Album Notes

The debut self-titled album by Portland, Oregon’s Gratitillium (gra-tit-ill-ee-um) was composed and recorded by Nick Caceres over an 18 month period with the rudimentary recording program Garageband. Using only the onboard microphone on an ordinary Macbook, Caceres painstakingly constructed each song on this album without using any pre-designed beats or samples (though live nature recordings from Caceres’ time spent in Singapore are used.)

Meaning literally “gratitude for animals,” the music on Gratitillium was inspired by the spirits of different types of fauna. Caceres, when writing the album spent long days and weeks channeling the energy, and ambient nature of each animal, focusing only on it until the song was finished. Consequently, listeners are meant to be taken on a “sonic safari” of melody, noise and dynamics that can be playful (Monkey),outraged (Crow) creepy (Spider), chaotic (Circus Elephants) or triumphant (Horse).Gratitillium is a lo-fi sonic journey that uses eclectic influences, unusual song
structure, and diverse instrumentation to create an overall effect that is a testament to creative freedom and the spontaneous spirit.

Hand screenprinted cover in purple and green with art by Nick Ayres. Can you find all the animals

Gratitillium will tour the western U.S. in August/September 2009. Keeping with the ideal of their recorded material, a live Gratitillium show includes costumes, animal chanelling sessions, face painting and pogo inducing sing alongs. A truly invigorating live experience.

Appearing Live:
Nick Caceres: Guitar, Vocals, Kick Drum
Keith Foster: Lead Guitar, Vocals
Simon Hannes: Clarinet, Pedals, Pads, Noises
Mark McIntire: Standup Bass, Kick Tamborine, Vocals
Paul Ahrens: Drumkit