Art d'Ecco

Art d'Ecco fuses elements drawn from multiple eras of inventive, cross-genre recordings into a subversively melodic personal aesthetic. His 2018 release Trespasser merged glam rock, post-punk, and synth pop in ways reminiscent of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Robert Smith yet distinctly his own; the subsequent In Standard Definition from 2021 and After the Headrush the year after incorporated greater scope, lending his nostalgic musings a broad, filmic quality.

Born in Ottawa, d'Ecco divided his childhood between Canada and the United States until his family settled in Victoria, British Columbia. Piano lessons started at six, and by eight his instructor gauged his understanding as equivalent to an eighth grader's. In his teenage years and early twenties, he immersed himself in pop and rock, connecting particularly with figures like Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream. Time spent in Vancouver groups such as Speed to Kill, fronted later by Actors' Jason Corbett, preceded a period of depression and insecurity that prompted a relocation to the Gulf Islands to nurse his grandmother through illness. There, his musical focus yielded the varied, independently issued Day Fevers in 2016.

Thereafter, d'Ecco sought to elevate his creative output and appearance; a black bobbed wig spotted in a Victoria shopping center sparked a sparkling, gender-fluid character paired with sounds drawing from Bowie, Lou Reed, the Cure, and New Order. Primarily captured in a Gulf Islands cabin, Trespasser marked his proper first album upon its October 2018 issuance via Paper Bag. He sustained that unified fusion of glam rock, post-punk, and synth pop through a 2019 rendition of Joni Mitchell's "This Flight Tonight" on the Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration tribute set, plus the 2020 track "I'll Never Give You Up." Much of his follow-up album emerged while touring alongside Temples. Reflecting on nostalgia and entertainment consumption, he collaborated in the studio with producer and engineer Colin Stewart, employing retro gear alongside Victoria Symphony Orchestra string sections and experienced blues and jazz brass musicians. Released in April 2021, In Standard Definition emphasized the glam rock foundations in d'Ecco's work. This approach and atmosphere grew further on After the Headrush from June 2022. Influenced by his return to Vancouver prompting reevaluation of his past and youthful aspirations, the album's expansive glam rock treatment was tracked with Stewart and engineer Connor Head across Vancouver and Victoria before mixing in Montreal by d'Ecco together with Mark Lawson, recognized from Arcade Fire projects.