Alec Koone, Balam Acab – named after a Mayan demigod who created rainbows by piercing clouds with arrows – began as an experimental noise project while he was still a Pennsylvania high-school student. He resuscitated the name a few years later as a music student at Ithaca College, incorporating dubstep, U.K. bass, and R&B elements into his atmospheric sounds, drawing comparisons to Grouper as well as drag/witch house artists such as Salem and White Ring.