 "Photo: Photo courtesy Eluvium")
The opportunity to collaborate with others is the biggest perk, and the biggest agony, of being in a band. Connecting and forming chemistry can be beautiful. Wrestling with egos and scheduling conflicts? Not so much. Going solo - literally - has been the solution for musicians fed up with their pothead singer, grotesquely flatulent bassist and/or horribly off-beat percussionist. Matthew Cooper, who records under the name Eluvium, agrees that the best musician he can work with is himself.
"I wanted to escape the problems of not having total control in a band when I was younger, so there is definitely a control freak in me a little," Cooper said.
Eluvium is certainly Cooper's singular vision, though to say that Eluvium has a singular sound is off the mark. He creates texture-rich, drifting electronic compositions in the
tradition of Brian Eno. The music is not simply a note or notes heading toward oblivion. Each layer of keyboard, processed guitar or whatever Cooper gets his hands on has emotional meaning. He communicates natural beauty, dreamy escapism and melancholy without uttering a lyric.
"Artists like Tortoise and Aerial M ... really helped me understand I didn't have to sing," he said.
The emphasis on mood makes Cooper hesitant to classify his music as ambient.
"Ambient to me seems more of a mood these days than an automatic description of something. When I listen to something deemed ambient and it invigorates me, what is it then? Invigorating music?" Cooper said.
Eluvium's fixation on nature, in the album covers and the music's dense texturing, comes from Cooper's surroundings in Portland, Ore.
"Being surrounded by mountains and fir trees and water - it is such a lush scenery here," he said. "The cascade region seems to have filled me with wonder."
Cooper has also written solo piano pieces, mostly released on 2004's An Accidental Memory in the Case of Death. Frederic Chopin is one of Cooper's main influences, and it shows through Cooper's grace and inner subtleties within the pieces. Though these songs may be starker than Eluvium's lush electronic material, Cooper maintains that the writing process remains the same - instrument choice notwithstanding.
"As much as I'd like to think there is a studious mind at work somewhere inside of me when writing, it really just comes down to being inspired or not," Cooper said.
With all this in mind, touring might seem out of the question. Cooper is no stranger to the road, having opened for Explosions in the Sky in numerous concerts, including an appearance at Hogg Auditorium during the spring of 2006. He considers playing live a challenge but still enjoys bringing his vision to audiences.
"I really like the concert hall feel," Cooper said. "But that being said, there is something about the energy created in rock clubs that is really fantastic. It can't be paralleled."
Eluvium will play tonight at Emo's inside stage. Balmohea and Bexar Bexar will support.
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