Evan Caminiti

Evan Caminiti, an experimental musician based in California, centers his work on processed and prepared guitar. He co-founded the psychedelic drone duo Barn Owl alongside guitarist Jon Porras in 2006 and has also operated as one half of Higuma with vocalist Lisa McGee, whose submerged, gothy vocals complement the hazy textures. Since 2007 the artist has issued nearly a dozen solo recordings. Earlier guitar-centric albums such as 2012’s Night Dust emphasized expansive compositions that recalled ambient music as well as shoegaze, whereas later projects incorporated synthesizers, including 2015’s Meridian and 2020’s Varispeed Hydra.

While active with Barn Owl, Caminiti launched the similarly atmospheric Higuma project with McGee. His solo output commenced with the 2007 CD-R Buried Light, which Digitalis later issued on cassette in 2008; 2009 then brought the CD-R Digging the Void on Students of Decay and the full-length Psychic Mud Shrine, also on Digitalis, both showcasing his signature sprawling guitar experimentation. Releases continued with 2010’s West Wind and 2011’s When California Falls into the Sea, the latter possessing a more soundtrack-oriented character. In 2012 Caminiti produced two albums, Night Dust and Dreamless Sleep, both utilizing cassette four-track methods and dubbed-out minimal shoegaze guitar tones, and additionally issued a self-titled Painted Caves cassette on his own Dust Editions imprint.

Preservation released a 2013 split cassette pairing Caminiti with J.D. Emmanuel, while Shelter Press put out Painted Caves’ Surveillance LP the same year. Caminiti next concentrated on synthesizer-based composition, resulting in Meridian, issued by Thrill Jockey in 2015. Dust Editions followed with 2017’s Toxic City Music, which employed guitar yet deployed it differently from prior work. Three years later he released the dub-influenced electro-acoustic album Varispeed Hydra.