Austin, TX experimental musician Roger Sellers, AKA Bayonne, is somewhat of an outlier in the local scene. In a city filled with pearl snaps, guitar licks, and love songs (not that there’s anything wrong with those things!), Bayonne creates cavernous ambient soundscapes. Don’t be mistaken though, this isn’t the meditative music of Brian Eno.
On the new Bayonne record, Drastic Measures, Sellers merged his increasingly classic pop inspired sensibilities with a production approach closely focused on looping, layering, and overdubbing. “Even if you hear something simple like clapping or finger snaps, it’s probably layered 10 or 20 times,” he says. “I just like to stack and layer everything to get these big sounds, and create a really wide sonic space within the songs.”
No matter how big those sounds become, Bayonne maintains a certain sense of intimacy throughout Drastic Measures an effect that has much to do with his playful use of the field recordings he’s captured since he was a teenager. “That’s how I like it. I like having these little memories built up and then sticking them randomly in places all over the album. It’s almost like having some kind of diary within the music, and it gives it so much more meaning when I go back and listen.” Bayonne releases Drastic Measures Friday, February 22 and celebrates with a Sold Out show at Mohawk on Friday, February 15.
Scroll through some of our Bayonne goodies and keep it tuned to KUTX all month long for more from our newest Artist of the Month!
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