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10 Questions: Nathan K.

25 Feb

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Michigan indie-folk musician Nathan K. crafts beautiful, emotionally gut-wrenching, songs with his direct lyricism and honest vocals. Recently, he was kind enough to answer a few questions for MFH. Find out the heartwarming story behind his latest record, what he’s working on and his thoughts on the current state of popular folk music.

As always, be sure to visit Nathan K.’s website, like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter!

My Folking Heart: How/when did you start writing your own music?

Nathan K.: When I was in 14, my sister started taking guitar lessons and I would watch her lessons and then when we got home, I would teach myself what I saw her learning. Then we went to church camp and I realized that girls love it when you write songs for them. So I wrote a lot of songs that summer.

I afterwards I realized that I wasn’t very good at guitar and so I focused on practicing guitar until I felt comfortable with the instrument enough to be creative, and I wrote a poem every day for a year. Sort of learning how to write lyrics and music separately. Then I took a stab at combining the two. That was the start of the whole thing.

Nathan K. 2MFH: Was the folk genre a natural one for you to pursue when you first began, or was it something you fell into over time?

NK: Folk music was a natural, but unintentional endeavor at first. My dad had an acoustic guitar and listened to a lot of James Taylor, stuff like that. We lived in the country at the time and we could only get this one radio station which was country, so I would listen to learn those songs by ear. Then later in high school I joined a bluegrass group, and that exposed me to a whole new scene.

Mostly though, I was always obsessed with lyrics and stories, and I could always relate more to honest folk songs as opposed to stuff like Papa Roach and Linkin Park and Korn which were popular at my high school. Plus all I had was an acoustic guitar a violin, and a tape recorder, so early on, my options were limited. Continue reading →

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10 Questions… with The Harmed Brothers

17 Nov

Bands like The Harmed Brothers are what make this whole blogging adventure so much fun. Over the summer, I got an email from a label rep asking me to check out this band from Oregon, by way of Missouri. I get these emails every once in a while, and usually my hopes are at a paltry level. I purposefully try not to expect much, wanting to keep my mental health in good standing. The Harmed Brothers were beyond a pleasant surprise. Their sophomore effort, Come Morning, is solid top to bottom, reminiscent of The Avett Brothers, and full of catchy folk-rock tunes like “Beast of the North West” that stuck in my head for weeks. I immediately wanted to know more about these guys, and to my delight, Ray Vietti and Alex Salcido were kind enough to answer a few questions on behalf of the band for MFH.

Learn how the band came together, the frustrating process of making Come Morning, why songwriting is like legos, and what the band has in store for the future.

As always, be sure to check out the band’s website, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter!

My Folking Heart: Can you tell us how The Harmed Brothers came to be?
Ray Vietti: The Harmed Brothers was the brainchild of me and friend Billy Reed. I played under the moniker with a few different installments of musicians before meeting Alex Salcido, and him joining, which then became The Harmed Brothers fans have come to know. The band has seen quite a revolving door of musicians and friends but we have finally landed with an ensemble that works the best. That being myself and Alex with Ben Kilmer on drums and Alec La Roche on Upright Bass. That’s the short answer for sure. The long answer is just too long. Continue reading →

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10 Questions… with The Oh Hello’s

8 Sep


With their toe-tapping energy, exquisite harmonies, and layered instrumentation, The Oh Hello’s, a brother/sister duo consisting of Maggie and Tyler Heath, have controlled my airwaves for months. And it’s not just me. Any person I introduce them to becomes obsessed. Play on a loop for weeks obsessed. Drive past your destination so you can hear “Hello My Old Heart” one more time obsessed. Obsessed. All from a record that the Heath siblings expected to do nothing. Well, they were wrong. Very wrong. With the reaction their songs get on MFH, I’m convinced that The Oh Hello’s are teetering on the edge of folk stardom. They’re primed to explode. And that explosion could come any second. The duo is currently working on their debut full-length, a record that Tyler says is bigger and better than the EP. If that’s the truth, these two will be more than bloggers’ darlings very, very soon.

I was lucky enough, despite their hectic schedule, to ask Maggie and Tyler a few questions. In this installment of 10 Questions, learn how “Hello My Old Heart” started as a snarky birthday present, why their success intimidates them, and how they’re feeling the pressure (plus a few details) on their new record.

Don’t forget to check out their phenomenal debut EP, which is still available for PAY-WHAT-YOU-WANT DOWNLOAD! Also, be sure to like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter!

My Folking Heart: You’re a brother/sister duo. Did you have a musical upbringing?

Tyler: We did! We grew up in a house where creativity was encouraged and loud noises were tolerated.

MFH: When did you decide to start making music together?

T: We wrote a song together for our mom’s birthday last May (2011), and we were surprised at how well it went. Over the summer we decided to record Hello My Old Heart, and the small (but largely positive) response we got suggested that people might be interested in hearing more, so we spent the fall recording the EP and here we are!

MFH: Many of your listed influences come from the folk genre. Was the folk sound a natural one for you when you began creating your own music?

MAGGIE: Well, we each have a long list of very different musical influences which really only seemed to overlap in the folk area, so we ran with that.

T: We define our music as “folk” pretty loosely; we like to branch out into other genres a lot, but folk is more or less the starting point for every song we’ve written. Continue reading →

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10 Questions… with The Fishermen Three

30 Aug


Simon Beins creates beautiful music, often simple and hushed, in more ways than you could ever imagine. Not only is he the brain behind The Fishermen Three, but he also scores films, produces children’s music, and much more. Not only is Beins a talented and versatile musician, but he’s also an incredibly eloquent and interesting guy. Recently, he was kind enough to answer a few questions for MFH and I think you’ll find him as likeable as his music is gorgeous.

Learn about how Beins’ friends influenced his songwriting more than the likes of Dylan or van Zandt ever did, how he got into film scoring, and what’s up his sleeve for the rest of 2012!

As always, be sure to visit the band’s website, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and check out their SoundCloud!

My Folking Heart: When did you start writing/playing your own music?

Simon Beins: In my early twenties. I played music from an early age, and was always surrounded by people who played music, but it was around then that I started hanging out with more people writing their own stuff. With every group of musicians that I’ve spent time, if enough of them are writing songs, eventually they’ll all be writing songs. I guess I was that guy at some point, a late comer, but stuck with it long enough to eventually not be that guy. Also when I was 22 I bummed around the Southwest for awhile, living out of my car and hanging out with all of these amazing older bluesmen and women, which really inspired me to keep pushing myself musically.

MFH: How did you meet Raphi, and when did you two start playing music together?

SB: We knew each other peripherally through the New York anti-folk scene since he moved out here from Ohio in the middle of the oughts. Raphi was an amazing social worker in Columbus and a boxer and was teaching troubled kids to box, but I guess he decided to throw away what was probably a viable career and move to New York to play music. He was playing a lot with Jack Lewis then and Jack asked me to come on tour with them to France and the UK (we were the Cutoffs in Jack Lewis & the Cutoffs), which was when Raphi and I first really hit it off, two idiots joking our way through Europe. We found that we loved playing music together but also just loved hanging out together. Continue reading →

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