Boxwood

Boxwood has been creating a buzz in South Florida, captivating audiences with his innovative music and live performances. His recent EP release “Sun Garden City” draws in listeners with entrancing and interwoven looped melodies, vocals, and rhythms. The Independent Ethos, an online music and film blog, compares his sound to “the dream pop of bands like My Bloody Valentine or the heavily affected recordings of Deerhunter… The results are smartly constructed pieces of blissed out layers of melody and noise.” During live shows, Boxwood performs solo but with all the dynamics of a full band using a loop pedal. He builds his well-crafted songs live to an intrigued audience that wonders how one man can pull this off. Originally from Long Island, Jose Ferrer, the musician behind Boxwood, started molding his music while studying to be an illustrator at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He lived in several of New York’s boroughs for about 10 years between 1996 and 2006, frequenting South Florida to visit his folks. During this time Boxwood was born and developed. He started off as a singer songwriter performing acoustically. His first album, “The Secret Life of Rocks”, was released in 2006, and is a lo-fi affair that compiled an assortment of songs written in that 10-year period. Ferrer later moved to Hollywood, FL and laid low for about three years, familiarizing himself with a loop pedal and writing three albums worth of songs. Boxwood’s music is hard to place within a genre. It can fall somewhere within indie rock, experimental, or at times shoegaze, but always accessible with catchy hooks, introspective lyrics and lush soundscapes that draw in and envelope listeners. Although, his music is in the vein of Animal Collective or Tune-Yards, his main influences are Radiohead, Beatles, Arab on Radar, Guided by Voices, Black Dice, Wipers and Deerhunter. His highly anticipated EP “Sun Garden City” was released on January 6, 2012 to a full house at Blue in downtown Hollywood. Each CD’s packaging was unique and handmade by Ferrer himself out of old vinyl records. “Sun Garden City” was received with positive reviews from the Broward-Palm Beach New Times who wrote, “Trying to describe it, it almost sounds like it should be utter discord--and perhaps it well should. But it isn't. Instead, it's a carefully orchestrated juggling act, wherein Boxwood managed to let his creative curiosities run free, but still show enough restraint to keep everything in perfect balance.” In support of “Sun Garden City” Boxwood has been playing throughout Florida and most recently went on a Southeast tour performing in Savannah, GA, Chapel Hill, NC, and Columbia, SC. In South Florida he has played in respected venues such as Grand Central, Bardot, The Stage, Respectable Street, Vagabond, Green Room and Churchill’s. Boxwood plans to bring his music to the Northeast soon. Seeing Boxwood perform live brings another perspective to his music. His performances showcase his ability to orchestrate all the parts of his songs by himself. After seeing him live, one recent Miami New Times concert reviewer described Boxwood as “the most inspiring case for music in this city, and that's not an overstatement.” Several respected media outlets have recognized Boxwood’s work. CBS Miami recognized him as one of the best local songwriters in 2011. The Miami New Times awarded him “Best Songwriter of 2010” and described him as “an incredibly creative and inventive songwriter and musician”. A writer from the South Florida Music blog said that, “His prowess as a songwriter, when compounded with his innovative ability to channel emotion into sound makes him one of the preeminent talents producing music in South Florida today.” Despite the positive support, Boxwood continues to be a modest and humble musician who wants to keep improving and evolving as an artist. In addition to performing, he is working on his next release and is due out in the winter. Boxwood's music is based around the looping of guitar, vocals and percussion with a loop pedal. A staple of the Miami music scene and Fort Lauderdale, he performs solo, with the dynamics of a full band with catchy hooks and lush soundscapes.