After gaining support from the likes of CLASH, Flaunt, American Songwriter, Earmilk and Live Nation’s ‘Ones To Watch’, along with millions of streams for his music on Spotify alone, Bishop Ivy has made his biggest mark on modern music to date, revealing the seminal new EP, ‘Parasocial’.
Bishop Ivy first introduced himself as an alternative-pop songwriter known for his innovative music which mixed organic instruments with digital sounds, field recordings, electronica influences, and samples. Continuing to sharpen that sound, he now embellishes it with pop hooks, sonically adventurous production and autobiographical lyrics. Ivy’s focus on imaginative sound and sharp songcraft began in Boston, where he kicked off his career as a 14-year-old street busker on the neighbourhood sidewalks of Back Bay. Now based in Pittsburgh, where he studies music, electrical engineering and computer science, and with a number of releases under his belt, Ivy hopes to further his ability to manipulate music.
Inspired by boundary breakers like Bon Iver, Frank Ocean, James Blake, and Imogen Heap, Ivy has built his career upon attention to detail. He’s responsible for virtually every sound he creates, with his willingness to juxtapose synthesized sounds with raw, organic music being the driving force behind what he does.
His EP ‘Parasocial’, is the result of the songwriter realizing he would often write to people, without any expectation of response. Whether it was writing to a partner or writing to himself, it was as if he was writing to ghosts. The word “parasocial” describes a type of one-sided relationship people have with those who aren’t aware of the relationship, like celebrities or even fictional characters. Ivy continues, “I also like the similarity to the word ‘paranormal’ further tying into the analogy of ghosts and the ghostly nature of the record in general.” The lowercase songs ‘parasocial’, ‘the park’ and ‘tunnel vision’ are written about another person and the uppercase tracks ‘STAND UP’ and ‘CAN’T IMAGINE’ are written about himself.
The EP is accompanied by a live release event at Carnegie Mellon, where fans will experience a multi-speaker listening party, with split live stems playing through individual speakers creating a surround sound, all orchestrated by Bishop. Attendees will be invited to walk around the room and get a different mix of the song based on where they stand.
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