The Ocean in Films

Some Rock ‘n’ Roll History

The Ocean in Films is a San Francisco indie-rock band, and the product of the multi-year musical collaboration of childhood friends Anders Carpenter and Daniel Hildebrand, both originally from North Carolina.

In 2015 the duo convened to exchange song ideas which they captured any chance they got in informal bursts of writing and recording. This iterative approach to composition gave the songs breathing room to stretch out and develop over time. Quickly a sound developed that blended a focus on sonic experimentation and orchestration with tightly honed song structures and abstract lyricism. It is a sound that calls to mind the chiming guitars and fractured pop sensibilities of R.E.M., XTC, Felt, Fripp/Eno, and The Go-Betweens.

In 2017 the duo entered the studio with Damien Rasmussen to record what would become ‘Cruel Vestige,’ the band’s first full-length album. The lushly detailed record was mixed by Larry Crane at Jackpot! Studios in Portland, and mastered for digital and vinyl release by Brent Lambert at The Kitchen in Carrboro. Cinematic in scope and sound, ‘Cruel Vestige’ looks to personal tumult from the past 10 years for inspiration to posit the question: Which is harder - being haunted by the past, or your own unwillingness to let it go?

Members

Anders Carpenter - vocals, guitars, bass, keys

Daniel Hildebrand - drums, synths, production

Contributors

Taylor Crawley Balser, Damien Rasmussen, Ben Chambers, Chris Thomson