Kevin Barnes
Kevin Barnes |
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Kevin Barnes, born in Rocky River, OH is the singer and songwriter for the band, of Montreal, an Indie rock group formed in Athens, GA.[1] Barnes, founder of of Montreal, named the band after a failed romance with a woman from Montreal. The group has recorded nine albums, the ninth set to release in October of 2008. His brother, David Barnes, has made album covers for many of Montreal albums, beginning with their third, The Gay Parade. Kevin has one daughter, Alabee, with his wife, Nina Barnes.
of Montreal
Of Montreal consists of musicians Kevin Barnes, Bryan Poole (the Late B.P. Helium), Dottie Alexander, Jamey Huggins, Davey Pierce, and Ahmed Gallab. The group has recorded nine studio albums, beginning with Cherry Peel, the ninth, Skeletal Lamping is due to be released on October 7, 2008 on Polyvinyl.[2] Kevin's musical style has transformed significantly since the 1997 release of Cherry Peel. Through the years, Barnes has written mostly pop songs, that being one of the most distinct correlations between early and recent musical styles. However, the acoustic tendencies of early albums has transformed into a more electronic, funk, and overall eclectic sound. One of the features which occasionally appears in Barnes' songwriting is his ability to compose upbeat melodies to gloomy lyrics and morose subject matter. In Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? and other albums, Barnes has written, sporting lyrics such as And that death had arrived quite unexpectedly / 'Cause the poor wretch died with a book on her knee in "Chrissy Kiss the Corpse" or I spent the winter on the verge of a total breakdown while living in Norway / I felt the darkness of the black metal bands in "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger."[3]
On Stage
With of Montreal, Barnes often performs as his on-stage glam rock alter-ego, Georgie Fruit, first mentioned in "Labrynthian Pomp," a song on their most recent album, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?. The second half of the album comes after the twelve minute dark epic, "The Past is A Grotesque Animal," a track which stands out in the album and the rest of the of Montreal repertoire because of how it succumbs to dark thoughts of suicide and chemical imbalance, themes hinted at more cheerily elsewhere on the album. Kevin has said that the album shows his transformation to Georgie Fruit, as is evident in the variation in musical style from in album leading up to "The Past is a Grotesque Animal" and the songs after (including "Faberge Falls For Shuggie.") He has described Georgie Fruit as a black man in his forties who has undergone multiple sex changes. Georgie, Kevin told Pitchfork Media, was in a funk-rock band called Arousal back in the seventies. [4]
Other projects
A Pollinaire Rave is a comedy tour by Kevin Barnes, his brother David Barnes and his wife, Nina. A CD with the same name was sold, and five of the seven songs on the EP became songs on the Of Montreal album Satanic Panic in the Attic.