Callow is a Dream Doom duo based in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. Its members are Gared Moses (vocals, guitar) and Sami Knowles (drums, keyboard, vocals). They are known for their dark and doom-y music, and evocative live shows.

History

Gared (aka Red) Moses was born in Vancouver,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, and moved to Salt Lake City,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, with his family as a youth. He began writing and playing music at a young age, and in college he wrote scores for theater productions at

Salt Lake Community College Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) is a public community college in Salt Lake County, Utah. It is the state's largest two-year college with the most diverse student body. It serves almost 50,000 students on 8 campuses as well as through online ...

. For several years he operated and co-owned Ruby Records (2000–2005), and wrote for the Indie Music Spotlight (a monthly column in Salt Lake Underground Magazine). Sami Knowles was born and raised in Utah. She studied

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

Dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

Southern Utah University Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah, United States. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now has over 1,800 graduates each year with baccalaureate and other graduate degrees from its ...

. She danced professionally for ABD Productions and many others before becoming a musician. She traveled to

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

in 2009 to study Haitian drum and dance with Rara Toulimen."Callow - Haunting and Beautiful"
Interview. 9 April 2014. San Francisco Chronicle, by Tony Dushane Forme
badapple
frontman, Gared Moses, formed Callow while in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

and enjoyed moderate success before moving to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, where he met Sami Knowles. They reformed Callow as a duo and began playing together in the fall of 2009. Their first album, ''Orb Weaver'', was recorded and mixed by themselves and various friends while touring and travelling. It was released on Portland-based indie label NXNW Records in May 2012. SLUG Magazine compared it to

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

, saying, "what punk rock would have been had it evolved from The Velvet Underground's airy slowness rather than their minimalism." The song "Old Horse" was voted "Best Song" by

Noise Pop Noise pop is a subgenre of alternative and indie rock that developed in the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom and United States. It is defined by its mixture of dissonant noise or feedback with the songcraft more often found in pop music. Shoegaz ...

voters in the San Francisco Music Video Race 2013. Their second album, ''Blue Spells'', was recorded live to

magnetic tape Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recording from Denmark. Devices that use magnetic ...

in their home studio, and was released on cassette by NXNW Records. The

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

described it as "haunting and beautiful, with angst and tension balanced with primal minimalism." Blues Spells was premiered by Surviving the Golden Age, and ranked in the top five in a

Magnet (magazine) ''Magnet'' is a music magazine that generally focuses on alternative, independent, or out-of-the-mainstream bands. History The magazine is published four times a year, and is independently owned and edited by Eric T. Miller. Music magazines wit ...

poll. Moses' vocals were compared to a "tortured and slowcore-laden doppelganger of Adam Stephens of Two Gallants." The Single "Strange" was premiered by The Vinyl District, and was Song of the Day on

KDHX KDHX (88.1 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in St. Louis. Owned by Double Helix Corporation, the station primarily airs adult album alternative music. It broadcasts from studios on 3524 Washington Blvd. in the Grand Center Arts Distri ...

radio. The single "Philosophy" was premiered by Mad Mackerel, and described as "a sweetly sombre classic of pensive restraint and yearning melancholy that leaves palpable echoes hanging in the air long after the song has finished." Songs "Black" and "The Heavy Sermon" were mixed by Brandon Eggleston (sound engineer for

Swans Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

The Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats are a United States band formed in Claremont, California, Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina, Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole me ...

Tune-Yards Tune-Yards (stylized as tUnE-yArDs) is the Oakland, California–based music project of Merrill Garbus (vocals, various instruments) and Nate Brenner (bass, various instruments). Garbus's music draws from an eclectic variety of sources and use ...

). The rest of the album was mixed by Rob Bartleson and Yarn F Miners at Haywire Records in Portland. Their 2013/2014 Blue Spells tour included official showcases at

Sled Island The Sled Island Music & Arts Festival is an annual independent music and arts festival formed in 2007 and held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Each June, the five-day festival showcases over 200 bands, visual artists, filmmakers and comedians as w ...

and

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

, and several shows at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

. 2018 saw the release of the third album, ''Mothdust'', on vinyl. The Bay Bridged noted that: "all their previous releases have a certain degree of grit, but their confidence and chops are really on display here."

Members

*Gared Moses - vocals, guitar *Sami Knowles - drums, keyboard, vocals

Former Members

*Tim Watson - bass *Tony Esterbrooks - drums *Branden Jenkins - drums *Rob Goodson - guitar ( Warm Soda,

Thought Riot Thought Riot was an American hardcore punk band from California's Central Valley. The band lyrics focused on progressive political ideas. The writings of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche are cited and often paraphrased in the band's lyrics. Hi ...

)

Collaborators

*Brandon Eggleston - mixing, Blue Spells & Mothdust *Sammy Fielding (Ancient Owl) - recording & mixing, Mothdust * Pall Jenkins - musical saw (

The Black Heart Procession The Black Heart Procession (occasionally spelled The Blackheart Procession) is an American indie rock band from San Diego, California. History Early years The band was formed in 1997 by Pall Jenkins (Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects, Palllap ...

Three Mile Pilot Three Mile Pilot (often shortened to 3MP) is an American indie rock band from San Diego, California, formed by Armistead Burwell Smith IV (a.k.a. Zach Smith) from Pinback, Systems Officer, Neighborhood Watch on bass and vocals, Pall Jenkins (Th ...

) *Joey Chang - cello (CelloJoe) *David Conway - recording & mixing, Orb Weaver *Alex Laipenieks - recording & mixing, EP *Mike Stone - recording & mixing, Orb Weaver

Discography

Albums

* ''Orb Weaver'' (May 3, 2012) - CD, Download * ''Blue Spells'' (Nov 19, 2013) - CD, Cassette, Download *''Mothdust'' (Oct 19, 2018) - Vinyl, Download

EPs

* ''Self-Titled'' (June, 2010) - out of print

Singles

* "Always About The Ones Who Have It All" (Jan 20, 2017) *"Go Down" (May 18, 2017) *"Strange" (August 30, 2013) - Download * "Philosophy" - (October 24, 2013) - Download

References

{{reflist

External links

Callow official website
American experimental musical groups Feminist musicians Indie rock musical groups from California Musical groups established in 2009 Musical groups from San Francisco American rock music duos