S.Carey
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
Justin Vernon remains Bon Iver’s main focus, so you probably wouldn’t notice he has very capable backing with Sean Carey, who plays drums and piano for Vernon’s live shows. Carey has his own record coming out on Jagjaguwar. The first taste from it is impressive — it uses subtle (but rich) percussion and repetition over its five minutes and feels like a journey. The middle section is particularly pretty. It sounds a touch like Sufjan Stevens’s “The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!,” though Carey’s own voice (in slightly staggered layers) sets it apart. - Stereogum
Discography
"All We Grow" (CD/LP) Jagjaguwar Records (2010)
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Bio
The debut album from S. Carey, All We Grow, is the result of a young lifetime spent immersed in music. As a band member of Bon Iver from the very beginning, Sean Carey witnessed a flip of his formal training to step firmly into a worldwide-touring rock band. His performance degree in classical percussion from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire and his love for jazz drumming prepared him for a central role in the inspiring force of the Bon Iver live show.
All We Grow is a convergence of Carey's Waltz For Debby-era Bill Evans inflected jazz tendencies, and traditional rock band experience, taking leads from Mark Hollis' Talk Talk. It also retests the waters of modern classical composition, investigating the moodiness generated by percussive repetition in a manner familiar to fans of Steve Reich. In his downtime on tour with Bon Iver, Sean would spend time pining for his soul-mate's arms, and in that context, dreaming and composing. During infrequent tour breaks at home he would patiently record these pieces, adding layers each time. Two years later, the parts converged to make an album.
For as much room to breathe as Carey allows his compositions, there are incredibly dynamic moments of bombast held right next to moments of subtle depth and texture. Engineered by Jaime Hansen and Brian Joseph, intermittently at home and at April Base (Justin Vernon's studio outside Eau Claire), All We Grow is an all-encompassing headphone experience as intimate as chamber music and as ambitious as a symphony.
While many are familiar with the cabin mythology of Bon Iver, the story behind Sean joining the band is equally kismet. After hearing through mutual friends that Justin was looking to put together a band, he spent two weeks in his bedroom listening to For Emma, Forever Ago on Myspace, dissecting and learning the drum and vocal parts so well that Justin invited him to join the band upon Sean's approach.
All We Grow is a classic album born without expectation and met with adoration - a cathartic result of Carey's extraordinary and vibrant life experiences that resonates loss, dreams and heart in a manner so instantly relatable, you feel as though you can touch it.
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