Not too long ago, Collin Desha has let inspiration crash and wash over him. After a profitable LP debut along with his 2019 Room to Breathe below indie rock persona Low Hum, Desha felt he may push his craft additional. So, the Los Angeles resident and Hawaiian-born musician went looking for a unique approach on his artistry.
Armed with resilience from this previous yr, Desha experimented with new soundscapes for his upcoming album, Nonfiction, out on October 8. The Low Hum sophomore album meshes the mushy feeling of low-fi beats with intense undercurrents of hi-fi escapism. Whereas Low Hum’s work remains to be reminiscent of Tame Impala’s psychedelic music, Low Hum has absolutely emerged with its personal contemporary sound wrapped up in Desha’s honeyed melodies. One standout monitor from Nonfiction, “Phantasms,” exemplifies what it means to embrace and tinker with one’s muse. The monitor buzzes and swirls with explosions of power. At this time, “Phantasms” is solely premiering on American Songwriter. Learn beneath for a deeper dive into “Phantasms” and the thoughts behind the music.
American Songwriter: Are you able to inform us somewhat bit about what conjures up and motivates you as an artist?
Collin Desha: I like to maintain approaching my artwork from new views. These days, I’ve created this sport the place I problem myself to put on the lens of my 13-year-old self when creating, within the sense that I try to faucet into the novelty of discovering one thing for the primary time— this blissful, not over-thought, free, inventive expression the place the one rule is there aren’t any guidelines. David Lynch refers to this concept in his e book Catching The Huge Fish the place you must go deep into your “ocean” of inventive unconscious. I’m very a lot fishing from my unconscious throughout my writing course of, the place I prefer to land on one thing you may’t pinpoint precisely the place it got here from. That’s often after I know I’m onto one thing and that spur-of-the-moment creativity is sort of a drug. It all the time retains me going for hours and hours, in search of these huge fish.
AS: What’s the story behind your upcoming single, “Phantasms”?
CD: “Phantasms” was a very huge mild bulb second for me throughout the inventive course of of Nonfiction. Up till this tune, loads of my music had been a fairly labor-intensive course of of me going over each element with a microscope, however with “Phantasms” it occurred organically and shortly. I had written the bassline and drums in Ableton yet another morning whereas having some espresso however then the session kinda simply stayed in my periphery for a number of months, whereas I used to be targeted on the opposite tracks on the album. As soon as I received into the studio, I needed to do some writing then and there and never be so zoned in on the nice particulars of the manufacturing, so we introduced up the session and simply kinda went bananas on it. My life at this level was altering so quick. Covid simply hit, my tour was canceled, my father-in-law simply had a large stroke, my spouse had moved to Oregon to take care of him so I used to be at residence feeling like I used to be within the center of a hurricane. I put pen to paper and the phrases began to pour out of me about this dreamlike state that was consistently altering round me.
AS: What’s one of your favourite songwriting or manufacturing moments from “Phantasms”?
CD: Once we received to the studio about 80 p.c of “Phantasms” was accomplished on the fly. We used an electrical sitar by way of a distorted Neve preamp to create this nasty fuzz. I laid down all of the riffs in a single take, probably not even having a second to mirror on what I did, we simply saved transferring ahead. Jon Joseph programmed some drums and ran that by way of a House Echo to create the hi-hat groove. As soon as that was accomplished we simply threw up a mic and I began to ramble this melody that I used to be listening to in my head. We performed with autotune as a writing software which was a primary for me. As soon as I took the monitor residence and refined the lyrics, that just about turned what you hear on the monitor now. The expertise of this music specifically dramatically influenced my writing course of since that day. I spotted simply how simple it may be if I let it occur, and I don’t should make it such a laborious course of to realize what I would like.
AS: How would you describe this music’s general sound or vibe? How has your sound advanced since Room To Breathe?
CD: This music is for me truly goes again to the roots of Low Hum and what I used to be exploring on my first EP, lowhum. It’s an homage to an older monitor referred to as “Alone” that’s moody and performs with a heavy synth bass. It skirts round a 9 Inch Nails sound and the strategy for the vocal efficiency drew from the hip hop world I used to be listening to loads of on the time. I kinda went for a extra monotone singular word sound versus a extra colourful melody which I leaned extra into on Room To Breathe. All of Nonfiction’s inventive strategy was based mostly on me being bolder and never relying as a lot on these elaborate sound landscapes. I targeted WAY extra on songwriting and association on this album and blocked out a finite time for manufacturing after the songs have been written. With Room to Breathe, I used to be nonetheless making an attempt to grasp what my sound was. With Nonfiction, I attempted to riff on the world that I created earlier than it, and push myself into new territories.
AS: What are you able to inform us about your upcoming album, Nonfiction?
CD: I’m actually thrilled that it’s lastly popping out! I tracked the album again in April & Could of 2020 so it was smack dab at first of quarantine after we are all going by way of a serious change. I made this album with the intention of capturing a snapshot of that point versus the collage-like strategy I’ve gravitated to prior to now. The darker and bolder tonality of this document feels prefer it provides an entire new dimension to the Low Hum world. It’s extra assured and has sparked a brand new fireplace in my inventive course of that’s just the start of A LOT extra new music to come back.
AS: What’s one factor that you really want listeners to find out about Low Hum’s music?
CD: My essential objective will all the time be authenticity. I’m obsessive about this concept that we dwell in a society ravenous for function. We’re consistently fed what these algorithms design for us, solely consuming what they deem proper for our weight loss program. I would like my music to present folks hope that you would be able to be your self. You may take heed to Low Hum to seek out somewhat secure house the place I’m simply being me and you’ll be your self too (and journey out somewhat bit when you’re at it). <3