He Is Me, And We Be Altogether

There is a songwriter in Portland, Oregon who is also a musician and music producer and a singer-songwriter in Calgary, Canada and together they are 'He Is Me'. Now keep in mind that Oregon is one of the few states where marijuana is legal so if all this seems confusing that may be why. 

To clarify; Casey, who in 1999 started his solo music project “Textile Arcade" while an audio engineer for an advertising agency and which featured guests vocalists from the U.S. and Canada, asked Steve, the singer, to sing on one of Casey's new songs. That led to the two of them forming a duo they decided to call 'He Is Me'. Previously they had collaborated on a track called 'Silencer' back in 2001 so it's been 15 years since they first worked together. I wonder how long the commute is from Oregon to Calgary? To make this international musical partnership even more difficult is the fact that now you have to have a passport to enter Canada, or Mexico. That sure would have been a drag when I was a college student at San Diego State. Tijuana was always a fun weekend trip.

He Is Me Drowning Man / Ocean Man video.

Back to He Is Me, Casey Braunger started playing bass at the age of 13 and eventually became a multi-instrumentalist. He’s played in various punk, metal, blues, industrial and electronic bands but he and Steve Moore who performed with prog rock/industrial metal duo The Unravelling, hardcore metal group Inner Surge and electronic project Post Death Soundtracks formed 'He Is Me' to create vast soundscapes with crushing atmosphere and gripping emotional lyrical content. Metal Injection Magazine calls them "one of the most exciting projects to come out of Canada in recent years."

 He Is Me's new single Drowning Man/ Ocean Man. Photo by Ryan Donnel

He Is Me's (that sounds funny) first single was entitled 'Let It Drip'. The track showcases an ambient, free flowing, non verse-chorus-verse approach and is meant as a mantra of sorts. Their new single 'Drowning Man/ Ocean Man' is two separate tracks meant to be heard as a single piece. Although this description (their's not mine) may sound like it could be somewhat "New Age" it is not. It sounds to me much more like Bowie / Eno / Tin Machine Industrial Metal (my description). Sonically layered, dense, atmospheric in a dark Sci Fi, Post Apocalyptic sort of way but with clear (non screaming hard core metal ) emotionally projected vocals. The duo is currently working on a full-length album.

I suppose we're living in the age of "the Producer" as oppose to the bygone era of bands as self contained units. An act like 'He Is Me' could conceivable tour as the live singer and pre-recorded backing tracks and since stadium shows and arenas are financially unfeasible these days anyway, an act like this could do nicely touring clubs and small theaters. With the tracks already programmed (is midi still a thing?) they could even play in sync with their videos projected live (like The Rock & Roll Rehab Show!). What I'm getting at is with their decidedly "trippy" sound and visuals and they just happen to live in Oregon (at least one of them), cannabis clubs and hempfests might be a great venue for this act.