we just stole a car

We just stole a car was designed as an outlet for creative expression without allegiance to specific medium, form or genre. It created the opportunity for Vancouver-based artists to work together in multi-disciplinary projects regardless of size, complexity or obscurity. We just stole a car began as a duo comprised of composer/multi-instrumentals John Mutter, and bassist Peter Kim in 2006. The duo released its first full-length CD "a" independently in 2007. The album's soundscapes suggested scenes of urban construction, deconstruction, order, chaos and mechanical malfunction. The album toyed with digital processing and the creation of new sounds.
We just stole a car’s new release, BARN, propels the group into new grounds: Digital processing is exchanged for concrete sound and analogue manipulation, man-made city soundscapes are replaced with “animal narrative,” and three new musicians (Kevin Romain, Dominic Conway, and Richard Shaffer,) join to convert the original duo into a quintet. The album combines through-composed material with free improvisation. Manipulation and processing of sound was kept minimal in order to coincide with the “natural” theme of the album. As a result, concrete sound and the sonic exploration of various instruments (clarinet, acoustic and prepared piano, trumpet, French horn, acoustic and electric bass, electric and prepared guitar, drums, percussion, saxophone, trombone, violin) makeup the majority of the more abstract textures on the album.
Each copy of BARN includes Polaroid-size photographs by John Mutter and Jessica Groome which depict scenes of “destroyed” or “damaged” circumstances and scenarios. The photographs are a visual representation of a common theme of We just stole a car’s music, which is to set up a motif or a theme, and then destroy it. Each album contains a different combination of photographs, some of which are rarer than others.