Live Music
Dropping Gems is a music label and collective of artists based in the Pacific Northwest. Our goal is to share our vision of the future of humanity, particularly as it’s expressed in the form of electronic music. We produce and release albums and serve as a DIY conduit between the Northwest and producers from around the country.
R2E Featured Artists:
Bone Rock '09: Jesse Callahan’s homegrown, self-prescribed Northwest pacifism led him past the shores of Illinois, up the face of Mt. Ellinor to the Palace of Illastine where he discovered the spirit of Bone Rock. Bone Rock, like music, is invisible. Together the two created the Dropping Gems releases Bone Rock EP and EARS. Jesse (under the name Nag Champa) previously hosted The Soul Story Hour on Evergreen’s KAOS radio, and can be heard monthly hosting The Dropping Gems podcast series. He has a passion for public radio, enjoys mixing records, and loves writing poetry, but more often than not spends his time making beats. Always working on new ideas, Jesse’s eclectic style can be heard on a number of projects including (but not limited to) Noceana, Sexual Effectuals, Fashion Plaza, Y-Bot and The Intergalactical Trio, and of course, Bone Rock.
Check out Bone Rock on Soundcloud. For booking, contact aaron@droppinggems.com
Brownbear '10: Hailing from the dense Northwestern forests of Washington state, Andrew Desmarais, a.k.a Brownbear, draws inspiration from those lush environments, observing and interpreting his surroundings into tangible beat-scapes, exploring the subtle beauty in every day sounds. Influenced by everything from neck-breaking hip-hop beats and emotional orchestral soundtracks, to antique folk records and radio transmissions drifting in airspace, Brownbear re-imagines the ordinary into his own aural perception of the universe.
Check out Brownbear on Soundcloud and Facebook. For booking, contact aaron@droppinggems.com.
Citymouth '10: Kris Geffen, aka Citymouth, holds a deep appreciation for field recording, tape manipulation, modular synthesis, intricate percussive sequencing, and the outcome of combining these elements. Since the beginning he has consistently taken inspiration from the psychedelic, the soulful, and the inexplicable. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, he had an early exposure to live music and began playing piano at the age of six. In 2005 he moved to the Pacific Northwest, and quickly became involved in the local music scene, performing as part of Seattle’s Pill Wonder and recording a superabundance of bedroom hip hop material with Olympia’s Nag Champa. During this time he also became immersed in The Evergreen State College’s music technology labs, where he mined for new sounds using old tricks.
His most recent work under the Citymouth moniker exemplifies the results of these explorations. Citymouth’s compositions spark a conversation between those evolving incarnations of electronic music that often refuse to acknowledge each other. Never settling too comfortably into a specific pace, the decidedly non-dancefloor-centric sonic experiments meld together elements of beauty from many sources. Expect to hear expansions on the electro-acoustic pairings of the recent avant-garde hip hop movement, injected with a unique combination of frenetic intelligence and analog warmth.
The debut Citymouth EP entitled Holodecker was released March 29, 2011 via Dropping Gems. His work has been met with positive reviews and featured by many respected music hubs, including XLR8R and Create Digital Music. He’s shared the stage with the likes of Devonwho, Groundislava, Matthewdavid, Yuk., as well as many other talented artists up and down the West Coast. He is currently in the process of recording a full-length album and has a slew of tracks set for release on various international compilations.
Check out Citymouth on Soundcloud and Facebook. For booking, contact aaron@droppinggems.com.
Ghost Feet '11/'12: Ghost Feet is an electro-acoustic duo composed of Calvin Erdal '11 and Rachel Dubuc '12. The release of their debut EP, Wires and Chords, on Dropping Gems, has introduced a world of listeners to their brand of glitchy head-nodding ambience. Receiving coverage and acclaim from notable sources all over the internet, including XLR8R and Resident Advisor, Wires has demonstrated the spectrum of emotions the duo are capable of commanding. Their live show takes things a step further, introducing audiences to a full experience sometimes only implied on record. As Calvin recreates the busy percussion and Rachel strums out dusky melodies on her guitar, the tones and rhythmic shape of their music take on a massively visceral quality. The effect on the members of the audience is clear to anyone in attendance: dancing and hypnosis, to be found in equal measure.
The two first met after leaving their respective hometowns of Santa Ana and Houston to attend The Evergreen State College. They brought their individual musical talents with them, and it wasn’t long before they began to run in the same circles and eventually collaborate together. It was a rainy afternoon in May, 2010 that brought Calvin’s drum programming and sound design together with Rachel’s guitar playing, and the sonic potential immediately showed audible result. For the next several months the two wrote songs and developed their live show at local house parties. In early 2011 they were asked to perform alongside the Dropping Gems crew at their Olympia Showcase, delivering an astonishing high-energy performance, and not long afterwards they were invited to join DG as permanent members. Their future plans include a full-length LP and continuing to deliver the live Ghost Feet experience to hungry audiences.
Check out Ghost Feet on Soundcloud and Facebook. For booking, contact aaron@droppinggems.com
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