Artist

S. Carey

Eau Claire, United States

S. Carey is a musician from Eau Claire, United States. Their discography on Gatefold includes 6 records. They also recorded with Bon Iver and Bizhiki.

Start your shelf →Open in app

Albums tracked

518

In collections

—

Since

3 projects · 518 records in Gatefold collections

Biography

Sean Carey spent his early twenties locked in a Wisconsin room practicing jazz drumming for up to ten hours a day. That brutal, repetitive discipline changed everything when he heard Justin Vernon was putting together a touring band to recreate the multi-tracked cabin-fever gold of For Emma, Forever Ago. Carey learned the drum and vocal parts by ear, knocked on Vernon's door, and became the indispensable anchor of the Bon Iver live machine. But behind the kit, he was writing these delicate, mathematically precise folk miniatures that didn't sound like a side-project. His debut All We Grow was tracked in the cracks between Bon Iver tours. It is a record built on the physical reality of the piano keys and the micro-timing of a trained percussionist who knows how to let silence do the heavy lifting. He did not chase Vernon's ragged falsetto or the arena-sized indie rock that came later. Instead, he made chamber-folk that felt like damp Midwestern air. It was quiet, stubborn, and completely devoid of corporate hustle.

Bio from The Clerk

The Arc of S. Carey

The pivots — what forced S. Carey to reinvent.

The Midwestern Minimalist
After the massive success of Bon Iver's self-titled sophomore record, Carey went back to Eau Claire to cut All We Grow and Range of Light. He relied on acoustic piano, subtle marimba patterns, and hushed woodwinds to build a quiet, naturalistic world. You hear his classical percussion training in the complex, shifting time signatures of songs like 'In the Fields.' It was a masterclass in restraint, proving he was a composer in his own right, not just a touring sideman.
The Electronic Detour
In 2012, Carey threw a wrench in the acoustic expectations by dropping the Hoyas EP. He ditched the grand piano and acoustic guitars for analog synthesizers, drum machines, and heavy vocal processing. It was a polarizing move that showed his interest in post-dubstep and electronic minimalism. The organic warmth of his debut was replaced by cold, metallic textures that forced his vocal melodies into sharper, more clinical shapes.
The Nashville Stripped-Down Sessions
For 2018's Hundred Acres, Carey stripped the arrangements back to their barest essentials, tracking much of the record at Spacebomb Studios in Richmond and in Nashville. He abandoned the complex time signatures of his early work to write direct, three-chord folk songs on acoustic guitar. The studio focus was on live, warm takes with minimal overdubbing. This shift created his most accessible, grounded record, even if it traded some of his signature rhythmic complexity for classic singer-songwriter structure.
The Grief and Grid Process
The recording of Break Me Open in 2022 was marked by intense personal upheaval, including divorce and the loss of his father. Carey processed this grief in the studio by incorporating heavy electronic beats, brass arrangements, and string sections co-written with Rob Moose. The production is dense and cinematic, contrasting raw lyricism with polished, synthetic structures. It marked a return to his experimental roots but with a heavy, emotional weight that wasn't there before.

Influences

Steve Reich — Carey studied Reich's mallet percussion techniques during his classical percussion degree at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. You can hear this direct influence in the interlocking marimba and piano patterns on 'Melt' and 'Action.' The repetitive, shifting rhythmic phases are straight out of Music for 18 Musicians.
Sufjan Stevens — Carey has cited Stevens' seminal chamber-folk arrangements as a key blueprint for his own multi-instrumental approach. The intricate woodwind charts and hushed vocal delivery on Range of Light draw a straight line to Seven Swans. It is the same quiet, devotional approach to acoustic instrumentation.
Bruce Hornsby — Carey grew up on Hornsby's piano style and later collaborated with him on stage and in the studio. Hornsby's fluid, syncopated right-hand piano runs directly shape Carey's lead piano work on 'Alpenglow.' It is jazz-adjacent pop playing that avoids standard chord-chugging.
Talk Talk — Carey has pointed to the late-era minimalist masterpieces of Mark Hollis as major touchstones for his use of silence. The spacious, improvised feel of Laughing Stock heavily influenced the recording philosophy of All We Grow. It is about the notes you do not play.
Low — Carey toured with the seminal slowcore band and collaborated with them, absorbing their mastery of slow-tempo tension and vocal harmony. You can hear Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker's patient, heavy-drifting pace throughout the slower tempos of Carey's catalog. He understands that slowing down a groove makes it heavier.