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High Places

MusicBlog

"Putting the cat back in catastrophe."

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Website: http://www.myspace.com/hellohighplaces

Bio: High Places is Mary Pearson and Rob Barber. The two met while Mary was completing a music degree in bassoon performance and Rob was teaching ... (more) lithography and etching at an art school. Both were performing as solo musicians at the time. Mary relocated to New York from Michigan in late spring 2006, and the two soon after began collaborating under the name High Places. Their name refers to a place where one has a better vantage point and can gain broader perspective; it references a love for mountains, rooftops, and of course metaphorical "high places."

Since its inception, High Places has gravitated toward a love of layers, and it is this affinity for layering that has thus far defined the duo, both in ideas and instrumentation. They have created a signature sound out of using bass-heavy, yet crisp beats, lilting vocal melodies, syncopated rhythmic lines performed on folk percussion instruments, guitar duets turned into treated samples, and percussive lines created from the manipulation of household objects. They have an "exquisite corpse" style of songwriting where they exchange ideas back and forth, challenging one another's expectations, pushing songs to new places, or more aptly, new heights.

High Place's self-titled debut album was recorded by Rob and Mary in their apartment in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood between January and May of 2008. They employed a wide variety of instruments to make this album ranging from the more traditional: 12 string guitar, banjo, shakers and rattles, bass, bells and Kalimba, to the inventive: plastic bags, mixing bowls, wood blocks and other common household objects. The album emphasizes the themes of goodness manifested in nature, and hardship and wonder as necessities to human existence and growth. Additionally, High Places accent the idea of maturation and development through the recurring mention of trees and their extending, enveloping branches. (less)