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Low Information
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'Low' is an indie rock group formed in Duluth, Minnesota in 1994, and consisting of Alan Sparhawk (guitar and vocals), Mimi Parker (drums and vocals) and Matt Livingston (bass guitar). The original bassist was John Nichols. Zak Sally replaced him after Low's first album and tour. In 2005, Sally quit the band; Livingston replaced him then. Their music is commonly described as "slowcore," a subgenre characterised by slow tempi and minimalist arrangements. Many regard the band as being the driving force behind the slowcore movement. Parker and Sparhawk's striking vocal harmonies represent perhaps the group's most distinctive element.
History
Low's debut album, I Could Live in Hope, was released on Virgin Records' Vernon Yard imprint in 1994. It featured John Nichols on bass instead of Sally, who joined for the recording of the band's next album Long Division. Long Division and its similar follow-up, 1996's The Curtain Hits the Cast, established the band as critical darlings; extensive touring helped them to develop a highly devoted fan base. "Over the Ocean," a single drawn from The Curtain Hits the Cast, also became something of a hit on college radio.
Low experienced considerable difficulties during their tenure with Vernon Yard, and by the time of their next full-length (1999's Secret Name) they had moved to the influential electronic music label Kranky. In between, they released several singles and EPs. In 1999, Low joined forces with Dirty Three to record an In The Fishtank session for Konkurrent records. called the six-song disc "some of the best material either unit has produced." Of particular note is the disc's lengthy cover of Neil Young's "Down by the River." 2001 saw the release of Things We Lost in the Fire.
The following year saw the release of the band's final full-length on Kranky, Trust. All three of the band's full-length releases on Kranky featured superstar producers: Secret Name and Things We Lost in the Fire feature the work of "recordist" Steve Albini (best known for producing abrasive noise rock and punk groups), who proved surprisingly sympathetic to capturing the band's strengths; while Trust was produced by Tchad Blake.
In April 2003, Peter S. Scholtes of the Twin Cities weekly paper City Pages posted in his weblog that Sally had left Low. The following month, the band posted an http://web.archive.org/web/20030525182959/http://chairkickers.com update] to the news on their website: "We have all had to work through some personal things recently ... After sorting it out, the good news is that Zak is remaining in the band ..." In July 2003, they toured Europe with Los Angeles on Halloween 1998, the band took the stage as a Misfits tribute act, complete with white face paint and black clothing.
Commercial success
The band's mainstream exposure has been limited: their best-known song is arguably a hymnal version of "The Little Drummer Boy," which was featured in a Gap television ad that depicted a snowball fight in slow-motion to match the song's glacial tempo. However, because of their minimal overhead expenses (the band makes very little use of professional recording facilities), Low have managed to develop a reasonably comfortable career.
Personal lives
Sparhawk and Parker are married, have two children, and are practicing members of the Mormon faith. (Sparhawk was born into an LDS family in Seattle, and for some time lived in Utah before moving to Minnesota at age nine; he also and briefly attended Brigham Young University; Parker is a convert.)
Low are hardly a Christian rock group, however, at least in the usual sense: neither Sally's religious affiliation (or lack thereof) nor Parker and Sparhawk's faith is mentioned in their latest . There are occasional lyrical references to Parker and Sparhawk's religion (most notably on the Trust track "I Am the Lamb," which at least partially concerns the murder of Joseph Smith), but they are generally indirect. The band has often toured with other "Christian, not Christian rock" acts such as Pedro the Lion and the Danielson Famile.
Side projects
Low own a record label, Chairkickers' Union, which releases material by other musicians such as the Rivulets and Haley Bonar, as well as some of their own material. Sparhawk is notably active in Duluth's small but vibrant indie rock scene; he operates a recording studio in the town, in a deconsecrated church that naturally provides the lush reverb characteristic of Low's sound. Sally has toured as a bassist with Dirty Three, and Sparhawk has devoted considerable time and energy to his Black Eyed Snakes project, a blues-rock revival band quite far removed from the Low aesthetic. Recently Sparhawk has also been seen with a new side project called The Retribution Gospel Choir. Matt Livingston, who became Low's new bassist in late 2005, also plays in The Retribution Gospel Choir. On Retribution's first tour (fall 2005), they played the Low song "From Your Place on Sunset." (Similarly, Low and the Black-Eyed Snakes have played some over-lapping songs, such as "Lordy".)
Discography
Albums
* I Could Live in Hope - (Vernon Yard, 1994)
* Long Division - (Vernon Yard, 1995)
* The Curtain Hits the Cast - (Vernon Yard, 1996)
* Owl (remixes) - (1998)
* Secret Name - (Kranky, 1999)
* Christmas - (1999)
* One More Reason to Forget (live) - (2000)
* Things We Lost in the Fire - (Kranky, 2001)
* Paris '99: Anthony, Are You Around? (live) - (2001)
* Trust - (Kranky, 2002)
* The Great Destroyer - (Sub Pop, 2005)
Compilations
* A Lifetime of Temporary Relief: 10 Years of B-Sides and Rarities - (2004)
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