Owen Pallett
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| Owen Pallett | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information
<tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">Toronto, Ontario, Canada</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Violin |
Owen Pallett (born September 7, 1981) is a violinist and singer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is the principal member of the band Final Fantasy, which is essentially a solo project, although Leon Taheny is also credited as drummer and engineer.
As Final Fantasy, Pallett has been noted for his live performances, wherein he plays the violin into a sampler controlled by foot pedals, which then loops back one or more of the previously played musical phrases as he plays additional parts simultaneously. He has also performed with more traditional string quartets as backing musicians.
He believes his work is influenced by his sexuality, saying, "As far as whether the music I make is gay or queer, yeah, it comes from the fact that I'm gay, but that doesn't mean I'm making music about it," in a recent interview.
On 12 February 2005, his debut album, Has a Good Home, was released by the recording club Blocks (sometimes referred to as 'BlocksBlocksBlocks'), a cooperative, Toronto-based record label of which he is a founding member. A second album, He Poos Clouds, was released in June of 2006. This album went on to win the 2006 Polaris Prize for best Canadian album.
His previous projects included a 3-piece Toronto-based band, Les Mouches, now defunct. He was once the violinist of another Toronto band called Picastro. Owen has also recorded and toured with Jim Guthrie, The Hidden Cameras, The Vinyl Cafe, and The Arcade Fire (he co-wrote the strings arrangement for their album Funeral) [1]. One of his songs, "This Is the Dream of Win & Regine", was inspired by the principal members of the latter group, Win Butler and Régine Chassagne and is a play on a Dntel song called, "(This is) The Dream of Evan and Chan."
The name "Final Fantasy" is a tribute to the well-known video game series, of which Owen is a fan.
On March 1st, 2006, He Poos Clouds video[2] was released, directed by Jesse Ewles.
On September 18, 2006, He Poos Clouds was named winner of the inaugural Polaris Music Prize.
Contents |
[edit] Discography
See also albums under The Arcade Fire.
 Has a Good Home CD/LP 2005 |
 Young Canadian Mothers 7'" 2005 |
 He Poos Clouds CD/LP May 15, 2006 |
[edit] Trivia
- His method of looping and layering violin to create his music is also used by violinist Andrew Bird.
- "Adventure.Exe" (from the Has A Good Home album) was used in a series of 2006 United Kingdom commercials by Orange.
- Called on Casey and Jenn Mecija of Ohbijou for the "boy choir" vocals in This Lamb Sells Condos
- Did strings for the band Fucked Up in their album Hidden World.
[edit] Covers played live
- Bloc Party - "This Modern Love" (at a concert in Waterloo, Ontario in April 2006, Victoria in September 2006, and at other concerts as well)
- Destroyer - "An Actor's Revenge" (Leeds, October 2006)
- Joanna Newsom - "Peach, Plum, Pear" (various concerts)
- Mariah Carey - "Fantasy" (various concerts, most recently in September 2006)
- Simon Bookish - "Interview" (Leeds, October 2006)
- Xiu Xiu - "Fabulous Muscles" (various concerts)
- Arcade Fire - "No Cars Go" (Bristol, October 2006).
[edit] External links
- Final Fantasy official website
- Tomlab
- Blocks Recording Club
- Picastro's official web site
- Les Mouches
- Artist profile on Pitchfork Media
- Interview in Toronto's Now Magazine, where Pallett discusses his homosexuality
- Profile by Carl Wilson in The Globe & Mail (Toronto), toward the end of the Les Mouches period
- Another piece by Wilson, on Final Fantasy, in The New York Times
- Interview where Owen denies the rumor that he has never played the Final Fantasy video games
- Profile on Final Fantasy by Stephen M. Deusner on Pitchfork Media
