Biography
Beach Fossils is a Brooklyn indie band founded in 2009 by Dustin Payseur, a North Carolina native who moved to New York City in 2008 and expanded a solo project into a group[1]. Payseur wrote, recorded, and produced the self-titled 2010 debut on Captured Tracks himself[2], and the record is regarded as an early landmark of the lo-fi indie pop sound[2].
Before starting the project, Payseur played in several bands in Charlotte and New York, but found collaboration difficult and began Beach Fossils as a solo outlet for his songs and poetry. He has said his outlook draws on Taoism, which he has followed since his teens, and that his music is about the present moment, not nostalgia[3].
By the time of their third album, Somersault (2017), Beach Fossils had grown from a solo project into a full band, and Payseur had started his own label, Bayonet Records, with his wife, Katie Garcia.[4] He co-produced the record with Jonathan Rado of Foxygen, and spoke openly in interviews about depression and about his shortcomings as a friend, a candor he said he once avoided.[5]
References
- Beach Fossils, Wikipedia — Band formation and Payseur's move to New York
- Beach Fossils (album), Wikipedia — Release date, label, Payseur's role writing, recording and producing, critical legacy
- Beach Fossils: Let the Notes Fall Where They May, Agit Reader — Interview with Payseur on songwriting, Taoism, the present moment, and going solo
- Somersault (Beach Fossils album), Wikipedia — Bayonet Records, Rado production, album context
- Beach Fossils Somersault interview with Dustin Payseur, The Fader — Payseur on depression and friendship