Biography
Mega Bog highlights the refined lo-fi aesthetic of Erin Birgy, a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has worked both solo and alongside a rotating circle of musical associates. Birgy has lent her talents to recordings by Big Thief, EZTV, singer/songwriter Jaye Bartell, and her regular partner Iji. What began as loose experiments on short-run cassettes evolved into the intricate, enigmatic compositions heard on 2014’s Gone Banana and 2021’s Life & Another. For the project’s sixth album, 2023’s End of Everything, she further polished the sound while shifting emphasis to keyboard instruments rather than guitar, resulting in a pronounced rhythmic focus.
The group originated in Seattle in 2009 after Birgy began performing with friends who had initially convened for a swimming excursion. Its reputation rests on open-ended forms, dissonant elements, and subtly psychedelic textures built from electric guitars, saxophone, drums, keyboards, and intermittent field recordings that frame her poetic singing. That jazz sensibility surfaced clearly on the first release for a label, Okay Human, which Gnome Life issued in 2011. The Some UFO EP appeared the following year, and Couple Skate put out the second full-length, Gone Banana, in 2014.
After moving to Brooklyn, Birgy joined forces with EZTV and Big Thief, then released Happy Together on Nicey Music in 2017. Paradise of Bachelors issued the fourth album, Dolphine, in 2019—a hazy, delicate set that represented her most polished and carefully structured work to date. For the subsequent record she enlisted Big Thief’s James Krivchenia as co-producer, using multiple studios to shape material exploring memory, mortality, and the odd textures of ordinary life. Life & Another also featured input from members of Hand Habits, Lake, and others before arriving on Paradise of Bachelors in July 2021.
Once Mega Bog joined Mexican Summer, the fifth studio album, End of Everything, emerged in May 2023. Birgy composed it at the piano and on synthesizers instead of her customary guitar, yielding a rhythm-driven collection again co-produced by Krivchenia and enriched by contributions from Hand Habits’ Meg Duffy, TOPS’ Jackson MacIntosh, Westerman’s Will Westerman, and additional guests.
The group originated in Seattle in 2009 after Birgy began performing with friends who had initially convened for a swimming excursion. Its reputation rests on open-ended forms, dissonant elements, and subtly psychedelic textures built from electric guitars, saxophone, drums, keyboards, and intermittent field recordings that frame her poetic singing. That jazz sensibility surfaced clearly on the first release for a label, Okay Human, which Gnome Life issued in 2011. The Some UFO EP appeared the following year, and Couple Skate put out the second full-length, Gone Banana, in 2014.
After moving to Brooklyn, Birgy joined forces with EZTV and Big Thief, then released Happy Together on Nicey Music in 2017. Paradise of Bachelors issued the fourth album, Dolphine, in 2019—a hazy, delicate set that represented her most polished and carefully structured work to date. For the subsequent record she enlisted Big Thief’s James Krivchenia as co-producer, using multiple studios to shape material exploring memory, mortality, and the odd textures of ordinary life. Life & Another also featured input from members of Hand Habits, Lake, and others before arriving on Paradise of Bachelors in July 2021.
Once Mega Bog joined Mexican Summer, the fifth studio album, End of Everything, emerged in May 2023. Birgy composed it at the piano and on synthesizers instead of her customary guitar, yielding a rhythm-driven collection again co-produced by Krivchenia and enriched by contributions from Hand Habits’ Meg Duffy, TOPS’ Jackson MacIntosh, Westerman’s Will Westerman, and additional guests.
Albums
Singles
