Mount Olympic is the new project from artist J.R. Bennett, with help from a revolving cast of musicians and friends. Recording to 4-track cassette, utilizing tape loops, found sounds and field recordings, gives the project a nostalgic lo-fi warmth. While long distance collaborations, cut & paste samples and the juxtaposition of long instrumentals, short folky tunes and more textured electronic pieces, lends the project an (almost) anything goes modernism. In the end it's all layered through an old digital multitrack recorder and stitched together in the 8 ft. x 8 ft. art studio Bennett built in the woods, just outside of Nashville, TN.
The recently released EP, Platinum Hits and the 7" single for "Women of the World Take Over" (Ivor Cutler cover) puts all of those elements on full display, and offers a road map of things to come. The intention is for each physical Mount Olympic release to be an art piece unto itself, with collaborations for special packaging and design being built around each limited edition physical release. The lathe-cut 12" verison of the EP, in x-ray packaging, quickly sold-out.
Bennett previously cut teeth in the Cleveland, Ohio music scene. Mini-tours through the northeast, sharing the stage with the likes of Bonnie "Prince" Billy and playing Toronto's NXNE festival in and around the early 2010's helped to create a musical identity. Taking a long break to build furniture and to start a family has provided the time and perspective to settle in and start to shape it.