Beck

Beck Hansen, born Bek David Campbell in Los Angeles, is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His work begins in 1988 and develops through the Los Angeles and New York underground scenes before moving into mainstream alternative rock.

Background and style

Born in Los Angeles in 1970, Beck grows up in a family closely connected to music and art. His father, David Campbell, is a musician, and his mother, Bibbe Hansen, is a former dancer for The Velvet Underground, a founding member of the satirical band Black Fag, and a visual artist. After his parents separate, he remains in Los Angeles with his mother and brother and absorbs the city’s wide range of musical styles, including hip-hop and Latin music, as well as its art scene. He also spends time in Germany with his grandfather, fluxus artist Al Hansen.

Beck’s music combines collage-like pop writing with ironic lyrics, samples, drum machines, live instrumentation, and dense sound effects. His work draws on alternative rock, electronic music, hip-hop, anti-folk, experimental approaches, chamber folk, alternative dance, and other genre crossovers. He is often associated with 1990s media culture and with a style that mixes humour, fragmentation, and musical quotation.

Early career

After dropping out of high school in the mid-1980s, Beck educates himself and travels widely. In the late 1980s he is active in New York City’s punk-influenced anti-folk scene. He later returns to Los Angeles, where he performs in clubs and coffee shops and makes early recordings with Tom Grimley at Poop Alley Studios, part of WIN Records. The founders of Bong Load Custom Records discover him in this period.

His 1993 12-inch single Loser becomes a breakthrough, creating major attention on college and alternative radio. He then signs to Geffen Records, which allows him to release independent albums while under contract. In 1994 Geffen issues Mellow Gold, his major-label debut, while he also releases Stereopathetic Soulmanure on Flipside Records and One Foot in the Grave on K Records.

1990s and commercial breakthrough

Beck tours on the 1995 Lollapalooza bill and remains associated with the alternative rock scene. His 1996 album Odelay, made with The Dust Brothers, confirms his wider reputation. Its lead single, Where It’s At, receives heavy airplay and strong MTV rotation. The album earns widespread critical praise, tops the Pazz & Jop critics’ poll for Album of the Year, reaches double-platinum status, and wins two Grammy Awards.

He follows it with Mutations in 1998, produced by Nigel Godrich. Recorded quickly over two weeks, it moves away from the dense electronic sound of Odelay and uses more folk and blues influences. Midnite Vultures arrives in 1999 and is supported by a world tour. It continues his high-energy live reputation.

2000s releases

Sea Change appears in 2002, again produced with Nigel Godrich. It becomes Beck’s first U.S. Top 10 album, reaching number 8, and is organised around the aftermath of a relationship. The album includes string arrangements by his father and is toured with The Flaming Lips as his opening and backing band.

In 2005 he releases Guero, produced by The Dust Brothers and Tony Hoffer, with a collaboration from Jack White of The White Stripes. The album returns to the sound associated with Odelay. The Information follows in 2006 and has a largely electronic and ambient feel. Its singles include Nausea, Cellphone’s Dead, Think I’m In Love, and Timebomb, the last of which receives a Grammy nomination for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.

Modern Guilt is released in 2008 and completes Beck’s contract with Interscope Records. Outside North America it comes out on XL Recordings. Produced by Beck and Danger Mouse, it includes contributions from Cat Power and the singles Chemtrails, Gamma Ray, and Youthless. The album reaches number four in both the U.S. and Canada, reaches number nine in the UK, and is nominated for Best Alternative Album at the 51st Grammy Awards.

Later projects and recent albums

In 2012 Beck releases Song Reader, a set of 20 songs issued only as sheet music, intended for other musicians to interpret and record. He performs special Song Reader concerts with guests in 2013 and also works on recordings based on the material.

He signs to Capitol Records in 2013 and releases Morning Phase in 2014. The album brings him back together with many of the musicians who worked on Sea Change. Its singles include Blue Moon and Waking Light.

Colors follows in 2017. The album moves toward pop-oriented material while still combining rock, hip-hop, and other styles. Its singles include Dreams, Wow, Dear Life, Up All Night, and the title track. It wins Best Alternative Music Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, at the 61st Grammy Awards.

Hyperspace is released in 2019 and is largely a collaboration with Pharrell Williams, who produces most of the album. Its singles include Saw Lightning, Hyperlife, Uneventful Days, and Dark Places.