On The Verge

Quilt

Boston, Mass.
Dystopian Neo-Folk
www.quiltmusic.bandcamp.com

“We were playing in the scene around this art collective while also going to school,” says guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Anna Rochinski, who along with guitarist Shane Butler and drummer John Andrews make up the Boston band Quilt. “We met and formed the band around 2009, put out our first cassette and did a little tour.” Recalling the freakish folk of contemporaries like Woods, while also channeling classical British folk acts like Pentangle and ‘60s bands like Jefferson Airplane, Quilt’s name seems ideally suited to their interweaving brand of modern psychedelia. “It’s about putting all these things together into a cohesive sound and not having a strict agenda for a genre that we want to be sticking to,” explains Rochinski. Combining three-part harmonies with layered drone elements, the group’s self-titled debut—produced by Apollo Sunshine bassist Jesse Gallagher—is the result of freeform songwriting and a series of experimental jams. Songs often drift into extended mantra-like chants with hints of Eastern melodies that guide the listener through dreamy, transcendent sound quests.