Robot and Girl:
Grace and Eliot met at music school (University of Manitoba). They were both members of a ten piece ska. During this period they released albums and performed regularly, but more importantly they became friends and realized they share a similar but odd sense of humor. Collection Get! work well together because their contrasting musical backgrounds and approach to music. Eliot's technical skills and robotic approach to rhythm plays well off of Grace's jazz background and ability to breathe attitude and style into the music. Despite their good working/performing relationship, old rivalries often flare up, transforming rehearsals into into gaming sessions where Grace almost always wins. Especially at anything involving puzzles.

Collection Get! was originally conceived as a cartoon project. When they decided to play live shows they realized they couldn't afford on stage holograms. Since they couldn't agree on costumes, they opted to be real people too. They still argue about whether or not Eliot could get away with wearing a transformer helmet... he's keeping his eye out for one and has a plan to re-wire the helmet's mic into a vocoder. Keep an eye out for pictures.

As for live performance, Grace sings and plays most of the Keys, Eliot takes care of the bass lines, drum machines, turntables and robot voices.

Album Origins:
The project started in 2009 and grew from 8bit remixes and songs that Eliot started working on with his recording engineer / producer friend Chris Johns.

After arguing about the cultural value of "lofi" aesthetics, hipsterisim and nostalgia, they came up with a challenging album concept. Other than a cloying cultural reference, what is it about lo-bit sounds that makes them beautiful and worth using? What can you do with these sounds to tell a story, to play with their cultural value and meaning?

The disparity between hifi / lofi sound sources was a great way to expand the sound palate. Sound quality was used to achieve colours, textures and timbres impossible otherwise.

This project dragged Collection Get! kicking and screaming away from a purely digital production setup, and triggered their obsession with analog synthesizers and unique DIY sound sources. However, Eliot remains deeply suspicious of the trendy vintage gear, and is only putting up with it until he finds a better digital alternative.

Save As is a very personal and emotional project, despite a light-hearted sound. Generally, the lighter the track, the more tragic the real life circumstance that inspired it. For example, the bright and cheery track 1 is based on one of the most devastating events of Eliot's life.

Currently:
Eliot:
-Doing PhD in Music Composition and Research at McGill University.
-Teaches electronic music production.
-Trying to figure out how to reconcile my academic and pop music backgrounds.
-Favorite videogame: Castlevania.

Grace:
-Jazz singer vocalist based in Winnipeg Manitoba.
-Designs and produces fashion accessories, and shares her creative sense of style with others.
-Taking pictures of her cats.
-Favorite videogame: Dr. Mario.

Save As