Biography
While pursuing undergraduate studies at the Rhode Island School of Design, Sebastian Blanck balanced parallel pursuits in painting and music. In 1997 he collaborated with two fellow RISD students to launch Black Dice, a noisy electronica ensemble that played throughout New England before shifting its base to Brooklyn the next year. Blanck remained behind to complete his art degree and transferred his role in the group to bassist Aaron Warren. After graduation he relocated temporarily to Italy, serving as a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome. Upon returning to the United States he presented work at several New York galleries, yet he sustained his musical engagement by crafting songs that leaned toward folk influences rather than the experimental noise of Black Dice. Momentum accelerated in 2007 when the death of his brother left Blanck emotionally driven to produce a solo album. Enlisting vocalists such as Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek and Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark, and drawing from the approaches of Neil Young, Gram Parsons, and other 1970s songwriters, he shaped a record loosely rooted in his brother’s final months. Completed in early 2010, the album Alibi Coast appeared later that year.
Albums