Active Child

Active Child

Active Child is the project of Pat Grossi, a singer and producer from Elizabeth, United States, who is based in Los Angeles and was born in 1983. His music draws on a background as a choir boy and on experience with the band Weight Room, and it combines falsetto vocals, analogue synthesisers and harp lines.

Style and development

Grossi’s sound moves across ambient, chillwave and downtempo territory, with links to dream pop, indie and experimental music. It also develops from his early work in bedroom-made laptop indie-pop. His arrangements often mix electronic textures with layered voices and harp, creating a sound that is at once expansive and intimate.

Releases

Active Child’s 2010 EP Curtis Lane establishes much of this approach and becomes a key early release. The debut album You Are All I See follows on Vagrant Records and later appears through Sun Rooms Recordings; it includes the singles “Playing House”, “Hanging On” and “High Priestess”, and features guest vocals from Tom Krell of How To Dress Well on “Playing House”.

Live work and collaborations

Grossi tours with artists across different styles, including James Blake, School of Seven Bells, White Lies and White Rabbits. He also opens for James Blake on tour. The music around You Are All I See is described through references to Radiohead, Bon Iver, New Order and 1980s drum-and-synth music, reflecting the range of influences folded into the project.

Themes

The songs on You Are All I See centre on relationships, love lost and rediscovered, monogamy and identity. Grossi presents the record as a personal bridge between performer and listener, with a darker tone than he first intends.