Discography:

2013: Stay::Single::Self Released

Listen and Download from: http://exreverie.bandcamp.com

2011: Praxis::EP::Self Released

Listen and Download from: http://exreverie.bandcamp.com

2008::The Door into Summer::Full Length::Released on Language of Stone

Listen to streaming tracks of album on last.fm

Purchase at your local record store or download now at iTunes

2005::Phronesis::EP::Self Released

Listen to streaming tracks on our Facebook page

Original pressing in hand-bound booklets SOLD OUT

Compilations:

2009::Perfect as Cats: A Tribute to the Cure::’The Hanging Garden’::Manimal Vinyl

New video for BLACK BUTTERFLY!

By Courtney Brooke & Alec K. Redfearn

Production assistant: Christopher Schwaber

“Takes the Renaissance Faire sound and blasts it wide open with honest-to-god rawk. Buzzing guitars blend startlingly with strings and a wealth of other instruments to help expand the canvas on which singer Gillian Chadwick lays her preapocalyptic dramas.” -Time Out New York

“Ripe with drama, rippling with rainbow colored acid flourishes, moored loosely with cello and violin and viola, but flapping crazily in the wind, this debut album from Ex Reverie is the most rocking, least traditional sort of freak folk, an ominous LSD daydream that can be entered but not explained…this door leads into otherness, as brightly colored and mythical as freak folk can be.” - Popmatters

“This is an extraordinary work… embrace its elfin glory.” - Terrascope

“Very ambitious original take on rocked-up traditional folk balladry…Singer and songwriter Gillian Chadwick seems like someone to keep an ear on.” - USAToday.com

“With a soft call/ Dawn comes for us all,” Gillian Chadwick chants on The Door Into Summer, her long-gestating debut as Ex Reverie. It’s one of the more chilling moments on a chilling album, and it provides the center for a long, stirring song that piles on handclaps, Chadwick’s sinister lead guitar and lots of other layers, most of which drop away for that crucial lull in which Chadwick holds our hearts in her hand.” Philadelphia Weekly

“The most impressive band to come out of Greg and Jessica Weeks’s Language of Stone repertoire so far is Ex Reverie…Chadwick’s singing on the band’s debut, The Door into Summer, evokes a more sinister Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention), her voice rising like an incantation over the music and then falling back among the flora….

Ex Reverie is an exciting band to listen to. The Door into Summer is the kind of album that makes you impatient for the next one. Chadwick works in a timeless vocabulary of sounds and syllables, a language that welcomes the modern world into the bosom of nature. In this way it is a generous and boundless music for all its darkness.” 8/10 - Prefix Magazine

“This is densely bewitching stuff, almost claustrophobically sensual.” - London Kicks

“The poetic lyrics and some of the arrangements seem to be in touch with folk traditions (with a touch of Zeppelin-esque mysticism), but the blazing guitars and rock rhythms call upon the glam bombast of Bowie and Bolan. While the music certainly evokes the sounds of the past, there’s no denying that “The Door Into Summer” is a fresh and exciting album in its own right…Really, it’s worth the time to get to know the striking lyrics, inventive instrumentation, and fantastic arrangements. Each of these elements are tucked away like little surprises throughout the entirety of “The Door Into Summer,” waiting to be heard. What ultimately makes this album a great one is that it manages to adeptly channel the group’s glam and folk influences and become something all its own. 9/10.” - Foxy Digitalis

…in all the ways 2011 has to offer:

+ Be a fan on Facebook

+ Enjoy the pith and pretense of Twitter

+ Email: helloreverie (at) gmail.com or the “contact” link on the top of the page

Connect with our favorite artists:

+ Most Ex Reverie photography by Courtney Brooke

+ Home page image by Darshana Borah

http://exreverie.bandcamp.com/track/stay

A little while back (Summer of ‘11?) I wrote a tune that felt like a slightly different animal than my usual long-form, mystical prog-ishness of Ex Reverie. I approached Mike Kennedy, a great friend and musician in Philly, and asked him to produce it. Mike’s the mind behind the band Audible, and I felt like his precise craftsmanship and nuanced ear would be refreshing for this gentle tune.

What he came up with (by arranging, producing, engineering, and playing very nearly every single instrument), is a rare thing that is very near and dear to my heart now. I’m so grateful to have incredibly talented people in my friend-family and musical life!

Speaking of which, the new live Ex Reverie band has been practicing weekly up here in Providence, and it’s pretty much the most exciting thing that’s ever happened in my lifetime of performance. It is heavy, ball-out, dark, and full wicked magic that fills me with glee to think of sharing with all of you in person…at long last!

I’d thought to make a road-trip video for  “Stay”, and hopefully still will at some point, but precisely because the new band is so deliciously heavy and shreddy I thought that the time was now to let this breezy bird of a song fly, lest it get crushed under the monolith of guitars and fuzz bass that’s about to start galloping around the east coast.

Hope you all enjoy the fresh tune, here on this first day of the new season. Please share it with your friends if you’re so moved - this is a digital-only release for the time being and could use your help to be heard. Thank you as always for the support, the ears, and the love.

Photo by the marvelous Courtney Brooke

Hello from fair New England. I’ve relocated here, mostly (still keeping a perch in Philly). It is beautiful. New people, new places, and some very promising prospects for Ex Reverie. Plans are in place to try out a new band this month and it’s looking like my dream: heavy shredders & lifers to boot.

The relocation has also prompted me to start a personal blog, since there are many miles now between me and much of my friend/family. Today’s update was a rumination on Ex Reverie, heavy on the emotional honesty. Check it out if you’re in the mood for a confessional. You can read it through my personal site:

Gillian Chadwick

Here it is, Sweetlings…note the new VIDEOS tab. Click and ye shall find the fresh, hot-from-the-oven video for BLACK BUTTERFLY!

BIG THANKS:

Eye-Wise:

Alec K. Redfearn: Handsomest Camera Man, Editor, Visionary, Co-Director

Courtney Brooke: Director, Art Director, Light Witch, Drum Star

Christopher Schwaber: Production Assistant, Blanket Wrangler, Best Dude, Bass Star

Ear-Wise:

Ben McConnell: Drums

Jesse Sparhawk: Bass

Jeff Zeigler: Keyboards, Engineer, Co-Producer

Jeff White: Mastering

Creatures of the Earth! Leave your caves and come out into the sun! Summer returns (probably in a few weeks, the way this year has been going).

The first *official* Ex Reverie video, for the song Black Butterfly, is finished and will be released on Monday, March 26th! Check back here for a link or the Facebook page. It’s a glammy witchy rock and roll fantasy, very true to form. Courtney Brooke, well known in the land of interweb for her photography, makes some beeeeautful moving images in collaboration with my own personal favorite man and legendary musician Alec K. Redfearn.

Here’s a few stills to give you an idea of what we we got up to:

New video getting final touches this weekend, new single in mastering! Looks like the video for Black Butterfly will be ready for your eyes by the end of the month. Will have a date for you this weekend.

The new single, Stay for a While, was mixed last weekend by yours truly and Mike Kennedy, the mastermind behind this particular production. We’re both so excited kick it out of the nest soon….

The song was mixed on quite the fancy system. Here’s a glimpse of us at the helm:

~G

The first new Ex Reverie morsel of 2012 is almost ready for you, my friends. Spent a wonderful weekend up in New England filming for the “Black Butterfly” video. Yes, this time it’s really happening. Even freezing my bones in a diaphanous dress on seemingly the only truly cold days we’ve had this winter doesn’t dampen my enthusiasm for the footage we got. 

It’s a collaboration between two powerhouses of talent: Courtney Brooke and one Mister Alec K. Redfearn (check out his lovely videos for Marissa Nadler), with me chiming in ideas here and there. It’s a ode to glittery & classic rock imagery just like the song itself, with plenty of witchery thrown in…just like the band itself. I’m honored to work two of my favorite people in the world, who just happen to be crazy skilled at what they do. I feel slightly bashful about how much just ME is in the vid, but I did manage to conscript some surprise guests to play my band…keep a look out for the dreamboat rhythm section! 

Here’s a little photo of Alec & Courtney I snapped from my end of the shot:

Check back in for news of release date…

~G

Hello and welcome to the future, folks. A famous year is here and we’re all basically living in a sci-fi world already. I’m thinking all metallic jumpsuits from here on out just to really get into it.

So, what’s 2012 for Ex Reverie? For one thing there’s a new single already recorded and being mixed as we speak. It’s called “Stay for a While” and it’s something of an experiment musically. I teamed up with one of my favorite Philadelphia musicians, Mike Kennedy, and gave him the reigns to produce this tune that I’ve had floating around my head. The match of man and song is not random - Mike has one of the best ears around for intelligent and nuanced pop (think Eno pop, that is) and this song is the shortest and sweetest I’ve written in years. I’m pretty psyched about how it turned out!

To my druid friends who might be alarmed, don’t worry - the next tune in the queue is called “The Land Without A King” and it’s a 6+ minute castle-stormer. These and a couple songs from “Praxis” are in the works as videos at the moment…some really exciting collaborations are brewing and I can’t wait to share them with you all.

Look for more updates soon…it’s my resolution!

~G

Oh what a lovely day my dears…here it is. Praxis is available now for your ears, with a little artwork for your eyes too if you like.

The EP is available to stream through this site (click on, you guessed it, “New EP” on above menu), and available for download here:

http://exreverie.bandcamp.com/album/praxis

This release is digital-only for the moment, but it’s also Pay-What-Thou-Wilt. So have at it. If you like what you hear and feel able to contribute, some $ will make more music happen and bring a live Ex Reverie to your town much faster. Either way, please pass it along/share it with your friends if you feel so inclined. This is a self-release for the time being and I’m hoping for your help in getting this to the worlds of people who’d enjoy it.

Also available…a hand silk-screened BLACK LIGHT POSTER with original Praxis artwork by the amazing Jason Killinger. It’s a crazy textural space landscape with some mind-bending questions about just where this would be? Deep in the Reverie, that’s all I know for sure! Jason came up with the image by collage and then we printed it together with help from my friend David Brant. In ink it abstracts and glows mightily under black light.

The poster is limited to a numbered edition of 200. It’s ten bucks and you can buy it through Bandcamp or email us directly. With each poster comes a digital download coupon for the EP.

Here’s a peek into printing night:

Two colors drying on a heat wave night. In the next session black went down:

We listened to excellent prog during the making of this first batch…

So there you have it! Hope you enjoy.

All love to you,

G

The wait is almost over! We have a real release date - in two weeks the new EP, Praxis, will be available.

Check back to this site on June 16th, 2011 and you’ll be able to listen or download the EP from here. It’s a digital release for now, but there’s also limited edition artwork available that I’m pretty excited about. Looking forward to you seeing & hearing what we’ve been up to!

~G

 Happy Christmas, Winter is over (if you want it)! We’ve made it through another one, the long dark of it all, and now it’s like a deep breath of tremendous proportions. Things feel lighter, more active. We’re all waking up and sweeping out the floors, planting and planning for the wild season ahead. This time of year always reminds me of the rustic banshee album I made with Sharron Kraus, Rusalnaia. Four of the songs are season-oriented, the other four about the elements. One tune in particular, “Dandelion Wine”, is by far the most light-hearted thing I’ve ever written. Sharron and I both laugh about it: a couple of former (how former?) goths singing about frolicking in the spring! She wrote the music on that one and I did the lyrics:

***

Now do you remember dear?
It seems I forget every year
How the cold and sorrow pass
How the seed sleeps in the grass

***

The sleeper awakes, folks. A new Ex Reverie recording is almost here. Praxis, a 4-song EP, will be released in May 2011. These few tunes span the gamut of my reveries and influences, and possibly reflect a little of the life that I’ve been living since The Door into Summer. It’s been a dramatic, dynamic couple of years but I couldn’t be happier to be where I am now: translating the interior via music again.

~G

Hello Friends!

It has been a busy couple of weeks over here for Ex Reverie. After a number of intense and exciting (and LOUD) rehearsals to prepare, we went into the recording studio last Wednesday to work on two new tracks.

Back in February work began on new material at Uniform Recording, a Philly studio owned and run by our friend Jeff Zeigler, also of the band Arc in Round. Jeff has done great work for a ton of killer groups, it’s a happy thing to be in such fine company. Two new songs from that session were completed: “Black Butterfly” and “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”.  These tracks both have videos in the editing stage and release dates will be announced as soon as I have them.

“Near” and “Old Maps”, the two songs we’re working on right now, continue a move towards a bigger and heavier sonic direction from the the first album. You can get a taste of this lean mean focus in the cover track for the Manimal Vinyl charity comp: “The Hanging Garden”. I am personally fired up and thrilled with the power I’m hearing from the current iteration of this project - can’t wait to turn the songs over to your ears and bring it to you live as well. The three-piece band is just about ready with a full set. We’re discussing a short tour through New England soon to get our feet wet. Drop a line if there’s a place in particular you’d like to see us hit on this first jaunt.

Also this month I traveled to visit my favorite friends Courtney and Christopher in their magic cottage up north to celebrate Samhain and generally just soak up the most mysterious and gorgeous vibes I know how to find. Courtney Brooke is my long-time visual collaborator. She did all the photography for The Door into Summer and is currently working on the “Black Butterfly” video. A tiny clue:

And here’s another shot she took - the two of us on the set for “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”:

This trip was a spooky and profound few days filled with tons of intelligent conversation and beautiful people. We were lucky enough to have more than one gifted photographer in the group - check out the work of the lovely Alison Scarpulla. Look close and you’ll catch some documentation of our celebration!

More soon. Be well!

~G

Autumn Equinox 2010 waltzed in the door this week carrying a huge full moon and making all manner of promises. There was the one about chilly nights to rouse us from our sweltering Philly summer stupor, an assurance or two that the rehearsal space (windowless/warehouse) will no longer double as a sauna, and something about hayrides.

The wheel is turning over here Ex Reverie land: a live show in the works, two new songs recorded and mastered, videos being edited, new material in the demo process, more recording time scheduled, and…a new website. Gone for you are the days of wading through the tumbleweeds and aggressive animated gifs of myspace just to find out what is happening with the band. Thank you for doing so, by the way! Your continued curiosity has been an encouragement through this long era of change.

All this newness is on its way in the next couple of months - check back for updates on the process and release dates. Enjoy your new season, wherever you are.