Her Space Holiday - Biography
Marc Bianchi is a true California musician. In 1996 he went from being a player in Bay Area hardcore bands to becoming a lo-fi bedroom studio musician putting his own spin sparkling dream pop/electronica. He called his new project Her Space Holiday, taking the angst of his emocore origins and distilling it through a sunny filter of electronic beats, guitars, strings, and classical orchestration. Also following him from his hardcore days was a disdain for commercialism, as he never intended to release anything seriously, using the project to experiment at will and to express his intimate melancholia over ambitious, luxurious arrangements. As the head of his own record label, Audio Information Phenomenon, Bianchi intended to release material by other artists, but Her Space Holiday started to gain more attention and became a full-time endeavor just before the release of the first LP, Home Is Where You Hang Yourself (1999 Tiger Style/2002 Wichita). The album contains a varied collection of intoxicating pop compositions with some bonus re-mix tracks. Bianchi relocated to Austin Texas in the mid 2000s with Keely, his girlfriend and collaborator, where he lived for about three years before returning to California. In his long and on-going career, he has worked with indie mega-stars Bright Eyes, among many others in his impressive list of collaborators, and HSH has been consistently releasing records, touring and collaborating on a wide range of projects.
The early HSH recordings were compiled onto a two-volume release, The Astronauts Are Sleeping, Vol. 1 (1999 Skylab) and The Astronauts Are Sleeping, Vol 2 (2000 No Karma). Both collections feature exercises in atmospheric whimsy and brooding, languorous melody. The entire discography is too extensive to cover in its entirety, but other notable releases of this period were an extremely limited, out-of-print EP, Something Blue (2000 Brave Noise), and the Silent Films EP (2000 Dogprint Records). The second full-length album, Manic Expressive (2001 Tiger Style) is beguiling, low budget, high ambition pop. The palette of sounds includes both the electric and the acoustic, as Bianchi creates enchanting and nuanced textures. “Lydia” is a low-key delight, with layered beats and an engaging groove; “Hassle Free Harmony” is a swirling pop gem. After a UK label released Ambidextrous (2001 Wichita), a collection of remixes for the likes of Elastica, Ruby and Bright Eyes, HSH released Audio Astronomy (2002 Tiger Style), which features early material that originally came out as a 12” in 1997 on Train Bridge Records, plus additional tracks. It’s a wonderful showcase of Bianchi’s dreamy electronica and bittersweet narratives. “Through the Eyes of a Child” with its cricket noise and ghostly whorls evokes past summer evenings, and “Indie Car is a reverb-soaked ditty laced with humor and irony. Bianchi’s breathy vocals sit comfortably in the mixes, not so much dominating as integrating into the entire effect.
The following full-length LP was The Young Machines (2003 Mush Records), and it’s nothing short of an achievement. A crisp and pristine record, it undoubtedly sounds more expensive than it was to make, which is one of the most appealing aspects of the project in general. “Tech Romance” is a shimmering production with gorgeous string arrangements and appealingly layered vocals. “Sleepy California” sports a cool piano groove, and “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend” is a unique and inventive blend of classical nous and hip-hop beats. Definitely worth checking out is The Young Machines Remixed (2004 Mush Records), with re-mixes by The Album Leaf, Steriolab, Arab Strap, Matmos and Super Furry Animals, among others. It’s an interesting reinterpretation of already stellar material. Up next was The Past Presents the Future (2005 Wichita/World’s Fair), which sparkles with an undeniable cohesiveness and complexity where all of Bianchi’s studio wizardry and highly accomplished musicianship comes into play. Electronic beeps and spacey grooves underpin truly irresistible pop hooks.
It makes an odd kind of sense, then, that having explored his dreamy, electric pop to the nth degree, that the following two releases, XOXO, Panda and the New Kid Revival (2008 Mush Records), Sleepy Tigers (2009 Mush Records) see Bianchi stripping things back to basics into a sparser, looser more rough-and-ready affair. With simple acoustic arrangements embellished by flourishes of banjo, keyboard, and percussion, pure songwriting skill and spontaneity abound on these records to an immensely gratifying effect. Bianchi has pared down, but his whimsical inventiveness and intimate quirkiness are ever-present, as his mood lightens and he becomes more joyful. Sleepy Tigers is even looser, sunnier and jauntier than its predecessor, but no less enthralling. Bianchi’s sprawling body of work and his sonic evolution are testament to the inspired and versatile artist that he is, one who plumbs his creative depths not for commercial gain, but for the sheer joy and sake of it.