About

two men sitting on rocks in a canyon, one is holding a guitar and the other is striking a thinking poseMagnetic Vines is a collaboration between Ross Garren and Erik Miron, who met on the Downtown Los Angeles music scene in the early 2010s. After crossing paths a few times over the years, they found themselves playing the same clubs with increasing frequency in a swing band called The Vignes Rooftop Revival — Garren on bass harmonica and Miron on guitar and trumpet. As music venues across the world shut their doors in March of 2020, the two musicians turned their focus from performing live acoustic music to composing and recording ambient electro-acoustic pieces.

 

Their self-titled debut “Magnetic Vines” explores concepts of time and space in the natural world, blending lush synth textures with lo-fi acoustic sounds. Their sophomore release, “Snake River Improvisations,” revisits the spirit of their live acoustic era in the context of ambient nature music; the album consists of 10 ambient neoclassical improvisations featuring Garren on solo piano, reacting to the tranquil natural surroundings near the confluence of the Boise and Snake Rivers in southern Idaho. Their third release, “Empty Sky Field Recordings,” takes this concept even further: to create this record, Miron hiked into the remote wilderness of Montana with a guitar and a portable recording rig to capture live performances in the surroundings that inspired them. 

 

Though their recordings are eclectic in sound and scope, a series of common themes run through Magnetic Vines’ body of work: a deep fascination for the rhythms of the natural world, a love for sonic exploration, and an eye toward the cosmos. 

A dry desert landscape with a blue creek winding its way through the foreground.