HIGH PLACES
Image by Rob Barber
Mary Pearson: It’s December 2005 and I am visiting New York from Michigan. I’m standing in a club, and watching in horror as this guy on stage smashes a glass candleholder into his head. As blood pours down his face, I catch the horrified expression on someone I’d met just minutes before; this guy Rob Barber.
Fast forward five months and I’m living in New York with my new roommate: Rob the candle-smasher. I listen to a recording of one of Rob’s solo songs on his computer. I start singing one of my own songs and realize the two fit perfectly. I show Rob, and we call the song “Sandy Feat” – our first collaborative output under the name High Places.
Rob Barber: I’m kind of a late bloomer with music. I’ve done a couple projects with some friends, and I’ve done tons of home recording, but this is my first band. I had just started playing solo here and there, but hid it from friends when I suddenly had this realization that here was this person that saw my fundamental motivation for making music. It was about traveling and camping and swimming and hanging out with friends in different towns. We were creating a whole world and way of life through scrap-booked sounds we were making. Meeting my friend Mary made everything I was thinking about (music and dreams) make sense.
Seventeen months have passed. We’ve played 120 shows, done multiple tours of the States and Mexico and even assemblies at an elementary school. We’ve done a demo, two 7-inches and a split with Aa, Xiu Xiu and Soft Circle. A full-length album is in the works and due out in early 2008. And of course, there’ll be lots more traveling.
From: Brooklyn
Website: myspace.com/hellohighplaces