Eastern Souvenirs
Seattle, Washington, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014
Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Indie Rock Consumed in Wanderlust
Wanderlust is a beautiful parasite, often plaguing someone’s every thought. It’s more than just a desire to travel. It’s the romanticized idea of new experiences in foreign lands, it’s the fantasy of a new life somewhere else, and it’s the freedom away from time or place.
Brian Fisher’s latest project, Eastern Souvenirs, thrives on this relentless feeling. Bore out of gifts from his French mother-in-law, Fisher began experimenting with instruments from Sri Lanka and Northern India. He describes the project as his “music-translated travel journal”. With his first single, “Jetlagged”, sets the tone for the wandering project.
The sound is decidedly percussive, feeling distantly European against American indie rock guitar lines. It’s the push and pull of cultures that makes Eastern Souvenirs such an interesting concept. The chorus “Jetlagged” finds Fisher criticizing himself, “I’ve never been good at getting away, I always get stuck home in the gray.” Everything feels like daze as the narrator drifts through a foreign land, not knowing the language and unsure of where they are. There’s the jetlagged feeling where your mind is somewhere else than your body.
Hints of Fisher’s past project, indie rock group Us On Roofs, creep in throughout with his powerful melodies and guitar work. But the experimentation with new, foreign instruments lends the music to Beirut inspired folk – yet it the electronic loops and guitar keep it grounded somewhere else.
Full Disclosure: Brian Fisher and I went to the same university and lived in the same dorm. - PreAmp Music Blog
Beirut-esque shoe-gaze? Sounds too good to be true, we know, but Seattle based Eastern Souvenirs, is making it a reality. Born from a wide array of instruments brought home from trips abroad, the project has a uniquely relaxing yet invigorating sound. The act’s latest release, “Sun in the Window”, is a hypnotic mixture of shakers, guitar and a consistent beat in the background. Check out the single above! - The Wild Honey Pie
Discography
January 16, 2014 - “Jetlagged” (single) - Digital, self-released
May 16, 2014 - “Sun in the Window” (single) - Digital, self-released
Photos
Bio
Eastern Souvenirs is the solo project of Brian Fisher, formerly of the experimental rock band Us on Roofs. This project began as bedroom-recording project utilizing found-sound sampling of souvenir percussion instruments from Sri Lanka, India and Nepal, brought from trips abroad. The songs interweave world percussion, electronic beats and hypnotic melodies, exploring the disorienting experience of finding yourself in new places, literally and figuratively.
Joined by Wesley Williams (of Us on Roofs) on guitar and programming and Cody Thompson (of Nude Pop) on drums, Eastern Souvenirs' live set blends electronic and organic textures with powerful beats, rattling percussion, and lush layers of guitar and synth.
"The sound is decidedly percussive, feeling distantly European against American indie rock guitar lines. It's the push and pull of cultures that makes Eastern Souvenirs such an interesting concept" - PreAmp Blog
"Beirut-esque shoe-gaze? Sounds too good to be true, we know, but Seattle based Eastern Souvenirs, is making it a reality. Born from a wide array of instruments brought home from trips abroad, the project has a uniquely relaxing yet invigorating sound." -The Wild Honey Pie
Band Members
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