Balam Acab | |
---|---|
Birth name | Alec Jeffery Koone [1] |
Born | April 14, 1991 |
Origin | Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 2010–present |
Labels |
Alec Jeffery Koone (born April 14, 1991), better known by his former stage name Balam Acab, is an American electronic musician and producer originally from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. [2] [3] [4]
Koone began creating hardcore and metal at the age of 13 with a group of musician friends. [3] [4] While studying music at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York in 2009, he began to experiment with post-rock and ambient music. [4] He eventually dropped out of Ithaca College to focus on his music career. [4]
His first release, the 2010 EP See Birds , [5] got him categorized as witch house according to Pitchfork. [6] He followed that up with his first full-length album, Wander/Wonder , in 2011. [7] Wander/Wonder was recorded entirely in the same bedroom he slept in as a child and heavily incorporated Creative Commons-licensed nature recordings he found on the Internet. [8] His song "See Birds", title track of the See Birds EP, was featured in a L'Oréal mascara ad starring Beyoncé in early 2011. [8] [9]
After a long hiatus, Balam Acab self-released his second official album, Child Death, on December 17, 2015 [10] via Bandcamp. In April 2016, the album was pressed on vinyl and released by the DIY record label Orchid Tapes. [11] Since the release of Child Death, Balam Acab has released many singles and collaborations in a variety of styles through SoundCloud [12] and Bandcamp. [13]
Among numerous side projects and aliases, Balam Acab recently teamed up with producer Goodbye to form the duo hospice_dreams, releasing the debut demo "because i am true". A full release was expected to be released late 2018.
The name "Balam Acab" was taken from a rainbow-creating deity in Maya mythology that Koone learned about in Spanish class. [8] [14] [15]