Claire Rousay (styled as claire rousay) is a Canadian-American

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

musician and composer based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Rousay, who is currently signed with

Thrill Jockey Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago. History Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while ...

, is known for using

field recordings Field recording is the production of audio recordings outside recording studios, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It can also include the recording of electromagnetic fields or vibrations using dif ...

to create

musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic ...

pieces.

Early life

Rousay was born in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, and moved to

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, with her family when she was ten years old. Rousay's interest in music began at the age of three when she began piano lessons with her mother, a professional pianist. Rousay grew up in an

Evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

household and played drums during church events until she distanced herself from Christianity. She dropped out of high school at the age of 15 and became a solo percussionist.

Career

In 2020, Rousay released the album ''It Was Always Worth It'' via Longform Editions. In 2021, she released '' A Softer Focus'' via American Dreams. The album was a collaboration with San Antonio-based visual artist Dani Toral, who first met Rousay in middle school. Rousay has also collaborated with her best friend and fellow

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

-based experimental musician Mari Maurice, who performs under the name More Eaze. They have released two collaborative albums together, ''An Afternoon Whine'' in 2021 and ''Never Stop Texting Me'' in 2022. In 2023, Rousay signed with American record label

and released the album ''

Sentiment Sentiment may refer to: *Feelings, and emotions *Public opinion, also called sentiment *Sentimentality, an appeal to shallow, uncomplicated emotions at the expense of reason *Sentimental novel, an 18th-century literary genre * Market sentiment, op ...

'' in April 2024.

Musical style

Rousay uses a

Zoom H5 Handy Recorder Zoom H5 Handy Recorder is a handheld digital audio recorder from Zoom Corporation, introduced in January 2014. A successor to the Zoom H4n, the new model features interchangeable input capsules with microphones (as does the Zoom H6 Handy Record ...

to record everyday sounds and uses them to create

pieces. Her music has been described as experimental and "emo ambient".

Personal life

Rousay, who moved from San Antonio to Los Angeles in 2022, still maintains her Canadian citizenship. She hosts a weekly online show on

NTS Radio NTS Radio (also known as NTS Live or simply NTS) is a music radio platform which was founded in 2011 in Hackney, East London by Femi Adeyemi "for an international community of music lovers". NTS was built as a platform to celebrate the eclec ...

. In 2019, Rousay came out as a

trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

. The proceeds of her 2022 album ''Wouldn't Have to Hurt'' were donated to

The Trevor Project The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Focused on suicide prevention efforts for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, they offer a toll-free telephone number where con ...

. She also has a dog named Banana.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rousay, Claire American transgender musicians Canadian transgender musicians Canadian experimental musicians American experimental musicians Musicians from Winnipeg Musicians from San Antonio LGBTQ people from Texas Thrill Jockey artists Transgender women musicians Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century Canadian women musicians Canadian emigrants to the United States