By: Danielle Meyers
Picture this: you’re sitting on the beach in 1987, smoking a joint, and listening to your favorite cassette tape on the boombox. You might have already had this experience, but even if you haven’t, you can easily imagine the relaxed ambience of what this sunny, summer day would look like: polaroid cameras flashing, the salty, sea breeze in your hair, and the sand beneath your toes. What seems like a memory of a memory, the alternative microgenre known as “chillwave” uses heavy synthesizers, sampling, and drum machines to take you through a time machine, back to the summer of the 1980’s. The term, “chillwave,” was coined by a satirical writer by the name of “Carles” from the Hipster Runoff blog in 2009, becoming the first music genre to gain identity online. Chillwave was a direct result of the internet surge in music, as well as the height of “hipsterism” in the late 2000’s. Artists of the chillwave microgenre wanted to create happy, soothing, ambient music, with a taste of nostalgia and familiarity through electronic means. What makes chillwave music so alternative is that it is primarily created in a bedroom to allow for simplistic, dreamy, and untethered tracks. Many would think that the classification of this unique microgenre would make artists feel content with their music, but the term “chillwave” came from a blogger that was throwing random names to see which would gain the most popularity. Artists felt that the whole chillwave scene was a joke, and some believe that this subgenre only lasted until 2011. Stores like Urban Outfitters, as well as the artists categorized under chillwave, were still capitalizing on this name, exploiting the style’s low-budget simplicity, and creating an oversaturation of acts. The abundance of artists, as well as the fall of hipsterism, could have contributed to the assumed ending of the chillwave movement. However, one artist, Ernest Greene of Washed Out, also known as the “Godfather of Chillwave,” has embraced this microgenre and constantly creates new music that revolutionizes the movement.
Washed Out’s drowsy, distorted, dance-pop influenced tracks sparked the interest of later chillwave artists. In mid-2009, Washed Out digitally released his first EP, Life of Leisure, and later released it on vinyl. Prior to the release of the vinyl, Washed Out released a limited-edition, cassette-only EP, titled High Times. During this time, Ernest Greene’s style was primarily based on his interest in obsolete technology, creating music from his bedroom and establishing the 1980’s chillwave feel. With only 100 copies of High Times in circulation on cassette, as well as the Life of Leisure EP that only consisted of 6 songs, Washed Out established a unique presence in not only the chillwave movement, but also in music altogether. However, “Feel it All Around” on Life of Leisure became Washed Out’s most popular song, using a slowed-down sample of the 1983 track, “I Want You” by Gary Low. The song even gained praise from Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, and became the theme song for their TV series, Portlandia. Despite the song’s popularity, Washed Out’s music mainly stayed under the radar for many alternative music lovers. Although Greene has successfully created this unique, bedroom-pop style with his soft voice and synth textures, it was much more laborious to generate the same feelings of relaxation at a concert.
Bringing his talents from his parent’s house bedroom to a live stage performance proved difficult for Greene, since he was mostly standing behind a DJ booth to produce his songs. Washed Out released his first full-length album, Within and Without, with the intention of using live instruments and filling large concert venues. His artistic influences and new passion to play in front of large audiences inspired the birth of his next album, Paracosm, a word that means a highly detailed, imaginary world. The record comprised of 50 different instruments, and Greene’s attention to detail led to many new discoveries of instruments and sounds that paired well together to create the sense of walking through a garden on a sunny day.
The album’s artwork and videos were inspired by color and nature, invoking a sense of optimism, and leading Greene to develop his visuals further in his most recent record, Mister Mellow.
What makes Washed Out different from other alternative bands, including chillwave artists, is his attention to visual details in his albums. He wants to create music that stimulates positive vibes and serves as an escape from our everyday lives. In fact, the idea behind Mister Mellow is the sense of despair and boredom from a stress-free life. The day before Mister Mellow’s album release, Ernest Greene came out with a visual component to the album with the help of Saturday Night Live’s Kyle Mooney, in his part as Mister Mellow himself, in the fictional TV program, The Mister Mellow Show. While watching the video, you’ll notice the first song incorporates different yellow toys, TV’s, books, and balloons, and even a hat that says “Chillwave.” You will also notice other buttons and stickers with sayings like “I’m taking the day off,” “work/life balance,” and “into each week Monday must fall.” Presented with collages, Claymation, clips of people smoking weed, and blurred images of Greene’s youth, Mister Mellow is viewed as a “superhuman chill who has come to save us all from the mid-afternoon blahs at work.” The album is approximately half an hour in length, making the optimal viewing for “eating a salad in front of your computer during lunch.” Washed Out utilizes his artistic talents, in combination with his remote and impersonal vocals, to design this fully visual album. Washed Out clearly differentiates himself from other artists by not only releasing a fully visual album, but also by using his abstract artwork, unique talents, and dreamy lyrics to establish his presence under the chillwave movement.
Although Washed Out may have drifted from the synthesizers normally used in chillwave music, Greene utilizes live instruments to invoke the sense of psychedelia, trip-hop, and ambient electronica, all of which are incorporated under chillwave music. Although believed to have ended back in 2011, the chillwave movement continues to persevere, even when others reject its presence. Washed Out, among other chillwave artists, has embraced this music style and recognizes it in his work, which can be easily seen in Mister Mellow. Adding to the chillwave movement through his use of artwork, live instruments, and continuous soft voice, Greene has changed the definition of chillwave to better fit the feeling of relaxation, sense of euphoria, and the desire to sit on a beach with a pina colada. Compared to mainstream artists, Washed Out creates his music based on the environment around him and his desire to dream, which has been successfully communicated throughout his records.
Washed Out and the Chillwave Movement 