An Triangles is the alias of singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Doug Poppe, whose debut album Triangular Life (upcoming, 2022) introduces his subtle, idiosyncratic sound to the world of DIY indie rock. Poppe was raised in New York City and moved to Boston in 2017 to study philosophy at Tufts University. At the start of college, he bought his first instrument, a used bass guitar, and began to write his own songs, teaching himself other instruments—keyboard, guitar, drums, and (reluctantly) vocals—in the process. At the same time, he was active in Boston’s comedy scene, performing stand-up sets around the city, and, when the pandemic hit, uploading comedy content to his YouTube channel. He decided to devote his time after graduation to finishing and recording the music he’d written over the past few years. The result is Triangular Life, a surprising collection of introverted tracks that demonstrates the breadth of Poppe’s creative impulses.
Poppe has a hard time considering himself a musician. Instead, he sees himself as an artist inspired to follow the tracks of his eclectic list of favorite songwriters. Chief among them is the late David Berman (Silver Jews, Purple Mountains), whose pithy, detached poetry informs Poppe’s lyrics, sound, and general relationship to his music. Berman found humor and sincerity in the distance between himself and the world, a tendency shared by several of Poppe’s other inspirations, from the morosely honest Attic Abasement to the grandiosely sentimental Weyes Blood. With Triangular Life, Poppe channels his own sense of detachment into music that harbors a similarly restrained earnestness.
Poppe is also guided by the intuitive sounds and existential meditations of Phil Elverum (The Microphones, Mount Eerie) and by the spiritual depth of guitarist John Fahey, while his creative process, an instinctual search for “magic,” resembles that of bedroom musician Alex G. In this traditionally guitar-driven genre, however, it is Poppe’s bass guitar that often takes center stage. His unorthodox approach to bass, guitar, drums, and all the instruments he plays yields songs that have both the off-kilter energy of outsider music and the straightforward melodic sensibility of pop. His first single “Ridicule” was praised by Two Story Melody and Alt 77.
Currently, Poppe makes music in his bedroom studio in Boston, Massachusetts and walks neighborhood dogs to help fund its production. His second album is in the works.
Bio written by Annelise Eppen
