Like other so-called "bands" in the like-minded Elephant 6 coterie,
Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't was more of a person than a band. In this case, that person was Pete Erchick, keyboardist and contributor to
the Olivia Tremor Control.
Erchick joined
the OTC following the release of their
Dusk at Cubist Castle album, to help reproduce the band's Wall of Sound in a live environment. Erchick became an increasingly active member, contributing "I Have Been Floated" to the group's 1999 effort
Black Foliage: Animation Music. Following that album's release, the band splintered into several outfits, including
Will Cullen Hart's
the Circulatory System (with who Erchick recorded and toured), and Bill Doss'
the Sunshine Fix. During this period, Erchick commenced work on solo projects under the name
Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't. The name was drawn from a cutaway illustration in a book Erchick had as a child. In 2000, he contributed to Naked in the Afternoon (a tribute to outside folk musician Jandek) as well as the U.S. Pop Live, Vol. 5 compilation.
In August 2001, he issued
Individualized Shirts, in conjunction with Cloud Recordings (a label run by
OTC's John Fernandes and
Will Cullen Hart). The disc was typical, though very well-done, Elephant 6 fare: psychedelic swirls of keyboards, folkish guitars, and horns, featuring a long cast of extended family members (including
OTC's Fernandes and
Eric Harris, as well as
Neutral Milk Hotel's
Jeff Mangum and
Scott Spillane). Erchick peppered the release's liner notes with references to '70s baseball players, such as Ed Kranepool and Brooks Robinson. ~ Jesse Jarnow