Hello! We are Gretchen Lohse and Thomas Hughes. We are artists who create under the name

CAROL CLEVELAND SINGS

We are two musicians with a background in film production. We create musical arrangements via video editing and deconstruct music one note - one scene - one melody at a time.

Our approach comes from the musical concept of Klangfarbenmelodie, a term coined by Arnold Schoenberg which translates to Sound Color Medley. This idea asserts that the distinct “color” of each instrument is as important as the note being played. In these works, we deconstruct melodies using a variety of traditional instruments alongside to unconventional ones, such as a saw or broken toys.

Since our medium is video, the primary melody is being being captured by the camera. Every note is played by one of us and filmed as it happens. We assemble the music as an editor would cut a film.

What you see is what you hear. What you hear is what you see.

These three pieces are from our Vanitas series, which draws inspiration from Dutch still-life paintings. We wanted to create paintings that move.

We also recreate pop songs on toy instruments. We collect old, often out-of-tune toys that are beautiful or charming to look at but not very useful as musical instruments. Our "quick cut" editing approach gives them their due, stitching dozens of distinct sounds into one complete song.

Sometimes we like to challenge ourselves by filming on location, where wind noise, insect buzzing, and inclement weather make every take harder to get right. Here’s one we filmed at a lavender farm:

Most of our work lives online, but it has also been shown in galleries and museums. This year the National Gallery of Art selected us as one of 50 artists to make work inspired by its collection. Our piece is a melodic, mosaic recreation of Van Gogh's Roses,

16 hand-painted instruments, played by one hand at a time and all woven together on the same screen.

We're grateful to have built a following of over 250,000 across various social media platforms. But more and more, we feel pressure to feed an algorithm instead of pursuing ideas that interest us. We love this work, but it is labor-intensive. A single video can take up to 30 hours from concept to production to editing.

Between our part-time and freelance work, we spend our spare moments making these musical videos. The Gumroad creator-in-residence program would provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to focus on this work full-time. There are so many things we want to try but haven’t: long-form videos, site-specific installations, collaborations with other artists / musicians. There is no shortage of ideas - just the time and space to bring them to life.

Thank you for taking the time to watch and read. Everything on this page was made by the two of us, one note and one shot at a time. With a full year to focus, we'd love to see how far we can take it.

Gretchen Lohse and Thomas Hughes (Carol Cleveland Sings)