Linen Closet began as the bedroom recording project of Austin’s Adam Hilton, as he began writing songs while playing in and engineering many other musical projects and working as a sound designer for theatre. His love of quiet, gut wrenching, well-crafted songs, his appreciation for theatrics (his father and uncle were both professional opera singers), and his fascination with avant sound art (Hugo Ball, Kurt Schwitters, and Stockhausen were heroes of younger years) led him to a fast friendship with fellow composer and sound designer for theatre Henna Chou (Director of Austin’s avant-garde arts collective COTFG and co-producer of NMASS fest). He shared early demos with her, and with her encouragement, began fleshing out the project.
He began working extensively out of Shine Studios in Austin from 2010 to 2013, where he recorded the 2011 EP Bright Wing and all tracking for this LP. He’d become such a fixture of the studio that he helped it through many overhauls, including a move in 2016 to its current incarnation, King Electric Recording. During this time, Linen Closet’s live band saw many iterations as they found their musical footing: a from ukulele, trumpet, and drum machine three-piece to a 14-piece orchestral group.
Linen Closet’s debut LP was mixed in 2014, but stalled due to complicating life factors, including the departure of key artistic contributors and the death of friend and contributor to the band Ethan Greene. Momentum for the record picked back up at the encouragement of fans and members new and old, and as the dust cleared on many other projects, the band has been able to focus their efforts and give the record the support it deserves.
The band’s latest LP is a snapshot of Linen Closet’s transition from hushed home studio project to a band exploring the extent of its influences, which range from cerebral pop ballads and hushed orchestral arrangements to bedroom dirges and meditative experimentalism. It was released on October 19 and is available on Bandcamp.
Today, Ghettoblaster has the pleasure of premiering the band’s video for “ACT IV,” which you can enjoy below.