Announcing.. Artist in Residence 2019: Thor Harris
We are absolutely overjoyed to announce our Artist In Residence for 2019: Thor Harris.
Thor fully embodies the spirit of our Artist in Residence series. You may know Thor as the percussive polymath extraordinaire behind one of his many projects (Swans, Thor & Friends, Xiu Xiu, Bill Callahan, Amanda Palmer, Shearwater and many others including our own Dumb Numbers and Yonatan Gat's band).
But if you're unfamiliar with Thor Harris, there is a reason for that. Thor is rarely a leading man. He's an artistic facilitator - going where he is needed in service to the greater good... He's a musician's musician. And we thought it was time for the dude to get the top-billing-treatment he deserves.
Thor has lined up an impressive list of collaborators to join him on this year-long residency. We aren't revealing the full list of artists just yet, but the initial round of collaborators includes:
Alex Somers (producer, Sigur Rós)
Michael Gira & Norman Westberg (Swans)
Neko Case
Sharon Van Etten
Bill Callahan (Smog)
Ayse Hassan & Fay Milton (Savages)
Thierry Amar & Timothy Herzog (Godspeed You! Black Emperor)
Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel/A Hawk and a Hacksaw)
Heather Trost (A Hawk and a Hacksaw)
Andy Stack (Wye Oak)
Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu)
Margaret Chardiet (Pharmakon)
Lawrence English
Shahzad Ismaily
Sabrina Ellis (A Giant Dog/Sweet Spirit)
Greg Saunier & John Dietrich (Deerhoof)
Jasamine White-Gluz (No Joy)
Kid Millions (Oneida)
Yonatan Gat
Jad Fair (Half Japanese)
Sima Cunningham & Macie Stewart (Ohmme)
Marina Tadic (Eerie Wanda)
Adam Harding (Dumb Numbers)
C.J. Boyd
Daniel Smith (Danielson)
The vinyl box set will be limited to 666 copies on 6 colored vinyl records, packaged in a screen-printed wooden box set, which will be handmade by Thor himself. Yep, the dude is a woodworker. MP3 & WAV downloads of new music and bonus content will be sent every 6 weeks. Approximately 300 minutes of music in total...
ORDER HERE!
Here is a list of facts about Thor so you can get to know the man a little better:
- Thor is like a caveman. From the future.
- He's at once terrifying and the most gentle soul ever... Incredibly empathetic, but he will punch a Nazi without hesitation.
- He ran for governor of Texas, "cause fuck this"
- He is one of the most self-aware and agile artists we have ever worked with. He has the musical curiosity of an uncorrupted child.
- He makes crushingly honest videos about depression.
- His Twitter handle is @ThorHarris666, but your grandmother would still adore him.
- He is inclusive to the extreme. As demonstrated by the fact that he spur-of-the-moment-contributed to nearly every track on our 2018 Holiday Sampler.
- From his home in Austin TX, he works as a plumber and woodworker. He helps to build homes for those in need, while combating runaway gentrification. He is a pillar of the Austin community.
- Thor will be personally putting his woodworking skills to use by hand-crafting and screen-printing each of the boxes in this set.
- Buying this box set makes you a friend to Thor. BEING a friend of Thor is like having a battle champion for life. If a dragon ever tries to get you, he will slay it.
We're really excited about this one... Hope y'all are too!
xo, JNR