Ernest Weatherly Greene Jr. (born October 3, 1982), known professionally as Washed Out, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Commonly associated with the

chillwave Chillwave (originally considered synonymous with glo-fi and hypnagogic pop) is a music microgenre that emerged in the late 2000s. It loosely emulates 1980s electropop while engaging with notions of memory and nostalgia. Common features inclu ...

genre in the 2010s,

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

dubbed him "the godfather of chillwave".

Life and career

Ernest Weatherly Greene Jr. was born on October 3, 1982, in

Perry, Georgia Perry is a city in Houston and Peach counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the county seat of Houston County. The population was 13,839 at the 2010 census, up from 9,602 at the 2000 census. As of 2019 the estimated population was 17,894 ...

, and currently lives in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. After earning an undergraduate degree from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, he obtained a

Master of Library and Information Science The Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS), also referred to as the Master of Library and Information Studies, is the master's degree that is required for most professional librarian positions in the United States. The MLIS is a relativ ...

degree but was unable to find a job as a librarian. Greene moved back in with his parents and started producing songs in his bedroom studio, as well as working on recordings of dance music with Bedroom, a local band. During 2008 he recorded lo-fi rock music under the name Lee Weather, but the following summer he found more success with his new project, Washed Out. He was soon discovered by a number of influential music bloggers after they found his music on his Myspace page. His first recordings have been described as "drowsy, distorted, dance pop-influenced tracks that brought to mind

Neon Indian Neon Indian is an American electronic music band from Denton, Texas. The music is composed by Mexican-born Alan Palomo (born July 24, 1988), who is also known for his work with the band Ghosthustler, and as the solo artist VEGA. The project has b ...

and

Memory Tapes Dayve Hawk (born 1981), better known by his stage name Memory Tapes, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer, and the former frontman of the Philadelphia-based band, Hail Social. Career After releasing material under the names "Mem ...

". Greene's first two

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

s were released in August and September 2009. He held his debut New York City performance (his second live show ever) at Santos Party House. He has since performed at the 2010

Pitchfork Music Festival The Pitchfork Music Festival is an annual summer music festival organized by ''Pitchfork Media'' and held in Union Park in Chicago, Illinois. Starting in 2011, the festival announced a branch staged in Paris at Grande halle de la Villette. The fe ...

and his song "Feel it All Around" is used as the opening theme for the television series ''

Portlandia ''Portlandia'' is an American sketch comedy television series starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, set in and around Portland, Oregon, and spoofing the city's reputation as a haven for eccentric hipsters. The show was produced by Br ...

''.

In April 2011 it was announced that he had been signed to

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are oft ...

. His debut, '' Within and Without'', then released on July 12, 2011. The album peaked at #26 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and #89 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. He was chosen by

Battles A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

to perform at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas festival that they co-curated in December 2011 in

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Washed Out's second album, ''

Paracosm A paracosm is a detailed imaginary world thought generally to originate in childhood. The creator of a paracosm has a complex and deeply felt relationship with this subjective universe, which may incorporate real-world or imaginary characters ...

'', was released on August 13, 2013. The first single was "It All Feels Right," followed by "Don't Give Up." The same year, "New Theory" from '' Life of Leisure'' featured in-background on a scene from '' The Spectacular Now''. In May 2014, he was reporting to be working on a third studio album, but he stated, "I'm figuring out the next step." On May 19, Washed Out announced dates for his "Get Lost" tour, taking place in July 2017. Subsequently, he released his third studio album, '' Mister Mellow'', on June 30, 2017. The album was produced at

Stones Throw Records Stones Throw Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. Under the direction of founder Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw has released music ranging from hip hop to experimental psychedelic rock. '' LA Week ...

with the help of

Cole M.G.N. Cole Marsden Greif-Neill, known professionally as Cole M.G.N., is an American musician, record producer, songwriter and mixer. He is a former member of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti. Cole has worked with Beck, Julia Holter, Christine and the Quee ...

In April 2018, Washed Out released a new single, "Face Up" as part of

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

's Singles Series. The single was later included on his fourth album, ''

Purple Noon ''Purple Noon'' (french: Plein soleil; it, Delitto in pieno sole; also known as ''Full Sun'', ''Blazing Sun'', ''Lust for Evil'', and ''Talented Mr. Ripley'') is a 1960 crime thriller film directed by René Clément, loosely based on the 1955 nove ...

'' (2020). In April 2020, Washed Out released a new single, "Too Late". On June 30, 2020, Washed Out announced that a new album called ''Purple Noon'' would be released on August 7, 2020. He also released a new single, "Time to Walk Away".

Musical style

Washed Out's style has been identified with the

movement. He has said hip hop influences the way he writes songs.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Notes

Guest appearances

References

External links

*
Q&A with Washed Out (a.k.a. Ernest Greene)
The Blue Indian, September 1, 2009
Interview with Ernest Greene, August 2010Washed out signs with Sub Pop, April 2011

Washed Out
at

NPR Music NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washed Out 1982 births Living people 21st-century American singers American male singer-songwriters American synth-pop musicians Chillwave musicians Mexican Summer artists People from Perry, Georgia Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state) Sub Pop artists University of Georgia alumni University of South Carolina alumni Dream pop musicians 21st-century American male singers Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)