Patrick Higgins

Based in New York City, Patrick Higgins operates as an experimental music composer and multi-instrumentalist. His solo guitar pieces draw equal influence from downtown N.Y.C. minimalism and the cassette underground while relying on prolonged repetition, phasing, and further experimental methods. Numerous compositions for string quartets and additional chamber ensembles also stem from his pen. Initial recognition came through his guitar role in the math rock band Animal, which originated in 2004 and issued its full-length LP on Unfun Records in 2006. He supplied the score for the video game Monkey Mountain in 2007, a work that later appeared on ELE Records. Animal’s decline in 2011 prompted Higgins to launch solo concerts throughout Brooklyn that incorporated Bachanalia, his electronically augmented guitar versions of Bach pieces. Early 2012 brought the premiere of String Quartet No. 2 by the Mivos Quartet. That same year he entered the acclaimed avant-rock collective Zs together with drummer Greg Fox and tenor saxophone player Sam Hillmer. November 2012 saw the Words+Dreams label release Stereo, a double cassette meant for simultaneous playback to produce quadraphonic sound. The bulk of 2012 and 2013 found him touring with Zs while also staging performances of his solo guitar material and string quartet works. Ex Cathedra Records/Words+Dreams issued String Quartet No. 2 + Glacia in 2013. Higgins co-wrote and contributed guitar to Zs’ album Grain from 2013 and to Xe, which surfaced in early 2015, both on Northern Spy. August 2015 marked the Vermont-based NNA Tapes release of Social Death Mixtape, a cassette devoted to his chamber compositions. Later that year Telegraph Harp presented a recording of his Bachanalia.