They Came From Brooklyn

High Places duo Mary Pearson and Rob Barber. Image via hellohighplaces.com

Please meet Mary Pearson and Rob Barber, of the globetrotting duo High Places, a Bedstuy-, and now Los Angeles-based ambient music band who’ll be part of the upcoming It Came from Brooklyn concert series celebrating the Guggenheim Museum of Art‘s 50th Anniversary. The series kicks off August 14th and will showcase Brooklyn’s emerging and established talents in the fields of music and literature.

Bedstuy’s own Brooklyn Steppers Marching Band will open the show, followed by High Places, whose sounds have been described as “short studies in escaping urban claustrophobia”. The Walkmen are also on the bill. Between sets Fort Greene novelist Colson Whitehead will read selections from Walt Whitman. Mary and Rob recently took some time out of their hectic schedules to chat a bit about themselves, their former/current neighborhood, and the Guggenheim gig.

How did you get involved with the Guggenheim concert series?

Rob: Well, I am not sure how they initially found out about us… We were just contacted and asked. But we have been operating more in the “art world” as opposed to the “indie” world, so I guess it fits us pretty well. Our last NY show was at the New Museum, so maybe this is the future of weird music? Honestly, when you tour a lot, it is really good to play very different venues, as to not feel like you are in the “Groundhog Day” nightmare of every show being at a conventional club. It is fun to mix it up!

Please describe your sound, working process and how living in Bed-Stuy has (or has not) influenced your work.

Mary: We make our music by layering lots of different sounds together. We record as we write, and we made our full-length debut album in our apartment in Brooklyn. The sounds of traffic outside the window and of music playing from car stereos really influenced us in the production of our music. We try to emulate that distant, obscured quality with our sounds.

What were your impressions of Bed-Stuy before and after moving here? What are they now? How much time to do spend here these days?

Rob: Well, I moved there in ’97, so at this point I was there most of my life. I did live for a bit on Myrtle and Ryerson, which would technically be Clinton Hill, but in ’97 the reality brokers hadn’t made up fancy names for for everything yet. Prior to that as a youngin’, I knew it’s rap history, and of course all those awesome early Spike Lee films. I suppose it has changed a lot since ’97, but in weird ways. Like huge condo buildings being built and then sitting there empty for years, or my old building on Myrtle I lived in for like six years collapsing in June (yikes!). So I really do like the vibe there more than any other neighborhood, but yeah…some of the forced “progress” is a bummer. I am bi-coastal right now, as I still have a place in NY that I am subletting while we work on new things, but I have been back like almost once a month since May. We toured so much the last year or so that we were like only ever home a week at most at a time.

I am sorta not so attached to the idea of “home” anymore.

Mary: I had only been to Brooklyn once before I moved there, and I had never been to Bed-Stuy. I loved living in Bed-Stuy because of the great bodegas and places to skateboard and super-friendly small business owners. Everyday I would walk to the post office to check my P.O. box and that was a great way to get to know the neighborhood. We live in Los Angeles now, and I haven’t been back to Bed-Stuy since February. Can’t wait to return!

Any other concerts in the US this year?

Mary: We have another performance in Los Angeles later this month, but the rest of the year is devoted to making and recording new music.

What can we expect to see/hear at the concert?

Rob: Well, we are in a work/developmental period, and haven’t played in a while, but we also haven’t played NY in a really long time. So I think we might try some new things and ideas. See how it goes…

What are your upcoming projects?

Mary: We just made a split 12″ with Soft Circle that was released on the label PPM. We are also finishing up a recording for the Mapping Main Street Project, which is a project to document Main Streets across the United States.  On top of that, we are working on a bunch of new songs.

Rob: To quote the Germs, “What We Do is Secret”… Honestly, aside from the projects Mary mentioned, it feels good just to be in a developmental stage and not totally sure what will come of it. I think that has always been an important part of how we work.

Favorite Bed-Stuy hangouts?

Mary: Café Colador on Bedford Avenue. and Dekalb. Pretty much any bodega that sells plaintain chips and apple soda!

Rob: I am obsessed with Chinese takeout kitchens that serve bean curd. Like it is a total addiction and I am stoked to try different ones whenever I find a new one. Mary and I also have this secret skate spot that is totally overgrown with Rosemary bushes in the summer. But If we tell you where it is, the spot will be blown, and not secret anymore!

High Places will perform at the Guggenheim’s It Came From Brooklyn Concert Series on August 14th.