Jherek Bischoff
Seattle multi-instrumentalist and self-taught composer Jherek Bischoff began his career as a sideman in a number of indie bands before introducing his own elaborate chamber pop with his 2006 solo debut.
Born in Sacramento, California, the son of an avant-garde musician who had studied with John Cage, Bischoff had an unconventional childhood, spending a large part of his formative years on a boat that his parents sailed first up the Pacific Coast, and then on a two-year trip to Central America and the Caribbean. The family eventually settled in Bainbridge Island, Washington, where Bischoff learned to play a host of woodwind, brass, and string instruments. As a young man in the early 2000s, he first came to prominence as a member of numerous experimental indie pop bands including Parenthetical Girls, Xiu Xiu, the Dead Science, and the Degenerate Art Ensemble. He also played in former Dresden Dolls singer Amanda Palmer's solo band.
His years of playing and composing experience gave Bischoff the confidence to try releasing his own material, and the virtuosic, D.I.Y. work Jherek Bischoff appeared in 2006 on Eleven Records. Over the next several years, he continued as a member of some of the aforementioned bands, and also became in-demand as a multi-instrumentalist, engineer, producer, and/or arranger for artists such as Holy Ghost Revival, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, YACHT, and People Get Ready.
For his more high-profile sophomore solo LP, this time with Brassland and the Leaf Label label, he achieved a lush, fully orchestrated sound by recording each contributor individually and then assembling the final mix on a laptop computer. In 2012, the finished album, Composed, was released to high critical acclaim. Featuring a slew of guest vocalists, the best-known of whom are probably Caetano Veloso and David Byrne, its unique blend of avant-garde classical, golden age Hollywood movie scoring, old-timey jazz, and classic vocal pop marked Bischoff as a unique talent. The same year, he also released an instrumental version of the album entitled Scores, and later went on to receive commissions to compose for other celebrated performers, including the world-renowned Kronos Quartet.
Bischoff continued to work behind the scenes on other musicians' projects but emerged in late 2015 with a Christmas song that he co-wrote with singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche. The timely "Surviving Christmas" addressed the refugee crisis in Europe and the Middle East. The first half of 2016 brought two more earnest releases, Strung Out in Heaven: A Bowie String Quartet Tribute and Purple Rain: A Prince String Quartet Tribute, both by Bischoff and Amanda Palmer, in honor of their recently deceased idols. That summer, Bischoff also released the follow-up to Composed. Cistern was written, in part, during sessions that Bischoff performed in an empty two-million-gallon underground water tank, and he drew influences from a childhood spent growing up on a sailboat.
© John D. Buchanan & Marcy Donelson /TiVo
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Discography
13 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Strung Out in Heaven: A Bowie String Quartet Tribute
Jherek Bischoff, Amanda Palmer
Alternative & Indie - Released by 8ft Records on Mar 15, 2016
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
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Purple Rain
Amanda Palmer, Jherek Bischoff
Alternative & Indie - Released by 8ft. Records on Jul 13, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Safe As Houses
Alternative & Indie - Released by Slender Means Society on Jun 27, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scores: Composed Instrumentals
Rock - Released by Brassland on Oct 22, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire Walk with Me
Christmas Music - Released by Jherek Bischoff on Dec 11, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Surviving Christmas
Jherek Bischoff, Sondre Lerche
Christmas Music - Released by Brassland on Nov 21, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Surface Pressure
Amanda Palmer, Jherek Bischoff, The Black Quartet
Alternative & Indie - Released by Amanda Palmer, Jherek Bischoff, and The Black Quartet on Mar 16, 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire Walk With Me (Deluxe Version Remastered 2020)
Christmas Music - Released by Jherek Bischoff on Dec 11, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Red Cloak
Chamber Music - Released by Jherek Bischoff on Jan 22, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Celebration
Chamber Music - Released by Jherek Bischoff on Jun 22, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Super Blue Blood Moon
Classical - Released by Jherek Bischoff on Feb 6, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo