Harris was born July 15, 1980, in Northern California and grew up around the San Francisco Bay area.[3] She grew up in a Fourth Way commune there which was inspired by the philosophy of George Gurdjieff. The community was known as "The Group", which would later serve as some inspiration for the moniker Grouper. According to Harris, the kids called each other and the parents 'groupers' sort of as a defiance. She says: "It was us making our own identities inside a pretty controlled environment, and sort of lashing back maybe... When I had to think of a name I felt annoyed at nothing sounding right. I wanted something that referenced me without referencing 'Me.'" According to her, she "felt like the music was at its barest just a grouping of sounds, and I was just the grouper."[4]"
After finishing college, Harris briefly moved to Los Angeles, where she worked with Mayo Thompson at Patrick Painter.[5] Harris is now based in Oregon. Harris’ first album was 2005’s Grouper, a self-released full-length CD-R, followed later that year by Way Their Crept on Free Porcupine (re-released in 2007 on Type Records). In 2006 she released a single (He Knows), one album, called Wide, and a collaboration with Xiu Xiu entitled Creepshow. Harris made available new material steadily through the years and continued to collaborate with various artists such as Roy Montgomery and Xela.
In 2008 she released Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill. An AllMusic reviewer Heather Phares praised the album for showing more musical range than Harris' previous work and for "letting more melody, more structured songs, and even a few phrases emerge from the ether."[6] Pitchfork gave it 8.2 stars calling the work "an arresting album of pastoral psychedelic pop".[7]
In 2011, Grouper released an album consisting of two parts: A I A: Dream Loss and A I A: Alien Observer, which was critically acclaimed by Pitchfork, while the latter part was noted for being more accessible of the two discs.[8]
Early in 2012, Grouper performed Violet Replacement in the UK and Europe, a pair of longform tape collage pieces which originally took shape for commissioned performances in New York and Berkeley. Besides, she collaborated with Jesy Fortino of Tiny Vipers to release an album Foreign Body under their common moniker Mirrorring.
At Berlin's Club Transmediale festival in early February 2012 Harris performed Circular Veil in collaboration with Jefre Cantu-Ledesma.[3] Somewhere between an installation and a performance, it found her extending her more concise music outward into eight hours of music, designed to mimic one full sleep cycle.
In 2013, Harris released an album, The Man Who Died in His Boat.
Grouper's studio album titled Ruins was released on October 31, 2014. The album is relatively stripped-down; piano, voice and field recordings.[9] The majority of the album was recorded in Aljezur, Portugal in 2011, while Harris was on a residency set up by Galeria Zé dos Bois.[10] That same year she appeared on The Bug's album providing vocals for the track "Void".[11]
In 2015, Grouper collaborated with independent filmmaker Paul Clipson on the film Hypnosis Display, commissioned by Leeds Opera North.[12]
In 2016, Grouper released a 7" entitled "Paradise Valley".[13]
In 2017, Grouper was one of the curators for the 11th edition of the Dutch Le Guess Who? festival. Her curated program included films La Double Vie de Véronique by Krzysztof Kieślowski and Lighthouse by Paul Clipson and music performances from artists Marisa Anderson, William Basinski, Marcia Bassett & Samara Lubelski duo, Brötzmann/Leigh, Ekin Fil, Keiji Haino, Roy Montgomery, Coby Sey, Tiny Vipers, Wolfgang Voigt and Richard Youngs.[14]
On March 8, 2018, Grouper announced her new album Grid of Points and released the first single "Parking Lot" from the album.[15] The album was released on April 27 via Kranky.
During her days as a part of a Fourth Way commune, Harris' primary sources for discovering music were limited. With a little help from her parents, whose musical tastes were eccentric and divergent, she discovered Eastern European folk and American avant-pop. Through her father, who himself was a composer, she would later discover contemporary classical and early music.[16] In 2008, when she released Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill, Pitchfork compared it to classic ethereal releases from the British label 4AD, drawing comparisons to Cocteau Twins[7] and early His Name Is Alive.[17] The Portland Mercury described some songs from the album, such as "Wind and Snow" and "Stuck", sonically reminiscent of the Renaissance period composers Gesualdo and Monteverdi.[16]
Call Across Rooms
Grouper Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But you don't go cause truly there's nobody for you but me
We could cruise to the blues
Wilshire Boulevard if we choose
Or whatever you want to do
We make the rules
Our honeymoon
Our honeymoon
Say you want me too
Say you want me too
Dark blue
Dark blue
We both know the history of violence that surrounds you
But I'm not scared, there's nothing to lose now that I've found you
We could cruise to the news
Pico blvd in you used little bullet car if we choose
Mr. Born to lose
Our honeymoon x3
Say you want me too
Say you want me too
Dark blue
Dark blue
There are violets in your eyes
There are guns that blaze around you
There are roses in between my thighs and fire that surrounds you
It's no wonder every man in town had neither fought nor found you
Everything you do is elusive to even your honey dew
Our honeymoon x3
Dreaming away your life x3
The song "Call Across Rooms" by Grouper explores the complexities of a relationship between two people who are aware of the societal norms that surround them but choose to love each other despite that. The opening lines "We both know that it's not fashionable to love me But you don't go cause truly there's nobody for you but me" suggest that the person is aware that their love may not be met with acceptance but the singer acknowledges that they want to be with them. The lyrics "We could cruise to the blues Wilshire Boulevard if we choose Or whatever you want to do We make the rules" bring out the sense of freedom and the desire to be with each other outside of the constraints of society.
The repetition of the lines "Our honeymoon Our honeymoon Our honeymoon" reinforces the idea that the couple is in their own little world away from the harsh realities of society. The lyrics "Say you want me too Say you want me too Dark blue Dark blue" speaks to the emotional depth of the relationship, where the "dark blue" color could signify the emotional depth of the relationship.
The mention of violence in the lyrics "We both know the history of violence that surrounds you But I'm not scared, there's nothing to lose now that I've found you" speaks to the challenges of the relationship and how the singer is willing to take a chance on their love. The lyrics "Everything you do is elusive to even your honey dew" points towards how the person remains a mystery to even their close ones. Overall, the song is a beautiful ode to the complexities of love, acceptance, and societal norms.
Line by Line Meaning
We both know that it's not fashionable to love me
We understand that it's not trendy to be in love with me
But you don't go cause truly there's nobody for you but me
However, you don't leave because there's really no one else for you except me
We could cruise to the blues
We could drive to the blues music
Wilshire Boulevard if we choose
We could go to Wilshire Boulevard if that's what we prefer
Or whatever you want to do
Or we could do anything that you wish to do
We make the rules
We are the ones who decide how things go
Our honeymoon
We are in our honeymoon phase of love
Say you want me too
Tell me that you also want me
Dark blue
You feel blue and down
We both know the history of violence that surrounds you
We both are aware of the violent past that you have faced
But I'm not scared, there's nothing to lose now that I've found you
However, I am not afraid anymore, as I feel like I have everything now that I have you
We could cruise to the news
We could drive to the news industry
Pico blvd in you used little bullet car if we choose
We could go to Pico Boulevard in your previously owned car if we want to
Mr. Born to lose
You are a loser, just like Mr. Born
There are violets in your eyes
Your eyes have the color of violets
There are guns that blaze around you
There are situations with guns around you, which can be heard/felt from a distance
There are roses in between my thighs and fire that surrounds you
I have roses near my thighs, but you are surrounded by an aura of intensity and passion
It's no wonder every man in town had neither fought nor found you
It's not surprising that the men in our town couldn't win you nor find you
Everything you do is elusive to even your honey dew
Even your loved ones don't understand what you're doing most of the time
Dreaming away your life
You're wasting your life by always dreaming and not taking action
Contributed by Alice Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.