Holcombe Waller
Encyclopedia
Holcombe Waller is an American composer
, singer and performance artist. He lives in Portland, Oregon
, and has performed across the United States and Europe, both solo
and with his ensemble
, The Healers.
Waller has self-released three albums of varying styles. His work first received international attention with his 2001 album Extravagant Gesture. The indie album was lauded by a Spin Magazine
review, and in REVOLVER Magazine Ann Powers
wrote, "For melodic sweep, the prize goes to Holcombe Waller, whose self-released Extravagant Gesture is a small pop epic." Waller's pop influences shifted towards folk for his 2005 release, Troubled Times. The work continued to receive broad critical attention including a positive review in Paste Magazine and a large editorial feature in BUTT Magazine.
Since Troubled Times, Waller has focused on commissions
for multidisciplinary performance
, dance score
s, collaboration
s, and film score
s. He has recently completed "Into the Dark Unknown," an album of music from his touring theatrical folk concert by the same name. The album has posted for public release February 15, 2011.
. He lived in Palo Alto until the age of 18, when he moved to Los Angeles
to record a solo album, never released, with a now-defunct upstart label. At 19, he moved to New Haven, Connecticut
as an undergraduate student at Yale University
. There he produced work for various artists and bands, and casually picked up guitar. Waller produced and mixed two albums for Project Nim, a band that included fellow Yalie Bryce Dessner
as well as Aaron Dessner
and Bryan Devendorf, all now members of The National
. Waller also recorded and mixed fellow Yalie Mia Doi Todd
's album Come Out of Your Mine
in 1997 in Dwight Chapel on Yale Campus, where he held his first public performance with guitar and vocals in the Spring of 1998. That year Waller began recording for his first album, Advertising Space. The sessions included Bryce on guitar, Aaron on bass and Bryan on drums. Waller graduated from Yale with a degree in Art
, specializing in video installation
, and moved back to his home state of California
, settling in San Francisco.
Waller finished and self-released Advertising Space in 1999 on his imprint, Napoleon Records. Though only locally promoted, the album was picked up by Hear Music
and editorially featured in all of their stores.
From 2000 to 2004, Waller worked in the information technology
department of an internet hosting company, which allowed him to fund his next two albums. Extravagant Gesture (2001 Napoleon Records) also featured Bryce Dessner
on guitars, and was picked up by Redeye Distribution
in the United States. Troubled Times (2005 Napoleon Records) represented an artistic shift towards a more spare, folk-oriented orchestration. It was recorded in collaboration with college friend and multi-instrumentalist Ben Landsverk and features a guest performance by Mia Doi Todd
.
By 2005, Waller had left his job and moved to Portland, Oregon with the intention of becoming a full-time musician and artist.
, and Tao Soup, a multidisciplinary ensemble piece by Scott Kelman. In 2006, Waller began integrating his experiences in theater, video installation and music with a piece titled Mihael Sagalovesky and the Tragic Torments of Patty Heart Townes. The work featured 6 Patty Griffin songs and 6 Townes Van Zandt songs arranged to represent a broad narrative arch of dissolution and redemption. The work premiered in Portland in 2007 and toured to New York (Joe's Pub
) and Philadelphia.
In 2008, Waller was commissioned by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art
and On the Boards
of Seattle to create his theatrical folk concert, Into the Dark Unknown: The Hope Chest. The work integrated aspects of theater, video installation and folk concert. The work was supported by the Rockefeller Foundation
's prestigious MAP Fund and toured to the New York Public Theater (Under the Radar Festival
), Seattle’s On the Boards
, PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
(Vancouver BC), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
, and the Queer Zagreb Festival, among others.
An album of music from the show features his ensemble, The Healers, as well as drummer Danny Seim (Menomena
, Lackthereof
). The album was funded by a Kickstarter
campaign in the Spring of 2010, and is scheduled for release Winter 2011.
In the Fall of 2009, Waller was a Visiting Artist Lecturer in the Department of Theater, Performance Studies and Dance at the University of California, Berkeley
, where he taught the seminar Contemporary Song-based Performance Art. Winter 2010, Waller launched the development of a new multidisciplinary performance titled "Surfacing," commissioned with the National Performance Network by OutNorth and Helena Presents.
at U.C. Berkeley in October 2009.
Waller worked with Zoe Scofield
, the Seattle-based choreographer of Zoe|Juniper, scoring music for her performance Old Girl, commissioned by the Spectrum Dance Theater of Seattle in October 2008.
Waller has recently scored the film, "We Were Here: Voices from the AIDS Years in San Francisco," by David Weissman and Bill Weber.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, singer and performance artist. He lives in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, and has performed across the United States and Europe, both solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
and with his ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, The Healers.
Waller has self-released three albums of varying styles. His work first received international attention with his 2001 album Extravagant Gesture. The indie album was lauded by a Spin Magazine
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
review, and in REVOLVER Magazine Ann Powers
Ann Powers
Ann Powers is an American writer and pop music critic.Powers has been writing about popular music and society since the early 1980s...
wrote, "For melodic sweep, the prize goes to Holcombe Waller, whose self-released Extravagant Gesture is a small pop epic." Waller's pop influences shifted towards folk for his 2005 release, Troubled Times. The work continued to receive broad critical attention including a positive review in Paste Magazine and a large editorial feature in BUTT Magazine.
Since Troubled Times, Waller has focused on commissions
Commission (art)
In art, a commission is the hiring and payment for the creation of a piece, often on behalf of another.In classical music, ensembles often commission pieces from composers, where the ensemble secures the composer's payment from private or public organizations or donors.- Commissions for public art...
for multidisciplinary performance
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
, dance score
Dance score
A dance score is a music score created for a dance performance or choreography. However, the term may also refer to the dance notation as distinguished from the musical score....
s, collaboration
Collaboration
Collaboration is working together to achieve a goal. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, — for example, an intriguing endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing...
s, and film score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
s. He has recently completed "Into the Dark Unknown," an album of music from his touring theatrical folk concert by the same name. The album has posted for public release February 15, 2011.
Early life
Waller was born in Stanford, CaliforniaStanford, California
Stanford is a census-designated place in Santa Clara County, California, United States and is the home of Stanford University. The population was 13,809 at the 2010 census....
. He lived in Palo Alto until the age of 18, when he moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to record a solo album, never released, with a now-defunct upstart label. At 19, he moved to New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
as an undergraduate student at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. There he produced work for various artists and bands, and casually picked up guitar. Waller produced and mixed two albums for Project Nim, a band that included fellow Yalie Bryce Dessner
Bryce Dessner
Bryce Dessner is a Brooklyn based composer, guitarist, and curator primarily known as a member of The National. In addition to his work with The National, he is a founding member of Clogs, and the founder of the MusicNOW Festival. Bryce has a master's degree in classical guitar from Yale University...
as well as Aaron Dessner
Aaron Dessner
Aaron Dessner is a founding member of The National. Together with Matt Berninger, who writes the lyrics, Aaron writes much of the music for the band...
and Bryan Devendorf, all now members of The National
The National (band)
The National is an indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999 and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger, a baritone...
. Waller also recorded and mixed fellow Yalie Mia Doi Todd
Mia Doi Todd
Mia Doi Todd is a musician from Los Angeles, California, United States.Mia has collaborated with rock, electronica, and hip-hop musicians, contributing her voice to works by Dntel, Beachwood Sparks, Nobody, Adventure Time, Frausdots, Folk Implosion, The Mission, Saul Williams, Prefuse 73, Flying...
's album Come Out of Your Mine
Come out of your mine
Come Out of Your Mine is the title of an album by Mia Doi Todd, released in 1999 by City Zen Records.-Track listing:# "Independence Day" - 4:41# "Strawberries" - 3:13# "Jackals" - 5:51# "Save Me" - 2:07# "Hijikata Tatsumi" - 3:02# "Your Room" - 2:52...
in 1997 in Dwight Chapel on Yale Campus, where he held his first public performance with guitar and vocals in the Spring of 1998. That year Waller began recording for his first album, Advertising Space. The sessions included Bryce on guitar, Aaron on bass and Bryan on drums. Waller graduated from Yale with a degree in Art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, specializing in video installation
Video installation
Video installation is a contemporary art form that combines video technology with installation art, making use of all aspects of the surrounding environment to affect the audience. Tracing its origins to the birth of video art in the 1970s, it has increased in popularity as digital video production...
, and moved back to his home state of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, settling in San Francisco.
Waller finished and self-released Advertising Space in 1999 on his imprint, Napoleon Records. Though only locally promoted, the album was picked up by Hear Music
Hear Music
Hear Music, also known as StarCon is the brand name of Starbucks' retail music concept and record label. Hear Music began as a catalog company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1990 before being purchased by Starbucks in 1999.-Concept:...
and editorially featured in all of their stores.
From 2000 to 2004, Waller worked in the information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
department of an internet hosting company, which allowed him to fund his next two albums. Extravagant Gesture (2001 Napoleon Records) also featured Bryce Dessner
Bryce Dessner
Bryce Dessner is a Brooklyn based composer, guitarist, and curator primarily known as a member of The National. In addition to his work with The National, he is a founding member of Clogs, and the founder of the MusicNOW Festival. Bryce has a master's degree in classical guitar from Yale University...
on guitars, and was picked up by Redeye Distribution
Redeye Distribution
Redeye Distribution is an independent music distribution company founded in 1996 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Redeye currently distributes such labels as Marsalis Music, Barsuk Records, Warp Records, Daptone Records, Luaka Bop Records, Kill Rock Stars, Sargent House, Hydra Head Records, The...
in the United States. Troubled Times (2005 Napoleon Records) represented an artistic shift towards a more spare, folk-oriented orchestration. It was recorded in collaboration with college friend and multi-instrumentalist Ben Landsverk and features a guest performance by Mia Doi Todd
Mia Doi Todd
Mia Doi Todd is a musician from Los Angeles, California, United States.Mia has collaborated with rock, electronica, and hip-hop musicians, contributing her voice to works by Dntel, Beachwood Sparks, Nobody, Adventure Time, Frausdots, Folk Implosion, The Mission, Saul Williams, Prefuse 73, Flying...
.
By 2005, Waller had left his job and moved to Portland, Oregon with the intention of becoming a full-time musician and artist.
Career
Upon arriving in Portland in 2005, Waller's trajectory shifted towards multidisciplinary performance. He was cast in One, an original musical by Wade McCollumWade McCollum
Wade McCollum is an American film actor, stage actor and composer/musician, and is a member of the Actors' Equity Association and Screen Actors Guild...
, and Tao Soup, a multidisciplinary ensemble piece by Scott Kelman. In 2006, Waller began integrating his experiences in theater, video installation and music with a piece titled Mihael Sagalovesky and the Tragic Torments of Patty Heart Townes. The work featured 6 Patty Griffin songs and 6 Townes Van Zandt songs arranged to represent a broad narrative arch of dissolution and redemption. The work premiered in Portland in 2007 and toured to New York (Joe's Pub
Joe's Pub
Joe's Pub at Public Theater is a nightclub that hosts live performances regularly. The venue, which is a non-profit operation, is located at 425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in Manhattan, New York City...
) and Philadelphia.
In 2008, Waller was commissioned by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art
The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art in Portland, Oregon, United States was founded in 1996 by Kristy Edmunds, formerly the Director of the Portland Art Museum's "Art on the Edge" program...
and On the Boards
On the Boards
On the Boards is a non-profit contemporary performing arts organization in Seattle, Washington, founded in 1978. Originally located at Washington Hall in the Central District, the organization moved in 1998 to their current location in Lower Queen Anne...
of Seattle to create his theatrical folk concert, Into the Dark Unknown: The Hope Chest. The work integrated aspects of theater, video installation and folk concert. The work was supported by the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
's prestigious MAP Fund and toured to the New York Public Theater (Under the Radar Festival
Under the Radar Festival
The Under the Radar Festival is a theater festival in New York City, founded in 2005 by Mark Russell, former Artistic Director of P.S. 122 for over twenty years and also Guest Artistic Director for the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art's Time-Based Art Festival in 2006...
), Seattle’s On the Boards
On the Boards
On the Boards is a non-profit contemporary performing arts organization in Seattle, Washington, founded in 1978. Originally located at Washington Hall in the Central District, the organization moved in 1998 to their current location in Lower Queen Anne...
, PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is held in Vancouver, British Colombia each year. Produced over 20 days each January, the PuSh Festival presents work in the live performing arts: theatre, dance, music and various hybrid forms of performance...
(Vancouver BC), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is a multi-disiplinary contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, national, and international artists and the Bay Area's diverse...
, and the Queer Zagreb Festival, among others.
An album of music from the show features his ensemble, The Healers, as well as drummer Danny Seim (Menomena
Menomena
Menomena are an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States; currently made up of Justin Harris, Danny Seim and more recently Joe Haege of 31Knots and Tu Fawning...
, Lackthereof
Lackthereof
Lackthereof is the solo project of Danny Seim, a founding member of the Portland, Oregon-based band Menomena.-History:The first six Lackthereof albums were recorded at home and given out to Seim's friends on cassettes and CD-R's...
). The album was funded by a Kickstarter
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an online threshold pledge system for funding creative projects. Kickstarter has funded a diverse array of endeavors, ranging from indie film and music to journalism, solar energy technology and food-related projects.-Model:...
campaign in the Spring of 2010, and is scheduled for release Winter 2011.
In the Fall of 2009, Waller was a Visiting Artist Lecturer in the Department of Theater, Performance Studies and Dance at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, where he taught the seminar Contemporary Song-based Performance Art. Winter 2010, Waller launched the development of a new multidisciplinary performance titled "Surfacing," commissioned with the National Performance Network by OutNorth and Helena Presents.
Collaborations
Waller has created two collaborative performances with Joe Goode Performance Group: "Small Experiments in Song and Dance," which premiered in January 2009 at the Brava Theater in San Francisco, and "Dead Boys," a musical which premiered at the Zellerbach PlayhouseZellerbach Hall
Zellerbach Hall is a multi venue performance facility on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. It was designed by architect and professor Vernon DeMars and completed in 1968...
at U.C. Berkeley in October 2009.
Waller worked with Zoe Scofield
Zoe Scofield
Zoe Scofield is a Seattle based choreographer who shows an extensive background in the dance world. Her education in dance has led her to study in many institutions. Scofield studied ballet as a scholarship student at Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts in Boston. She later concentrated on...
, the Seattle-based choreographer of Zoe|Juniper, scoring music for her performance Old Girl, commissioned by the Spectrum Dance Theater of Seattle in October 2008.
Waller has recently scored the film, "We Were Here: Voices from the AIDS Years in San Francisco," by David Weissman and Bill Weber.
External links
- Holcombe Waller's Trouble Times Popmatters.com retrieved 4th May 2010
- Into the Dark Unknown: The Hope sfweekly retrieved 4th May 2010
- Holcombe Waller at Dead Boys sfbg.com
- Interview at East Village Boys retrieved 4th March 2011