Mountains

Mountains is an American drone and ambient group from the United States, active since 1999. The project is based in Brooklyn, New York and consists of Koen Holtkamp and Brendon Anderegg. It develops as a duo built around instrumental, ambient and drone textures, with an emphasis on combining acoustic and electronic material.

Holtkamp and Anderegg first meet in middle school and later form Mountains after connecting while studying at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois. The project begins in the late 1990s as a setting for live performance that brings together acoustic instruments, electronics and improvisation. Material created on stage often carries over into studio recordings, and field recordings are frequently used alongside electronic synthesis.

The group first issues music on its own label, Apestaartje, from 2005, before moving to Thrill Jockey from 2009. Its releases include several albums, with Centralia appearing in 2013 as the latest named recording in the available information.

Holtkamp is originally from the Netherlands and records under his own name as well as under Aero, A Silent Partner and N/A. He also collaborates with Chris Forsyth and Ben Vida. Anderegg records under his full name and as Anderegg, and also works with the band Charter Oak. Both members score music for film and video, and Holtkamp sometimes presents his own films during live performances.