Phil Elverum is the definition of an artist who takes pride in creating and improvising his own work. Musicians tend to have a specific way of recording or a mood they have to get into in order to get to the end product of a quality song. With Elverum, it is about feeling and freedom within the sound that makes his process a bit different from most artists.

Elverum speaks on being his own creator and discusses the problem autonomy creates when working with other people. Especially in music. Everyone has an opinion to make it better and it’s quite difficult to tell someone their idea sucks when music is supposed to be collaborative. It was amazing to see how Elverum harmonized and used space to tell a story through his sounds. He was creative in placement and the sounds he picked. For example, Elverum knew that he wanted a sound underneath the snare and an electric guitar to sound “like water.” And he did it. It takes true talent to envision a sound and then have it come out the same way that it was envisioned. 

The founder of K records, Calvin Johnson, from the start believed in Elverum’s sound, knowledge, creativity and ability to create something truly great. “I just figured if he didn’t know what he was doing then he would figure it out. And he’s good at it. “That’s how I continue to work to this day. Just making mistakes and discovering crazy accidents,” said Elverum. There is a process to music and some of the best work in musical history comes from simple mistakes that lead to complex compositions. Behind every musician is someone that believes in his work ethic and ability. It’s hard to find this person because everyone knows that the music business is tough to get into and make a living off of. So for Johnson to hand Elverum the keys to Dub Narcotic Studio shows that there is a lot of trust between the two. 

Audio journalism was definitely the best way for this podcast to happen because listeners were able to hear and dissect Elverum’s musical mind. If this were printed then I wouldn’t get the real feeling of hearing Elverum’s harmonies or his method of finding the sound that he wants. He’s truly relentless and it shows when he says he presses record, plays an instrument and then goes back to end the recording. Usually musicians have engineers to do this kind of work. But his process is done by himself and it works considering the accolades he received on his album, The Glow, Pt. 2. What could’ve brought this over the top would have been video journalism. Being able to listen is one thing, but being able to watch and listen unlocks another world for viewers. 

Phil Elverum is an artist, and will never change who he is. Elverum truly loves the music he makes and his process inspires musicians like me who love to think outside the box. Go listen to the Glow, Pt. 2!