Daniel Is Pregnant

DANIEL IS PREGNANT

A FROM THE QUIET AND SMALL TOWN OF PLACERVILLE, NESTLED SOMEWHERE DEEP WITHIN THE MIDDLE OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, COMES A MUSICIAN WHOSE SOUND IS AS NATURAL AS THE SETTING IN WHICH HE LIVES.

From the quiet and small town of Placerville, nestled somewhere deep within the middle of northern California, comes a musician whose sound is as natural as the setting in which he lives.

Daniel Trudeau, or otherwise known by his stage moniker Pregnant, has lived in the same remote area for eighteen years – and would have it no other way. “While most people that pass through this town can make simple judgments on and about it, they will never understand its diversity unless they live here,” Trudeau says. “I have met some of the greatest people I've ever met in my entire life here, and I've been around the block.”

Once a flourishing gold-mining town, Placerville now serves as a quaint tourist area – as well as an inspiration vehicle for Trudeau’s musical project. Though he’s lived here for a large portion of his life, Trudeau has only been in the music scene for five years. Within those years, however, Trudeau’s managed to create and mold his personal and unique style of blending electronic glitches and looping with simple and organic folk-rock structure through three limited pressing and hard-to-find releases.

Pregnant’s distinctive sound is solidified in Life Hard: I Try, Pregnant’s first album released through his new record label, Mush Records. Life Hard: I Tr” is composed of vibrant instrumentals woven seamlessly with Trudeau’s own vocals that are reminiscent of Neil Young and other folk artists. Pregnant’s sound is organic: the guitar and conventional instruments are an earthy texture atop an electronic foundation, ebbing and flowing freely yet intermittently with Trudeau’s vocal stylings.

Trudeau’s musical project doesn’t stop at the music, however. A strong visual artist, Trudeau utilizes both video and artwork as other creative outlets for Pregnant. Trudeau’s kept his collaborations local, drawing inspiration from various like-minded individuals that he’s met within the same rural area. Among them are filmmakers Stan Okumura and Darin Spring, members of California-based film company Cinema Caldera, and locals of Placerville.

Sean Stout has also contributed to Pregnant, lending a hand with Pregnant’s videos through exposure via his website, Terroreyes.tv and even signed on to direct the video for "Letter To A Friend" - the first single from Life Hard : I Try.

Music-wise, Pregnant’s recent effort was aided in its recording by Art Echternacht and Robby Moncrief, two musicians and producers that have also worked with other surrounding artists, including Trudeau’s girlfriend, Jocelyn (ALAK). Friends of Trudeau contributed vocals for Life Hard: I Try. And while Trudeau has stated that inspiration for his musical project comes from different parts of the world, several musicians that have helped or motivated him in some way are not very far, like Sacramento-based artists Ellie Fortune or Zach Hill.

“[Placerville] has no music scene really,” Trudeau says. “But there are so many undercover weirdo musicians around the place you wouldn’t even know you were amongst them.”

When Trudeau isn’t recording or tweaking around with instruments during a live set, he’s changing diapers at home. In fact, despite his several collaborations with other artists, Trudeau’s main inspiration still stems from his daughter, Juniper. Now almost a year old, Juniper continues to find her way into Pregnant in some form or another, either by starring alongside her father in one of his videos, or attending live shows.

With two musicians in the family however, Trudeau does admit it can get hectic. Having to schedule shows around his job at a local café, household chores and errands, taking care of his daughter and his own girlfriend’s touring schedule, proves to be more than a struggle for Trudeau. “But we are so glad to have so much to do,” he says. “We’re very thankful.”

In all aspects, Pregnant is a musical project that stays true to its roots. While Trudeau fuses at least five genres at once in his songs, and sounds bigger than one person, Pregnant still maintains its essence: still natural, still native, and still Placerville. When filming a video up in Wrights Lake, Trudeau had somewhat of a revelation. “When we went up there to film, I had realized how cohesive the place I live with is with my music. We filmed a lot of stuff up there and it all made a lot of sense to me.”