Jaime Brooks (born May 5, 1984) is a Canadian-American songwriter and musician.

Career

2009–2013: Elite Gymnastics

Elite Gymnastics, self-described as a "multimedia art project", was an electronic music duo from

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and later a solo project from

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Formed by Brooks in Minneapolis around 2009, original lineups consisted of various local musicians in the Minneapolis metro area and eventually settled as a duo of James Brooks and Josh Clancy. They self-released several EPs and mixtapes before Clancy's departure in 2012. As a duo they released seven EPs, which credited Brooks with most of the songwriting and musical production, and Clancy with most of the

album artwork An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-rpm ...

: ''Real Friends'', ''Neu! '92'', ''Gizzard Greens V.1'', ''Gizzard Greens V.2'', ''Ruin'' (and its B-side, ''Ruin 2''), ''Ruin 3'', and ''Ruin 4''. ''Gizzard Greens'' is a digital

double EP An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(though the two volumes were released individually in 2010 and 2011) in the style of remix albums, featuring a cover of

Cheryl Cole Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's '' Popstar ...

's " Parachute" and a mashup combining Sub Focus' remix of

Rusko Rusko () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipali ...

's "Hold On" (featuring

Amber Coffman Amber Dawn Coffman (born June 15, 1982) is an American musician, singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California, formerly based in Brooklyn, New York. A former member of Sleeping People, Coffman is best known as a former guitarist and vo ...

) with Blame's "Piano Takes You" on the first volume, and bootleg remixes of

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

's " Poker Face" and

Waka Flocka Flame Juaquin James Malphurs (born May 31, 1986), known professionally as Waka Flocka Flame, is an American rapper. Signing to 1017 Brick Squad and Warner Bros. Records in 2009, he became a mainstream artist with the release of his singles "O Let's ...

's "Fuck the Club Up" (featuring

Pastor Troy Micah LeVar "Pastor" Troy (born November 18, 1977) is an American rapper and record producer. He is also a member of the hardcore rap group D.S.G.B. (Down South Georgia Boyz). In 2020, he made several homophobic statements against Lil Nas X tha ...

and Slim Dunkin) on the second. The ''Ruin'' EP was reviewed favorably by

Pitchfork magazine ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

, earning a 7.8 album review rating and critical acclaim among a number of smaller publications, and quickly attracted an online cult following. ''Ruin'' saw a physical release in vinyl format under the electronic label Acéphale, with the B-side (''Ruin 2'') being five remixed versions of its A-side tracks. Previous albums were self-released online in digital format for free through their

Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...

-based imprint Psychedelic Surf Club. ''Ruin'' and ''Ruin 2'' were later self-released for free download as a digital double EP. ''Ruin 4'' includes "Life/Trap" and "We Got Lost", two previously unreleased tracks which didn't make it onto the ''Ruin'' EP, and a rerecorded version of ''Ruins "Little Things" as a hidden track. The name Elite Gymnastics was taken from the lyrics of "Ruthless Babysitting" by

power electronics Power electronics is the application of electronics to the control and conversion of electric power. The first high-power electronic devices were made using mercury-arc valves. In modern systems, the conversion is performed with semiconducto ...

group

Whitehouse Whitehouse may refer to: People * Charles S. Whitehouse (1921-2001), American diplomat * Cornelius Whitehouse (1796–1883), English engineer and inventor * E. Sheldon Whitehouse (1883-1965), American diplomat * Elliott Whitehouse (born 1993), ...

Josh Clancy's departure

Following a 2012 tour as a supporting act for Sleigh Bells, Elite Gymnastics became Brooks' solo project with Clancy parting ways after a reportedly tumultuous experience on the road. "Our personal relationship is kinda kaput for the time being," Brooks describes in a Tumblr post detailing some of the reasons for continuing the project solo. Brooks continued the project solo, relocating to Vancouver following a stint in

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, releasing the single "Andreja 4-Ever" as part of the Adult Swim Singles Program the same year. The solo form of Elite Gymnastics only saw the release of single "Andreja 4-Ever" and a couple of remixes (for

Sky Ferreira Sky Tonia Ferreira (born July 8, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, model, and actress. As a teenager, Ferreira began uploading videos on Myspace of herself singing songs she had written, which led to her discovery by producers Bloods ...

and How to Dress Well) before Brooks decided to rename the project; first to Dead Girlfriends, then to Default Genders.

2013–2014: Default Genders

Dead Girlfriends and "On Fraternity" controversy

The release of single "On Fraternity" from the debut EP ''Stop Pretending'', in association with the name change to Dead Girlfriends, caused a substantial amount of controversy and prompted a series of articles by various publications and an online round table discussion by

Spin magazine ''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. Histor ...

. Brooks rechristened the project Default Genders shortly thereafter.

2015–2018: Eponymity

During a four-year period following relocation to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California, Brooks released a series of demos and bootleg remixes on SoundCloud eponymously, though they were not made available for purchase or download.

2019-2020: Default Genders

''Main Pop Girl 2019''

On February 4, 2019, Brooks released a second full-length Default Genders album titled ''Main Pop Girl 2019'', which includes a track featuring pop artist No Rome, updated versions of demos previously released eponymously, and an updated version of "Sophie" from ''Magical Pessimism 2014'' featuring artist Beth Sawlts. The album was reviewed favorably by Pitchfork magazine, receiving an 8.0 rating.

''Pain Mop Girl 2020''

On April 20, 2020, Brooks released a new full-length Default Genders album titled ''Pain Mop Girl 2020'', which consists mostly of guest-remixed and reworked versions of ''Main Pop Girl 2019'' songs, and features two original songs as the opening tracks.

''Main Pop Girls 2015–2018''

On December 4, 2020, Brooks released a collection of demos as an album titled ''Main Pop Girls 2015–2018'' which consists of an unreleased song as the opening track and songs previously showcased eponymously as SoundCloud demos during 2015–2018, many of which laid the groundwork for material on subsequent Default Genders albums.

2022: Elite Gymnastics revival

In 2021, Brooks announced a reconciliation with Clancy and revealed intentions to revive the Elite Gymnastics name with his blessing (though ultimately not his involvement). A debut album, ''snow flakes 2022'', was released on October 18, 2022 (the only prior commercial release under the name, ''RUIN'', being considered a double EP). The album consists of re-workings of previously-recorded songs as well as new material, with the new lineup of Jaime Brooks and Viri Char.

Discography

Elite Gymnastics

Extended plays

* ''Real Friends'' (2010) * ''Gizzard Greens V.1'' (2010) * ''Gizzard Greens V.2'' (2011) * ''Neu! '92'' (2011) * ''Ruin'' (2011) * ''Ruin 2'' (2011) * ''Ruin 3'' (2012) * ''Ruin 4'' (2012)

Singles

* "We Fly High (Original Version)" (2009) * "Life/Trap" (2012) * "Andreja 4-Ever" (2012)

Unreleased songs

* "Real Love (The Hedgehog's Dilemma)" (2010) * "I Just Wasn't Paying Attention" (2011) * "Walls" (2011) Note: "I Just Wasn't Paying Attention" is an early version of "We Got Lost" from ''Ruin 4''.

Remixes

* Florrie – "Come Back to Mine (Elite Gymnastics Remix)" (2010) * How to Dress Well – "Suicide Dream 2 (Elite Gymnastics Baptism)" (2011) * Mozart Parties – "Where Has Everybody Gone? (Elite Gymnastics Remix)" (2011) * Korallreven feat. Julianna Barwick – "Sa Sa Samoa (Elite Gymnastics Remix)" (2012) * Sky Ferreira – "Red Lips (Elite Gymnastics Remix)" (2013) * How to Dress Well – "& It Was U (Elite Gymnastics Remix)" (2013)

Mixtapes

* ''Mix for VnFold Magazine'' (2010) * ''Mix for Opening Ceremony'' (2011) * ''All We Fucking Care About is Kpop Whitehouse and Our Cats'' (Mix for Forty Ounce Clothing, 2011) * ''I Want a 38-Minute Truce in Which There is No Rape'' (Mix for DIS Magazine, 2011)

Default Genders

Studio albums

* ''Magical Pessimism 2014'' (2014) * ''Main Pop Girl 2019'' (2019) * ''Pain Mop Girl 2020'' (2020)

Extended plays

* ''Stop Pretending'' (2013)

Singles

* "On Fraternity" (2013)

Mixtapes

* ''Magical Pessimix #1'' (2014)

Jaime Brooks

Studio albums

* ''Main Pop Girls 2015–2018 (The Demos)'' (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Jaime Canadian electronic musicians Electronic musicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people)