Kevin Barnes
Encyclopedia
Kevin L. Barnes is the singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for the indie rock
group Of Montreal
, part of the Elephant 6 Collective. Barnes started the band on his own and, although providing several stories as to the origin of the name, is said to have named it after a failed romance with a woman from Montreal. The group has recorded ten full-length albums, and numerous EP
s and 7" singles.
His brother, David Barnes
, is an artist and has designed most of the band's artwork for albums after the release of The Gay Parade
.
In 2003, Barnes married Nina Aimee Grøttland, a former Ethnobabes member as well as a graphic artist. They have one daughter, Alabee, born in Oslo
on December 29, 2004.
), Dottie Alexander
, Davey Pierce, Clayton Rychlik, Kaoru Ishibashi (Kishi Bashi
), Nicolas Dobbratz, and Thayer Sarrano. The group has recorded ten studio albums, beginning with Cherry Peel, and, most recently, False Priest
, which was released on September 14, 2010 on Polyvinyl. While melodic pop has always been Barnes' primary vehicle, his style has managed to transform significantly since the 1997 release of Cherry Peel. The acoustic tendencies of early albums gradually transformed into a more electronic, funk, and overall eclectic sound. One of the features which often appears in Barnes' songwriting is his penchant for composing upbeat melodies to gloomy lyrics and morose subject matter. At different periods in the band's career he has dealt with subjects both personal and fictional. He is a prolific lyricist with a tendency to employ unusual words and phrases, as well as complicated wordplay.
dealt mainly with personal issues of unrequited love, as in the songs "Baby" or "Montreal", or humorous mundane situations, as in "Tim I Wish You Were Born a Girl". His style then shifted to story-telling, often involving dialogues, as in "Good Morning Mr. Edminton" from the album Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse
, or fictional characters, such as Rose Robert or Jacques Lamure, or even fictional mythological creature, like the Efeblum.
The albums The Gay Parade
, The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy
and the referred Coquelicot are constructed as concept albums, reminiscent of the works of some progressive rock icons of the 70's, such as David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust
or Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
.
By 2004, though, Barnes was starting to revert to more personal lyrics, even incorporating the names of the people close to him and using them as characters in his own songs, not unlike what John Lennon
or Ray Davies
used to do:
Kevin Barnes explained the reasons why he felt compelled to change his writing from personal to fictional and back to personal again in an interview with the music blog You Ain't No Picasso., claiming the bad reviews his first album got prevented him from writing anything from a personal point of view until he got married and his wife gave him the strength to tackle his own issues again.
His lyrics, though mostly concerned with dark themes, often portray a certain fondness for:
, Barnes has always tried to cross the bridge between his love of theater, comedy, and music, often resulting in interludes between songs - skits, slow-motion sword fights and surreal interaction between band members. However, since the release of Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
, Barnes has been performing as his on-stage glam rock
alter ego
, Georgie Fruit, first mentioned in "Labyrinthian Pomp". The second half of the album comes after the twelve minute dark epic, "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal", a track which stands out in the album and the rest of the of Montreal repertoire because of how it succumbs to dark thoughts of suicide and chemical imbalance, themes hinted at more cheerily elsewhere on the album. Kevin has said that the album shows his transformation to Georgie Fruit, as is evident in the variation in musical style from in album leading up to "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal" and the two songs after. He has described Georgie Fruit as a black man in his forties who has undergone multiple sex changes. Georgie, Kevin told Pitchfork Media
, was in a funk-rock band called Arousal back in the seventies.
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
group Of Montreal
Of Montreal
Of Montreal is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontman Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance with a woman "of Montreal." The band is one of the bands of the Elephant 6 collective...
, part of the Elephant 6 Collective. Barnes started the band on his own and, although providing several stories as to the origin of the name, is said to have named it after a failed romance with a woman from Montreal. The group has recorded ten full-length albums, and numerous EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
s and 7" singles.
His brother, David Barnes
David Barnes (artist)
David Barnes is an artist, performer, and comedian best known for being the art director for his brother Kevin's indie pop band, of Montreal...
, is an artist and has designed most of the band's artwork for albums after the release of The Gay Parade
The Gay Parade
The Gay Parade is a concept album by the band Of Montreal, their third full-length release. It has been called "indie pop's very own Sgt. Pepper" by Allmusic reviewer Jason Ankeny....
.
In 2003, Barnes married Nina Aimee Grøttland, a former Ethnobabes member as well as a graphic artist. They have one daughter, Alabee, born in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
on December 29, 2004.
Of Montreal
Of Montreal consists of musicians Kevin Barnes, Bryan Poole (the Late B.P. HeliumThe Late B.P. Helium
The Late B.P. Helium is the solo recording project and, at times, stage name of Elephant Six musician Bryan Poole, who also goes by Bryan Helium....
), Dottie Alexander
Dottie Alexander
Dorothy "Dottie" Alexander is the keyboardist for Of Montreal, an American indie pop band formed in Athens, Georgia and fronted by Kevin Barnes.-Biography:Dottie received her Bachelors degree at the University of Georgia at Athens...
, Davey Pierce, Clayton Rychlik, Kaoru Ishibashi (Kishi Bashi
Kishi Bashi
Kishi Bashi is K Ishibashi's self-recorded and self-produced project. K is a founding member of Jupiter One, as well as a touring member of of Montreal and Regina Spektor.-Biography:...
), Nicolas Dobbratz, and Thayer Sarrano. The group has recorded ten studio albums, beginning with Cherry Peel, and, most recently, False Priest
False Priest
False Priest is the tenth full-length studio album by indie-pop group of Montreal, released on September 14, 2010 on Polyvinyl Records. The band is also touring with Janelle Monáe to promote their new album where she appears several times. Polyvinyl Record Co released the album on CD, Digital,...
, which was released on September 14, 2010 on Polyvinyl. While melodic pop has always been Barnes' primary vehicle, his style has managed to transform significantly since the 1997 release of Cherry Peel. The acoustic tendencies of early albums gradually transformed into a more electronic, funk, and overall eclectic sound. One of the features which often appears in Barnes' songwriting is his penchant for composing upbeat melodies to gloomy lyrics and morose subject matter. At different periods in the band's career he has dealt with subjects both personal and fictional. He is a prolific lyricist with a tendency to employ unusual words and phrases, as well as complicated wordplay.
Lyrics
Kevin Barnes' writing has encompassed many styles over the years. Of Montreal's first album Cherry PeelCherry Peel
Cherry Peel is the debut album of the Elephant 6 band Of Montreal. It was released on Bar/None Records in 1997. In 1999 it was reissued with additional musical contributions and the songs remixed. All subsequent reissues contain this mix...
dealt mainly with personal issues of unrequited love, as in the songs "Baby" or "Montreal", or humorous mundane situations, as in "Tim I Wish You Were Born a Girl". His style then shifted to story-telling, often involving dialogues, as in "Good Morning Mr. Edminton" from the album Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse
Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse
Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse is the fourth full-length album by indie pop band of Montreal, released in 2001 by Kindercore Records. Considered one of their most ambitious works, the record is more of a full band recording than previous of Montreal albums.The...
, or fictional characters, such as Rose Robert or Jacques Lamure, or even fictional mythological creature, like the Efeblum.
The albums The Gay Parade
The Gay Parade
The Gay Parade is a concept album by the band Of Montreal, their third full-length release. It has been called "indie pop's very own Sgt. Pepper" by Allmusic reviewer Jason Ankeny....
, The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy
The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy
The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy is the second album released by the band Of Montreal. It was released on Kindercore Records in 1998.-Track listing:# "One of a Very Few of a Kind" - 1:38# "Happy Yellow Bumblebee" - 2:17...
and the referred Coquelicot are constructed as concept albums, reminiscent of the works of some progressive rock icons of the 70's, such as David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a 1972 concept album by English musician David Bowie, which is loosely based on a story of a rock star named Ziggy Stardust. It peaked at number five in the United Kingdom and number 75 in the United States on the Billboard Music...
or Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
The Lamb Lies down on Broadway
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is a double concept album recorded and released in 1974 by the British rock band Genesis. It was their sixth studio album and the last album by the group to feature the involvement of lead singer Peter Gabriel.-Premise:...
.
By 2004, though, Barnes was starting to revert to more personal lyrics, even incorporating the names of the people close to him and using them as characters in his own songs, not unlike what John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
or Ray Davies
Ray Davies
Ray Davies, CBE is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave...
used to do:
- His daughter Alabee, in "So Begins Our AlabeeThe Sunlandic TwinsThe Sunlandic Twins is the seventh album by indie pop band Of Montreal. The album continues further into the more electronic territory first explored on 2004's Satanic Panic in the Attic...
" and "Miss Blonde Your Papa Is FailingIcons, Abstract TheeIcons, Abstract Thee is an EP from indie pop band Of Montreal. It was released May 8, 2007, along with the album Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? and the promo CD single "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse". It is a collection of songs from recent singles, bonus tracks from the vinyl edition...
".
- His wife Nina, in "Oslo in the SummertimeThe Sunlandic TwinsThe Sunlandic Twins is the seventh album by indie pop band Of Montreal. The album continues further into the more electronic territory first explored on 2004's Satanic Panic in the Attic...
", and numerous songs documenting their relationship, such as "Lysergic BlissSatanic Panic in the AtticSatanic Panic in the Attic is the sixth album released by the band Of Montreal. The album, like later albums The Sunlandic Twins and Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, was made almost entirely by Kevin Barnes....
", "Du og megIcons, Abstract TheeIcons, Abstract Thee is an EP from indie pop band Of Montreal. It was released May 8, 2007, along with the album Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? and the promo CD single "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse". It is a collection of songs from recent singles, bonus tracks from the vinyl edition...
" or "The Past Is a Grotesque AnimalHissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? is the eighth album from indie pop band Of Montreal. It was released January 23, 2007. The album was written, performed, and recorded by Kevin Barnes, with assistance from friends and family: prominent Elephant Six members Bryan Poole, Jamey Huggins and Heather...
".
- Eva, a friend of Of Montreal's and resident of AthensAthens, GeorgiaAthens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
, in "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider".
Kevin Barnes explained the reasons why he felt compelled to change his writing from personal to fictional and back to personal again in an interview with the music blog You Ain't No Picasso., claiming the bad reviews his first album got prevented him from writing anything from a personal point of view until he got married and his wife gave him the strength to tackle his own issues again.
His lyrics, though mostly concerned with dark themes, often portray a certain fondness for:
- French literature, especially the works of Jean GenetJean GenetJean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
, Guillaume ApollinaireGuillaume ApollinaireWilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki, known as Guillaume Apollinaire was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic born in Italy to a Polish mother....
or Georges BatailleGeorges BatailleGeorges Bataille was a French writer. His multifaceted work is linked to the domains of literature, anthropology, philosophy, economy, sociology and history of art...
;
- Avant-garde cinema, mentioning Luis BuñuelLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
's Phantom of Liberty in "Lysergic Bliss", Jaromil Jireš' Valerie and Her Week of Wonders in "St. Exquisite Confessions", or Wong Kar-waiWong Kar-waiWong Kar-wai BBS is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild , Ashes of Time , Chungking Express , Fallen Angels , Happy Together and 2046...
in "Rapture Rapes The Muses";
- Greek mythologyGreek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
–"Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean CurseHeimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse"Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" was the first single released by Polyvinyl Records from Of Montreal's 2007 album Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?. Like the rest of the album, the song was written, performed and recorded by Kevin Barnes....
", "Rapture Rapes the Muses" with references to "antediluvian Troy", or his frequent use of antonomasiaAntonomasiaIn rhetoric, antonomasia is a substitution of any epithet or phrase for a proper name, such as "the little corporal" for Napoleon I. The reverse process is also sometimes called antonomasia. The word derives from the Greek verb , meaning "to name differently"...
(PetrarchPetrarchFrancesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
and Dido in "So Begins Our Alabee", "Cato As a Pun").
On stage
With of MontrealOf Montreal
Of Montreal is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontman Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance with a woman "of Montreal." The band is one of the bands of the Elephant 6 collective...
, Barnes has always tried to cross the bridge between his love of theater, comedy, and music, often resulting in interludes between songs - skits, slow-motion sword fights and surreal interaction between band members. However, since the release of Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? is the eighth album from indie pop band Of Montreal. It was released January 23, 2007. The album was written, performed, and recorded by Kevin Barnes, with assistance from friends and family: prominent Elephant Six members Bryan Poole, Jamey Huggins and Heather...
, Barnes has been performing as his on-stage glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
alter ego
Alter ego
An alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
, Georgie Fruit, first mentioned in "Labyrinthian Pomp". The second half of the album comes after the twelve minute dark epic, "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal", a track which stands out in the album and the rest of the of Montreal repertoire because of how it succumbs to dark thoughts of suicide and chemical imbalance, themes hinted at more cheerily elsewhere on the album. Kevin has said that the album shows his transformation to Georgie Fruit, as is evident in the variation in musical style from in album leading up to "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal" and the two songs after. He has described Georgie Fruit as a black man in his forties who has undergone multiple sex changes. Georgie, Kevin told Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
, was in a funk-rock band called Arousal back in the seventies.
Other projects
- A Pollinaire RaveA Pollinaire RaveA Pollinaire Rave is a comedy tour by Of Montreal lead singer Kevin Barnes, his wife, Nina Barnes, and his brother David Barnes. Both the titles and the artwork vary depending on the individual copy...
is a comedy tour by Kevin Barnes, his brother David Barnes and his wife, Nina. A CD with the same name was sold, and five of the seven songs on the EP became songs on the of Montreal album Satanic Panic in the AtticSatanic Panic in the AtticSatanic Panic in the Attic is the sixth album released by the band Of Montreal. The album, like later albums The Sunlandic Twins and Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, was made almost entirely by Kevin Barnes....
.
- He also played keyboard on "The Difference in the Shades", and did the background vocals on "A Poetic Retelling of an Unfortunate Seduction" on Bright Eyes' album Letting Off the HappinessLetting Off the HappinessLetting Off the Happiness is the second album released by Nebraskan musicians Bright Eyes. The album was released on November 2, 1998. A vinyl re-release of the album was included in the Bright Eyes Vinyl Box Set...
.
- Upcoming projects include acting in the next Joe SwanbergJoe SwanbergJoe Swanberg is an American independent filmmaker. He is a member of the "Mumblecore" movement. His films include Kissing on the Mouth , LOL , Hannah Takes the Stairs , Nights and Weekends and Alexander the Last...
movie and producing an album for an as-yet-unrevealed French band,http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2008/11/of-montreals-kevin-barnes-the-complete-paste-inter.html?p=8 although rumors in the music world suggest that this band could well be Phoenix.Phoenix (band)Phoenix is a Grammy Award winning French indie rock band from Versailles, founded by Thomas Mars, Deck d'Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz.-Formation and early years:...