Sweet and Low

The band, known in the indie music scene for its soft, deliberate pop songs, has released its sixth album.

Christine Laue, Omaha World-Herald. February 27, 2003

Mimi Parker talks to her 2 - year - old daughter in the same gentle voice that has mesmerized fans of her music for a decade.

"You've had enough," she tells little Hollis before returning to the phone interview. "She's demanding treats."

Eight years before starting a family, Parker and her husband, Alan Sparhawk, started a band that would make its mark for being slow and quiet in an era when loud grunge rock was taking over the airwaves.

The Duluth, Minn., band Low was formed in 1993 with Sparhawk on guitar, Parker on percussion - the two sharing vocals - and John Nichols on bass. The release of the band's first album, "I Could Live in Hope," a year later placed it among bands such as the Red House Painters and Codeine that were emerging as part of the "slowcore" scene. They played slow, soft, deliberate pop songs, and fans liked them.

While Low continues as a staple in the indie music scene today, it isn't a mainstream rock band with hits on the radio. And that's fine with this married couple of 13 years and Zak Sally, the bassist who replaced Nichols in 1994.

"It's not our goal. Some people, that's definitely their thing, getting that success, whereas we just view success differently," Parker said. "We've been in this band for 10 years now, and we've been able to support ourselves and get our music out there. We've had a gradual, continual growth. We consider ourselves successful."

The band's latest success is "Trust," its sixth studio release. The album, recorded in an old church in the band members' hometown, was released in September.

The band's solid melodies, in funeral - march draggers and a few louder, more upbeat songs, have garnered the trio praise in FHM, Blender, CMJ and Magnet magazines, among others.

"Overall the mood is pretty darker than the last record," Parker said from her Duluth home. "I'm not sure why. We never have a theme or plan when we go to record a record. We just have songs and do it."

The band's goal is not to make hits but to make good songs, she said. But some people argue that hits are those songs that are so good they resonate with millions of people.

"I agree and disagree. There have been some horrible songs that have been popular," Parker said, laughing. "And there are some amazing songs that people never hear."

Parker is pleased some people find Low's songs to be among the latter.

"There's a finite group of people that for some reason find something in our music that they like and they hold onto. I don't know why," Parker said. "It's one of those mysteries that I think if you were to find out the answer, it would mess up the whole thing. We just try to write our music pleasing ourselves, because if you're not happy with it, chances are other people won't be."