Low (band) - Side Projects

Side Projects

Low owns a record label, Chairkickers' Union, which releases material by other musicians such as Rivulets and Haley Bonar, as well as some of their own material. Sparhawk is notably active in Duluth's small but vibrant independent music scene; he operates a recording studio in the town, in a deconsecrated church that naturally provides the lush reverb characteristic of Low's sound. The Chairkickers label offers another outlet for Duluth musicians, as most groups on the label are from that city, or at least from Minnesota and surrounding areas.

Sally has toured as a bassist with Dirty Three, and Sparhawk has devoted considerable time and energy to his Black Eyed Snakes project, a blues-rock revival band quite far removed from the Low aesthetic. Recently Sparhawk has also been seen with a new side project called The Retribution Gospel Choir. Matt Livingston, who became Low's bassist in late 2005, also played in The Retribution Gospel Choir, and was subsequently replaced by Steve Garrington. On Retribution's first tour (fall 2005), they played the Low song "From Your Place on Sunset." Musical crossover between Sparhawk's bands went in both directions as two songs originally released on a RGC tour EP, "Hatchet" and "Breaker", were later covered on Low's Drums and Guns release (before making it onto RGC's self-titled full-length debut). Similarly, Low and the Black-Eyed Snakes have played some overlapping songs, such as "Lordy".

Sparhawk and Sally also made several recordings in a more synthesizer-driven style, reminiscent of the band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, under the name The Hospital People. The most widely distributed of these was "Crash / We'll Be Philosophers", released as a 7-inch on clear vinyl by Duck Suit Records. Sparhawk and Sally have also played live as The Tooth Fairies, with Sally performing on drums and Sean Erspamer on bass; Tooth Fairies sets have typically consisted of cover songs by the Stooges, MC5, and similar bands. Sally has generated several works that fall in the 'graphic novel' genre, and also created the original artwork for David Bazan's (formerly of Pedro the Lion) first solo effort, the EP Fewer Moving Parts, which was recently re-released by Barsuk. At one time, Mimi Parker was rumored to have started a punk band called Rubbersnake, but this was an inside joke on the part of the band. In 2007 Sparhawk did a Take-Away Show acoustic video session shot by Vincent Moon.

In April 2012, Low collaborated with artist Peter Liversidge for their performance at the Royal Festival Hall in London.