From the bedroom to Berlin
Portland artist Sports and Culture reflects on his creative process, creative debut album “Wuss,” and foreshadows creative endeavors to come.
By Helena Khoury (‘20)
Julian Thielman, a 20-year-old singer-songwriter and producer whose music I discovered via Instagram, had curated a concert of young local musicians (including me).
Muffled laughs and guitar-playing could be heard rising over the bush barricade. A series of cute signs led people from the front door of the house to a side gate. People dressed in cuffed corduroy trousers, beanies, and artsy earrings lined the entryway of this backyard musical oasis.
It was a summer twilight night and the yellow string lights lining the perimeter of the cobblestone backyard glowed against the pink background of the sky, creating a majestic backdrop for the music performances. A gaggle of teens gathered for a backyard “bedroom pop” showcase. Local musicians who self-produce their music from the comfort of their homes--hence the name “bedroom pop”--gathered to play acoustic versions of their music.
The show was hosted in the intimate setting of Thielman’s backyard. When I first entered the space, guitar on my back and nervous to perform, I noticed smiles all around. Local artists such as Cave Man City, The Voodoo Dolls and Julien himself, under the stage name “Sports and Culture,” gathered to play acoustic music. It was a true songwriters’ showcase.
“I make music because of my love of songwriting,” says Theilman. “Being able to make music that sounds exactly how I hear it in my head is a satisfying feeling.”
“Now that I'm in college, I've grown to appreciate the genre of bedroom pop even more… I mean, I don't really make pop but I do make it in my dorm here,” Theilman said chuckling as he shifted around in his seat and adjusted his glasses.
“As you know, I just finished my first album ‘Wuss,’ but in the future I want to create something that is more of a project...a concept album with complete visuals.''
A concept album is a complex body of work which hopes to tell a complete story or explore a specific theme in combination with the music and the visuals (music videos, concert visuals and photos) associated with the album. Once again, Thielman and I were on the same wavelength because I was currently working on my own concept album, “In the Attic.”
Our creative connection and love for songwriting connected us. Throughout the past year, the honesty I found in Thielman’s lyrics and his melancholic guitar-playing has inspired much of the new music I'm working on. His do-it-yourself attitude is resemblant of a new wave of youth artists, and he's not the only one in Portland making this kind of amazing music himself.
In this technological age, it has become easier then ever for creative youth to become the pop stars they always aspired to be. With Apple's creation of Garage Band, suddenly anyone has the ability to become a music producer. For some, the accessibility of DAW (digital audio workstations) is life-changing.
Artists such as Clairo and Boy Pablo have pioneered a new generation of musicians creating bedroom pop. Young musicians who now have the ability to do it all themselves have created a wave of music on platforms such as SoundCloud or Bandcamp. These platforms allow young musicians to upload their music for free without needing a record label.
The Catlin Gabel School (CGS) community has a wide array of experience with the genre of bedroom pop. On March 14, 2020, CGS students anonymously shared their thoughts in a survey titled “Do you bop with bedroom pop?”
Some students love that bedroom pop is “able to resonate so easily with the younger generations of music listeners” while others simply “don't know what it is.” While for many students the genre is recognizable by its “songs that are good for dancing, relaxing, being sad and just vibing,” the very pillars of the genre have their own thoughts on the label.
In an interview with Complex, Clairo opened up about her “love-hate relationship with the term ‘bedroom pop.’”
“People have been writing and recording music in their home studios for years. I guess what makes this wave of artists different or special is the fact we’ve created a community among ourselves,” she said.
This community includes artists such as herself who have created an aesthetic niche associated with bedroom pop.
While bedroom pop is not my favorite genre of music, I have grown to love its dreamy melodies and its do-it-yourself message. Bedroom pop as a genre helped give me the confidence to learn to produce my own music. Seeing young teens getting their art into the world without the need of a label made me see that I could do the same.