6 Times Musicians Took DIY to a New Level

When one thinks of DIY music, one might think of simply recording an album in a barebones studio at home. These six bands and artists decided to take things a step further with some very creative DIY techniques. Let’s look at six times musicians took DIY to a new level!

1. Impaled Northern Moonforest’s “Joke” Black Metal Album

This self-titled EP from 2000 was initially supposed to be a joke. The acoustic black metal outfit Impaled Northern Moonforest itself was meant to be an ironic depiction of DIY Norwegian black metal outfits. The songwriting wasn’t well-thought-out and the band rarely practiced or rehearsed. Their only EP was also recorded with significant volume restrictions because someone was sleeping in a nearby room. You can tell that the percussion on this EP was made up of someone slapping their thigh or a bed of some sort.

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2. Animal Collective Recorded ‘Campfire Songs’ Outdoors

This 2003 album was technically a self-titled debut, though it was later classified as another Animal Collective album. This is a really fascinating piece of work and an excellent example of musicians taking DIY to a new level. The entire album was recorded in one take, outside in the middle of November in Maryland. The ambient sounds of nature are what make this album so special.

“We wanted it to sound like a campfire feels,” said Noah Lennox of the album. “And I think that also made us think of campfire songs that you can sing with a bunch of people and everybody gets connected and feels good and safe.”

3. Ricky Eat Acid Used Lo-Fi Techniques to Elicite Loneliness

Ricky Eat Acid produced a number of soft, acoustic songs with a simple cheap keyboard for Seeing Little Ghosts Everywhere from 2011. It’s an ambient album with lo-fi and minimalistic instrumentation. The combination of instrument choices, the occasional sound of an AC running, the pitter-patter of rain outside a window, and the sounds of cars driving by all elicit a deep, haunting sense of loneliness on this album.

4. Grimes Recorded ‘Visions’ With Garageband

This is another great example of musicians taking DIY to a different level, and also probably the most well-known example. Grimes recorded the entirety of her cult classic album Visions using only the early 2010s version of Garageband, some vocal pedals, a sampler, and her keyboard. If you want to get into electronic music but feel like you don’t have the right equipment, take some notes from Grimes.

It’s also worth noting that she blacked out all of her windows and refused to leave her room for nine days to make herself hallucinate while recording it, so there’s that.

5. Ryu Hankil Used Typewriter-Trigged Instruments on ‘Becoming Typewriter’

Ryu Hankil recorded the 2009 album Becoming Typewriter using DIY instruments that were triggered by the inputs of a (you guessed it) typewriter. It doesn’t get more experimental and DIY than that.

6. Zebra Zebra’s ‘I’m Still Playing’ Remixed Sounds From a Two-Year-Old

This 2016 album is a fascinating piece of work and one of the best experimental albums of that year. All of the sounds on this album were made by Laura, Tim Thornton’s two-year-old daughter. Thornton set up a few different mics in his home studio along with some “traps” for the kiddo. A few items include toys to throw down the stairs, some bubble wrap, a wide range of instruments at her level of accessibility, and a pitch-shifted delay on a microphone.

Photo by Hisham Bharoocha

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