Dawn

by Phil Elverum

The music of "Mount Eerie" and "The Microphones" has always been a very personal, almost voyeuristic, view inside the mind of Phil Elverum. "Dawn" delves deep into an intensely creative period of Elverum's life, with a beautiful mix of journal writing, jokes, photographs, and music. This 144-page hardcover collection chronicles a winter spent alone in a cabin in arctic Norway, wrestling with ghosts, gathering wood, acting out myths--3 months of unfiltered brain torrents interspersed with drawings. It comes with a 17-track CD of songs written during that time, songs that have become well known over the years through recordings and live performances. The CD is a kind of lost album finally recorded properly, pared down to just guitar and vocals. Also included is a 16-page color photo booklet.

Genres: Music, Memoir, Art, Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

Phil Elverum is Mount Eerie. The multi-instrumentalist has played in other bands, and worked as a producer, but remains best known for this solo project, which began under the name the Microphones in 1997. In 2003, he renamed the project Mount Eerie (and added an "e" to his last name, Elvrum) after returning from a trip to Norway, where he lived alone in a remote cabin for a winter. "Mount Eerie" specifically refers to the mountain on Fidalgo Island, an island an hour and change north of Seattle where you’ll also find Elverum’s lifelong Anacortes, Washington hometown.

To date, his most critically acclaimed (and popular) album is the Microphones’ 2001 epic The Glow Pt. 2. The first official Mount Eerie album—following the Microphones’ final 2003 full-length, also called Mount Eerie—is 2005’s No Flashlight: Songs of the Fulfilled Night. It was followed by 2007’s Mount Eerie pts. 6 & 7, a 132-page, hardcover book of his photography, packaged with a 10” picture disk. In early 2009, the journals he kept and drawings he scribbled in Norway were released as a 144-page hardcover book called Dawn. It came with 16 color photo cards and a CD of songs he wrote while living in the cabin.

Regardless of the moniker, the various collections include interlocking themes, references to earlier works, and are marked by Elverum’s distinctive naturalist self-recorded lo-fi analog sound that mixes a whispered, gentle voice, which can also yell and bellow, with various strains of sound: His work can be delicately spare or booming and ambitiously layered and noisy, often in the same song. Lyrically, he focuses on memory, first-person storytelling, myth, naturalism, the everyday as sacred, and a sense of place (in and out of Washington State), among other related things. In addition to his extravagantly packaged albums, Elverum has released self-published books (which he illustrates or fills with his photographs) via his own label, P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. – Brandon Stosuy

Wikipedia: Phil Elverum (born Phil Elvrum May 26, 1978) is the sole permanent member of the Anacortes, Washington-based indie rock bands The Microphones and Mount Eerie.

Phil Elverum is known and noted for his manipulation of analog recording devices and unique recording approach. His records have a distinct, natural sound. Most of the Microphones catalog was recorded on a broken 16 track reel to reel tape machine while his recent material has been recorded on an 8 track reel to reel.

Elverum currently operates P. W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd., from which he sells records by Mount Eerie and the Microphones as well as Thanksgiving, Woelv and The Spectacle.

Phil Elverum used to drum for the Olympia, Washington-based band Old Time Relijun. He is also a founding member of the band D+, and has produced and engineered recordings for many other artists, including Beat Happening, Mirah, Little Wings, Karl Blau, and Jason Anderson.

In addition to his albums, Elverum has released a few self-published books. He is also a painter, and has provided the artwork for most of his albums and many t-shirts and posters sold during his tours.

Reviews

[David Bjelland · Rating 5 out of 5]

"...I never know what happened until a year or two later. Maybe all my sitting still and constant observation of 'the present moment' will give me a head start at understanding the time here. Maybe it's dumb to try to find some conclusion or discovery. I've been saying all along that my life is for constantly experiencing and forgetting, drinking and pissing. There is nothing all that significant about today. It is the end of the bookshelf on the shelf I've labeled 'my winter alone', with more books above and below. Dewey decimal."

Required reading for super-fans of The Microphones / Mount Eerie; merely highly-recommended reading for anyone with an appreciation for voyeuristic intimacy, the diary as a legitimate genre of literature, distinct from but related to The Memoir and The Personal Essay Collection, and the effects of extended solitude on the human brain.

Worth the price of admission for the dream-conversation with Björk alone.

[sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

sad vengeful indie man going through a breakup moves to norway, reads war and peace, and has a lot of dreams about björk in the name of some vague spiritual quest wherein he attempts to tackle just about the same emotional issues i worked through at 19 from the comfort of my own semi-isolated apartment in pandemic-era lower manhattan.

a mini personal essay:

i bought this book when i was like 16 or 17 and capital-O Obsessed with phil elverum's work for the first time but abandoned it at like 50 pages because i literally could not read at the time. i read it now (2023 at 21) and it was honestly very disappointing. obviously his music is wonderful and i knew this was going to be extremely mundane ("it is terribly good to carry water and chop wood") and his prose throughout this thing is sooo beautiful especially for it being his literal diary at the time but like... idk when i tried to read this at 16 it was like i was reading the gospel of some übermensch-style hero figure. i bought into his own fight with death (as detailed in the Glow, pt. 2 and Mount Eerie) in the same way i bought into my own a few years later when i tried my best to create albums in this epic narrative style and embarked on my own "spiritual quest" that looking back on was no more than just like reading the tao de ching, being suicidal, and going through a extremely undramatic breakup.

in reading this book now i felt the experience of full disillusionment with this whole indie music cult-of-personality thing that surrounds so many of these artists; a movement i feel is akin to the one i think he comes to terms with regarding jack kerouac both in this book and in his song "distortion"(not that he is kerouac-level evil [or evil at all]). just kind of like a don't meet your heroes thing (i have met phil elverum and he is very very nice)... but like idk instead of feeling that i'm reading the musings of a tortured genius like i might have five years ago, i feel like i'm reading the notes of a kid only a few years older than me who is going through things i have already gone through, only except he's going through them in a less-graceful (if that is possible) and more violent (outwardly) kind of way. like the thing is that he's literally just some dude who writes about pissing and shitting a lot and makes a lot of uncomfortable jokes and dreams about hitting his ex-girlfriend... like... i'm crazy! but i'm just not that like... immature? unrepressed? i guess? idk. obviously like the tradition of autobiographical indie music is inherently self-mythologizing but like... as someone who has like made self-mythology music and also struggled with understanding myself only through a strained and heavily constructed mythos, like... there was something uncomfortable about this whole reading experience, even if i did very much enjoy a lot of it because like obviously it is still like very very enjoyable regardless and he often is very funny (definitely very goofy) and he like definitely is a dude that knows how to write, even if he is just like... a dude.

anyway two stars because although i really really liked it and his casual prose is often so so so beautiful and it reads a lot like my own journals sometimes (maybe not a coincidence), i think it is rated too high and it sometimes made me feel weird and old in a way that is new and strange for me (largely my fault).

an appendix of funny quotes:

"I will carry my dick carefully" (5)

"'... I'm sowwwy...'" (14)

"So I am reminded that I am making history, for myself. 'The time I moved to Norway' said the old man." (22)

"I dreamt of Björk. Probably 1/8 of my dreams are about her." (44)

"I am not writing this obsessed journal because I want to." (62)

"It feels good to get frantic work done on the computer, to type fast, to flip through pages and jot things down, to ignore my hunger and body aches, to just look at the screen." (72)

"I am funny. (Just now watching myself write 'I am funny.' I laughed.)" (99)

"Giving weak speeches with my staff on the rock, looking out over no one and yelling about Mario Kart. This is enlightenment." (107)

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit I'm more than a bit biased, since Phil Elverum is probably my favorite musician, and he sometimes draws comics, which I also like, so it shouldn't be surprising that I really really liked this book. Still, the packaging alone, even without the CD of new recordings, is worth the purchase price. The text itself is diary form with a few drawings, about Elverum's time living alone in a cabin in Norway, and gives a peek into the mind that makes the music of Mount Eerie (formerly the Microphones). It's thoughtful and often funny, and he's well aware of his own angst and related nonsense, keeping the book from veering deep into self-indulgent navel gazing. It makes me wish I could go live in a cabin by myself in the Scandinavian wilderness, and since that's no practical, I can do it vicariously through 'Dawn.'

[gabe ks · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh to live forever in Phil’s glistening mind. emma wants me to send this back to her—she insists that I do, and of course I will, later this afternoon. til then, I bask in his transitive solitude.

[buttercup · Rating 4 out of 5]

philly pees a lot in this book. similar to story of the eye in that way. jk it is a v intimate journal and v enjoyable :)

[Lars · Rating 3 out of 5]

The CD accompanying the book collects unadorned versions of Mount Eerie songs written while Phil Elverum lived in a remote Norwegian cabin in the winter of 2002-2003, just after the release of The Microphones' Mount Eerie. The beautifully designed book itself is the journal Elverum kept during this time, the all-too-rare look behind the inspiration of these songs. Sometimes these moments provide more than we should know, yet Elverum allows that voyeurism for those willing to join him there. Admittedly, the book is really only for the hardcore fans, some of whom will recognize Elverum's cutesy humor and even his lyric-style, though a few parts really made me cringe.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aside from providing unique insight into the motivations, processes, and preoccupations of an artist that I've drawn inspiration from for more than a decade, Elverum's candidness as well as the lengths to which he goes--geographically, environmentally, socially, emotionally, etc.--to isolate himself in an effort to better comprehend his life makes *Dawn* a really insightful journey for the reader. And, in true Phil-form, the use of mixed media only further diversifies and deepens the experience.

[Einar Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

i wish phil would write more
i really want to read an autobiography on his life but i'm not sure he would want to release something like that
oh well, one can hope

[Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Let me look at today and find out about my life”

I needed this rn. I’ll consume anything and everything that Phil Elverum makes forever and ever.

[Lucas Lysne · Rating 4 out of 5]

seeing as dawn is one of my favorite mount eerie albums, of course i had to end up here. i am far beyond my teenage years of musical idol worship, but nevertheless curious about the nearly 'mythic' backstory that i knew surrounded this album, which seems in no small part due to the ad-copy surrounding this book-set (and less to do with the actual contents of the book). the book itself is far less impressive than the myth that surrounds it, and that's ok. i think phil would more than delight in the let-down. there are many threads woven through what gets journaled here that feel like they should be idiosyncratic, and yet there is a reflection of me there. maybe this book will suit some better than others, automythological or not. after all, this is a journal, not literature. expecting much else is probably the wrong idea.

the product of the book, cd, and photos is beautiful, and leaves one pining for the days of physical media yore. many of the photos included are beautiful alone but much enhanced with the context of the journal.

[Klaus Allison Oxcart · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I am not on a crusade. My life is happening to me and I am vainly insisting I am the captain. 'I am making these brave choices because, at heart, I am a brave person.' But I am so flimsy. I am ruined for days at the mention of a name! I bend my back at the first reminder of a hurt feeling. How could I steer anything?” This is a book I've been looking forward to reading for a while, but couldn't get on account of it being out-of-print, but I saw one for a reasonable price on eBay and picked it up. (Fuck the guy who's trying to sell it for like 300 I got mine for 30 in perfect condition, literally brand-new, don't fall for that.) I read this whole book in two days. This is a very vulnerable and intimate book, it is literally his journal entries from the time he spent alone in the frigid arctic-north of Norway, living in a cabin. This book details the mundane aspects of living in these extremes, physically and emotionally. There are a lot of rants and dreams and letters about his anger and hurt to his best-friend and his former lover who have gotten together. Not all of this makes Phil look great, he has violent dreams about attacking his ex. This book is a very honest reflection of emotional pain and isolation. It's also immature in a lot of ways. It shatters the romance of this kind of running away, there is no escape. I loved it. It also includes a number of cartoons that Phil drew around this time, a collection of double-sided photo cards and the Mount Eerie CD Dawn. The most stripped down, singer-songwritery music Phil has ever produced. Also one of my favorite projects of his, good to listen to while reading, or on it's own. Highly recommend to any Mount Eerie/The Microphones fans, and anyone who's a fan of reading diaries.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dawn is the journal kept by musician Phil Elverum, most known for his current project Mount Eerie and former project The Microphones, as he stayed in Bodø, Norway from December 17th, 2002 to March 13th, 2003.

Unlike something like Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, this is a very simple story. In fact, it's not a story at all. It is simply a journal, detailing Elverum's thoughts during long, dark, cold days living alone in a cabin above the Arctic circle, sawing wood for the fire, reading, and writing this journal.

The true treasure of this book isn't any sort of wild discovery of true or philosophy, but the observation of nature and the work that goes into keeping oneself comfortable without becoming pastoral.

This is a hard book to recommend, or accurately talk about, because it only fits a certain kind of reader. If you're the kind who wants a conflict, you won't find an outright one here. This is a very simple work, with the one goal being that of Elverum recording his thoughts for later examination. If you can accept that, you will find a very relatable, comfortable read within the simulated birch wood on the cover.

So, why is this a published work? Well, Elverum is primarily a musician, and this book in particular is the companion to his album of the same name, the songs of the album being written during his stay in Bodø. Dawn is the first album written under the name Mount Eerie, and has served as a basis for the musical project as it continues to this date. I will avoid discussing the album in full (this is a book review, after all) but I recommend listening to "Great Ghosts" or "Climb Over" from this album.

This was a greatly enjoyable read for me, as I am quite a large fan of Elverum's musical body of work. I don't recommend starting his discography with Dawn (my recommendations there would be The Glow pt.2 by The Microphones), but if you do listen to Dawn , you must absolutely also read the book.

[Lasse Danielsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's really to say about Phil Elverum. Everything he does is drenched in this weirdly charismatic DIY/lo-fi charm, this being no exeption.

But I gotta say, this made me feel uneasy in parts. There's something almost voyeuristic in the way Phil bares his feelings in writing. I mean, he's no stranger to unveiling the deeper nooks of his cranny, but usually in musical form, and usually much, much subtler than this. This is like an exposition of his work as The Microphones until the Mount Eerie era. It's his journal from the time he had enough of the world (the catalyst being his ex girlfriend hooking up with his best friend), so he retreats to a remote cabin in northern Norway. As a northern Norwegian myself, I must say I really relate to the picturesque descriptions of beautiful Kjerringøy. The extreme feeling of isolation that shrouds this whole thing can be a bit much at times, but it's not without a healthy dose of self-mockery to take the edge off it a bit.

The accompanying CD, Dawn brings some of his most hearthfelt tracks to light, many of wich we have seen in other forms over the years. The stand-out track is "Great Ghosts", even though the version on the "Live In Japan"-CD is just better.

Definitely recommended to fans of Phil, The Microphones, Mount Eerie and the likes.

[Tuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 stars for whiny writing, 3 stars for the map, pics, and cd! Thanks Elverum and Mount Eerie
band dude hits burn out, and has the great idea to go to northern norway in the winter and live in a vacation cabin. This is his worked up journal of the experience. maybe, if u r like me, sometimes you just can't take it anymore and going off to a cabin in the woods by a fjord in a Norwegian winter would be JUST THE TICKET. but then the whole chopping ice for water, cutting firewood everyday and the 20 minutes of daylight with lentils to eat every day experience sours a bit.
Elverum DOES come to some conclusions about his misanthropy, his art, his friends and loved ones, and the beauty of light on the snow. an odd little book from an odd but loving publisher http://www.buenaventurapress.com/news/ if you see this book around, get it as it's a collectors type item.

[Tycho · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what to say about Dawn that hasn't already been said. Phil Elverum is an artistic genius across many a medium, and this only proves to me that his capabilities have no approximate end. You feel him enter the isolation as the winter settles, and as the spring comes--washing out the winter--you see this glowing sun enter view. This is the most personal book (if you can call it a book) that I have ever read, and probably will ever read. I greatly appreciate Phil for allowing a snapshot of himself in such a confined medium.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I get a lot from Elverum's songs but that can be expected as they're polished worked over. I didn't expect every word of this written by a then 24 Elverum to be some kind of meaninful koan to carry in my heart and my expectations were met. If anything it's good to see a mortal side of Elverum that isn't dwelling on nature and the ephemeral but instead about why his buddy betrayed him with his ex-girlfriend. It's also very fun. Recommended for fans of Elverum or Norway.

[~**~Kait · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The mountain of tangled bad thoughts rumbles in my head and I can't try to keep it in. I would say them to people if they were here. I start to wonder if I should make a run for it. Am I doing permanent damage to myself? I wonder why people think solitude is good for the mental health. I guess it would be if it wasn't planted with such terrible seeds."

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Close to a must-read for fans of Mount Eerie. The accompanying pictures and CD are wonderful as well.

[Hamish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Wish Phil would write more. Extremely open and impressive and full of feelings I can totally identify with. Love love love

[Dilan Manahan]

I take that back, Have a Nice Life, this is the best album accompaniment of all time. And one of the most deeply personal work(s) I've read period.

[Gavin P · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I felt good today. The kind of day when squealing kids on the bus sound like music and where I stopped and cooed at a kitten looking with taught neck and round blue eyes at a windowsill, and felt my chest butterfly." (92)