Billie Eilish, Girl in Red and others have clocked millions of streams from
music made at home. Mac DeMarco, Ariel Pink and others explain why we need to embrace this lo-fi recordingThe best arts and entertainment during self-isolation‘I’m famous for staying in,” says R Stevie Moore, writer of the new wave number I Like to Stay Home. “So quarantine is no big deal.” But as a counterculture hermit who’s made more than 400 experimental pop albums at home, Moore suddenly has competition. With studio access and in-person collaborations impossible in lockdown, musicians are now all ostensibly bedroom artists.
Home studios, from Prince’s Paisley Park to Lee Scratch Perry’s Black Ark, have long played pivotal roles in musical history, with the likes of Joe Meek, Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney also favouring them. More recently, Billie Eilish recorded her multimillion-selling debut in her family home, while Grimes’ breakthrough LP, Visions, was made in her apartment. Kevin Parker records all Tame Impala’s albums at home. Grime flourished from kids making beats on PlayStations or cheap software, and dance tracks are rattled out in bedrooms constantly; Grammy-nominated LA artist Steve Lacy even produces beats on his
iPhone.