Katie Alice Greer

Last updated
Katie Alice Greer
SXSW 2019 - Priests (47369336231).jpg
Katie Alice Greer/Priests at SXSW 2019.
Background information
Born1989 (age 34–35)
Michigan, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
  • video director
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • Guitar
  • Drums
  • Synth
Years active2012–present
Labels
Website katiealicegreer.com

Katie Alice Greer (born 1989) is an American artist, songwriter, performer and producer. She was the lead singer of Priests and released her first solo album in 2022.

Contents

Greer was born in New Baltimore, Michigan. She moved to Washington D.C. in 2006 to study at the American University, from where she graduated with a degree in political science. [1] In 2020 she relocated to Los Angeles.

In 2012 she formed the post-punk band Priests together with Daniele Daniele (drums), G.L. Jaguar (guitar) and Taylor Mulitz (bass), with herself on vocals. Their 2017 full length debut Nothing Feels Natural made several of that year’s best album release lists. In 2019 Priests went on an indefinite hiatus.

Also in 2012, she and the other members of Priests founded the record label Sister Polygon Records, initially as a platform for the band's own releases. [2] The label has since been home to a constellation of emerging acts from the DC, Maryland and Virginia area.

During 2012-2014 she also collaborated with Ian Svenonius as a vocalist on his project Chain & the Gang. Results from the collaboration were the two albums In Cool Blood (2012) and Minimum Rock N Roll (2014). She has also directed music videos, both for Priests as well as for other artists.

Greer has been releasing solo material since 2015, under her acronym KAG. Contrasting with Priests, her solo material has been described as more lo-fi art pop. [3] In 2018 she released a full cover of Dixie Chicks 1999 album Fly, the reason for this being on the one hand that she describes herself as a "huge Dixie Chicks fan", on the other that she wanted to get out of her creative comfort zone. [4]

When Priests broke up in 2019, she moved to Los Angeles, just before the pandemic outbreak. During the pandemic she released a series of EPs but also began work on her first full solo album.

In April 2022, Greer released Barbarism, a full length album which she wrote, performed, produced and mixed herself, noting that "Recording, for me, is like an instrument, and definitely the one I’m most proficient in". [5] [6] The album title alludes to "socialism or barbarism", a phrase used by Rosa Luxemburg. The album marks a strong break from the post-punk of Priests. [7] One reviewer summarizes the album as "caught between reality and nightmare, balancing dissonant soundscapes against an eerie, self-possessed sense of calm" and concludes "Falling into her [Greer's] world, it’s hard not to be possessed in return". [8] Another reviewer describes it as "a wonderfully singular vision full of conviction, vulnerability, fear, fascination, and rage. The songs themselves feel like collages, layers of sound chopped up and glued together in ambiguous shapes." [9] Rolling Stone writes "It’s trippy, radical, weirdly life-affirming music, like nothing else Greer has ever made." [10]

Discussing the many sources of inspiration for the album Greer mentions not only musicians such as Erykah Badu and Karuna Khyal but also artists such as Alex Prager, Hito Steyerl and Julian Rosenfeldt. [11] [12]

As an artist, she has "cultivated a reputation as a dynamic performer and an astute conveyor of both abstract and didactic cultural critiques". [13] The latter includes spoken and written commentaries, including essays and talks for NPR and the Future Of Music Policy Summit, among others, and often exploring "the politics of community… DIY, grassroots, based on mutual aid and solidarity". [3]

Discography

Fugue 7(EP)

EP A(EP)

Fly by the Dixie Chicks(Album)

Danger Ahead b/w Turn To Stone(EP)

Freaky 57(EP)

Play With Fire (cover)(EP)

41 Shots (Bruce Springsteen cover)(EP)

Wendi Deng(EP)

No One Else on Earth(EP)

3 Colors(EP)

Barbarism(album)

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References

  1. ↑ "Wanted/Needed/Loved: Katie Alice Greer's Found Magazine". The Rumpus.net. April 18, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Even After Its 10th Release, D.C. Punk Label Sister Polygon Is Still Stoked | Bandwidth".
  3. 1 2 "Katie Alice Greer: it feels eerie to feel good". Loud And Quiet.
  4. ↑ "Priests' Katie Alice Greer Releases Dixie Chicks Cover Album". June 7, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Review: Katie Alice Greer – Barbarism - SLUG Magazine". www.slugmag.com. July 6, 2022.
  6. ↑ "5 Questions: Katie Alice Greer". August 7, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Katie Alice Greer Tests a Tenuous Grasp on Reality with Solo Debut Barbarism". June 28, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Katie Alice Greer: Barbarism". Pitchfork.
  9. ↑ "Katie Alice Greer Discusses Her Solo Debut "Barbarism," Creating Independently, and Werner Herzog | Feature Interview". POST-TRASH. 7 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "How Katie Alice Greer Started over and Rebuilt Her Sound". Rolling Stone . 26 July 2022.
  11. ↑ "How Erykah Badu's Untouchable Cool Inspired Katie Alice Greer's Solo Debut". Talkhouse.
  12. ↑ Pearis, Bill (28 June 2022). "Katie Alice Greer (ex-Priests) discusses the influences behind her solo debut, 'Barbarism'". BrooklynVegan.
  13. ↑ Cardoza, Kerry (June 15, 2022). "On 'Barbarism,' Katie Alice Greer builds a discordant world that's all her own". NPR.
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