Biography

Introduction

High Places is an experimental music band originating from Brooklyn, NY, recently relocated to Los Angeles, CA. The band is a duo comprising multi-instrumentalist Rob Barber and vocalist Mary Pearson.

History

High Places is Mary Pearson and Rob Barber. Mary and Rob met while Mary was completing a music degree in bassoon performance at Western Michigan University and Rob was working in visual art, teaching lithography and etching in New York. Both were performing as solo musicians at the time, Mary as Transformation Surprise, and Rob as the Urxed. After becoming fast friends, Mary relocated to New York from Michigan in late spring 2006, and the two soon after began collaborating under the name High Places in May of 2006. The 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.” They played their first show in may of 2006 in North Adams MA, with Japanther, after Rob, who was scheduled to play solo, didn't want to perform alone. They wrote the set in three days. A few weeks later they finished a six song demo CD-R, and left for their first US tour. They began by releasing a number of singles as well as contributing songs to a few compilations. In the Summer of 2008, the duo signed with Chicago label Thrill Jockey Records. The early singles and varied works were collected and released in July of 2008 as 03/07-09/07, and their debut S/T full length followed in September of 2008. High Places tours almost constantly, and have toured with such notable bands; Deerhunter, No Age, Abe Vigoda, the Blow, Ponytail, Soft Circle, Lucky Dragons, Yacht, Dan Deacon, and Hawnay Troof.

Process

Since its inception, High Places has 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. The duo has an “exquisite corpse” style of songwriting where they exchange ideas back and forth, challenging one another’s expectations. The songwriting is expansive and fluid, all the while managing to be concise. Overall, the compositions are settled and assured. High Places gravitates toward the organic over the electronic, and that natural aesthetic adds warmth and intimacy to the recordings. In a live setting, the band creates their layered recordings with Mary singing and simultaneously manipulating her vocals with various delay and reverb pedals, while playing some hand percussion, recorders, and creating and controlling various loops. Rob handles the music, triggering a variety of percussive sounds with sampling drum pads and traditional samplers, as well as various percussion, wooden blocks with contact mics, and singing some ambient vocals. High Places’ self-titled debut was recorded by Rob and Mary in their apartment in Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant 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 has a contemplative and organic lyrical tone emphasized by the themes of goodness manifested in nature, hardship and wonder as necessities to human existence and growth. Additionally, the idea of maturation and development is further accented through the recurring mention of trees and their extending, enveloping branches. Rob created the High Places artwork by using photos taken by both band members.