{{Short description|Canadian electronic musician and producer}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians --> | name = Gregory de Rocher | image = | caption = | image_size = | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_name = | alias = {{ hlist | Lowfish | Pest(e) }} | birth_place = | birth_date = 1972 | death_date = | origin = Toronto, Canada | instrument = | genre = {{ hlist | Electronic | lo-fi | IDM }} | occupation = Electronic musician<br>Producer | years_active = Early 1990s–present | label = {{ hlist | Suction | Satamile | Noise Factory }} | associated_acts = Solvent (producer) | website = {{url|https://www.lowfishmusic.com/}} | current_members = | past_members = }}
'''Lowfish''' is the stage name of Canadian electronic musician and producer '''Gregory de Rocher'''.<ref name="AllMusic">{{cite web|last=Cooper|first=Sean|title=Lowfish: Biography|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lowfish-mn0000301894#biography|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=16 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://xlr8r.com/reviews/1000-corrections-per-second/|title=Lowfish: 1000 Corrections Per Second|last=Nicholson|first=Peter|date=27 January 2004|website=XLR8R|access-date=16 January 2025}}</ref>
Originating from Toronto,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/lowfish|title=Lowfish: The Exclaim! Questionnaire|date=17 November 2016|website=Exclaim!|access-date=16 January 2025}}</ref> de Rocher was a fan of Donna Summer's Eurodisco single "I Feel Love", and became fascinated with electronic music after attending a demonstration of modular synthesizers at a science museum.<ref name="CR">{{cite web|url=https://chicagoreader.com/music/the-list-january-24-2008/|title=The List: January 24, 2008|date=24 January 2008|website=Chicago Reader|access-date=16 January 2025}}</ref> He began experimenting with synthesizers and drum machines in the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lowfish|url=https://montreal.mutek.org/en/artists/lowfish|publisher=MUTEK|access-date=16 January 2025}}</ref> De Rocher recorded his early work under the name '''Pest(e)''',<ref name="AllMusic"/> before establishing Suction Records with business partner Jason Amm (who records his own music under the alias Solvent), in 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/da/article/ei-v10n8/|title=Electric Independence|date=30 November 2003|website=Vice|access-date=16 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.straight.com/article/torontos-solvent-strives-for-timelessness|title=Toronto's Solvent Strives for Timelessness|last=Turenne|first=Martin|date=23 September 2004|website=The Georgia Straight|access-date=16 January 2025}}</ref> De Rocher then adopted his best-known moniker, a modified contraction of "lo-fi-ish".<ref name="CR"/> He and Amm have performed together under the banner of "Solvent vs Lowfish".<ref name="Rautio">{{cite web|url=http://www.phinnweb.org/5HT/interviews/suction/|title=Suction Records: The Dignity of Labour of Love|last=Rautio|first=Erkki|date=16 September 2003|website=pHinnWeb|access-date=16 January 2025}}</ref>
Aside from his own compositions, de Rocher has provided remixes for artists including David Kristian and Kid606.<ref name="AllMusic"/> He has created cover art for various Suction Records releases.<ref name="Rautio"/>
==Style== Lowfish's work has been described by ''Muzik'' as "melodic electronica",<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Stone|first=Jonas|date=June 2002|title=Techno Trainspotting|magazine=Muzik|number=85|page=107}}</ref> and by AllMusic as "energetic lo-fi experimental electro".<ref name="AllMusic"/> ''Billboard'' saw the project as a "notable act" within the electroclash genre.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Paoletta|first=Michael|date=15 June 2002|title=Reviews & Previews|magazine=Billboard|page=23}}</ref> De Rocher said of his musical style, "I'm an industrial/[[New wave music|[new] wave]] guy at heart obsessed with drum machine-accurate beats and OMD-like lead lines. But I do listen to a lot of the IDM heroes and that obviously has soaked in."<ref name="Rautio"/> He has further cited Giorgio Moroder and Gary Numan as influences.<ref>{{cite news|first=Timh|last=Gabriele|title=Lowfish CD Not a Flop|work=The Massachusetts Daily Collegian|date=13 February 2004|page=5}}</ref> De Rocher uses vintage monophonic synths such as the Roland System 100, and early polyphonic models including the ARP Odyssey and the Roland Jupiter-6.<ref name="CR"/>
De Rocher noted that his visual artworks are influenced by those of England's Factory Records.<ref name="Rautio"/>
==Discography== ; Studio albums *''Test(e)'' (1995) (as Pest(e)) *''Fear Not the Snow and Other Lo-fiing Objects'' (1999) *''Eliminator'' (2000) *''1000 Corrections Per Second'' (2003) *''Burn the Lights Out'' (2007) *''Frozen & Broken'' (2008) *''Memories Are Uncertain Friends'' (2010) *''Grey with Breaks'' (2023)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.lowfishmusic.com/ Lowfish homepage] * [https://www.suctionrecords.com/lowfish Lowfish at Suction Records] * [https://www.discogs.com/artist/2089-Lowfish Lowfish at Discogs]
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowfish}} Category:1972 births Category:Canadian electronic musicians Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Toronto