved with Huffin House, a legendary recording venue and community space for experimental music. Huffin House was a living space where artists such as Xiu Xiu and Pete Swanson (Yellow Swans) also experimented together with tape loops, field recordings and analogue equipment. Ideas were exchanged, collaborations were hammered out.

Tape

Harris deliberately uses cheap cassette and tape recorders to record her music. She experiments with the idea of cassette wear and tear as a compositional technique to deliberately add analogue warmth, graininess and a veil of distortion to her music. This lo-fi aesthetic is an artistic choice that was hugely popular in the DIY culture and experimental music scene of the 2000s. Imperfection arising from technical limitations was deliberately sought out as an integral part of the work. In Grouper’s case, sound not only seems to become tangible, but as a listener you are also completely immersed in it. Sound becomes a space in which you, as a listener, can lose yourself. Music as an environment. This is why ‘Way Their Crept’ feels incredibly introspective and minimalistic. The recordings for ‘Way Their Crept’ took place at Teenage Fantasy, a venue that formed part of that same Huffin House. Pete Swanson was at the controls. He was not only involved in the mixing and mastering of the album, but is also a key figure in the Huffin House community. Swanson himself also works with tape loops and feedback, meaning his work fits seamlessly with Grouper’s aesthetic. Later, when Harris settled in rainy, grey Portland, she continued this DIY approach. ‘Way They Crept’ is an album that, even now, twenty years on, continues to win over the hearts of new fans. But despite its iconic status, it still has its detractors. This is largely due to the heavy use of echo and reverb, which makes the album ‘unlistenable’ for some. According to them, the material lacks recognisable song structures. For others, it is precisely that ethereal, endless sound that makes the album indispensable. ‘Way They Crept’ clearly challenges its listeners to surrender to an indefinable, dreamlike journey.

Legacy

It makes absolute sense her albums are released on labels such as Type and Kranky. Both labels have established themselves as record companies with a clear vision. Type Records specialises in ambient, drone and contemporary classical. Kranky, on the other hand, focuses on ‘slow music’, a term they themselves use to describe their style of ambient, drone and experimental pop. Neither comes it as a surprise that the album is being re-released. Not only because of its cult status, but also in recognition of the enduring influence of both the album and the artist. With this album, and the career that followed, Grouper laid the foundations for a whole generation – predominantly female – of producers and artists who place atmosphere and emotion at the heart of their work. Partly due to the way she masters and utilises her own sound techniques, she has become a source of inspiration for many. Think of contemporary names such as Ekin Fil, Maria BC, Maria Somerville and Kathryn Mohr. Artists who, just like Grouper, use ethereal vocals, lo-fi guitar textures and/or dreamy ambient pop to create their own introspective soundscapes. Their music exudes the same dreamy shoegaze aesthetic that Grouper introduced back in 2005. It is as if their work whispers: ‘I’ve got a few Grouper records on my shelf’, a nod to a shared, almost spiritual connection with Harris’s universe. Following ‘Way Their Crept’, Grouper swapped raw experimentation for more song-oriented material. From then on, she continued to experiment under the name Nivhek, further exploring the boundaries of ambient and sound art.