It's hard to talk about villagerrr without first talking about Ohio: the humid summers, crisp falls, deep forests, sprawling farm fields, sincere joy, and deaths of despair.
Mark Scott, who records as villagerrr, graduated from Shawnee State University (Portsmouth, OH) in May 2020. The world had shut down and he was living alone in a largely abandoned college town. He passed the time running, cutting concrete, recording with a $20 mic, and releasing music on SoundCloud, unsure if anyone would listen.
From there he drifted to Waverly, OH and then over to Chillicothe, OH, where he grew up. He had no idea if anyone else was making music in southern Ohio—he was totally disconnected. That isolation certainly fit the moment.
So Mark moved to Columbus, OH later in 2020, reconnected with some friends from high school, and found his way into the music scene. He played his first show in early 2021. His releases started getting some attention. He chipped away at the isolation.
Now he returns with a new track called "See", and villagerrr sounds bigger, more polished, and more energetic than ever. It's the sound of an artist coming into their own, with much more to come.
