Rustling leaves, squeaky furniture, melting snow -- the sounds that are just that for some are instruments to Grotto, the pseudonym for Dan Taro. The recent graduate of Kent Denver School collects audio and turns those recordings into something new by stretching, reversing and otherwise editing the sounds. Taro made hundreds of songs this way, and sat on them for years before refining a few choice tracks for his debut LP, "Spring Drips."
The teenage electronic artist and composer talked to Colorado Matters about his musical ambitions. Taro's album scored a Failure Awards Scholarship from the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. The scholarship is awarded to high school seniors who "demonstrate a willingness to risk failure in the pursuit of something original and authentic ... no matter how harebrained, impractical, or absurd." This fall, Taro heads to Reed College in Portland, Ore., to study music and computer science.
