(Photo Credit - Nicole Marie)
We caught up with alt act Close Talker to discuss their career path, their new album 'How Do We Stay Here?', and much more!
1. How did you come to pursue music and how long have you been at it?
"Music has been a big part of all of our lives. Music was in our families lives. As a band we came together early. Chris and Matthew knew each other since kindergarten and picked up instruments at the same time. We met Will the lead singer pretty early, Matthew and him played in church together. Eventually we were asked to play a wedding, we had about 45 minutes of material, stretched it to 2 hours. We've been together for about six years now. With this album we've kinda hit our stride a little bit."
2. Could you walk us through your process of writing music?
"We typically write our music as a band all three of us together in a room. We write in a call and response fashion, someone will start playing something and the others will respond. Typically our first instincts work out. We write music first and then lyrics later. It's natural and organic, we try not to overthink it because we don't want to stunt our growth."
3. What artists have inspired you in your career?
"We talk about this a lot in the band. We do share some favorite bands. Some bands we all respect are The National, and Radiohead (especially In Rainbows)". 4. Do you have any favorite music gear (guitars, amps, effects pedals, keyboards, etc.) that you love to use? If so, what’s the story on them?
"We got pretty deep into the pedal game. One of our favorites is the Strymon El Capistan reverb. We can make it do some awesome self oscillating things. We use a space echo. We use a lot of older vintage gear when we can. We used a Fender Rhodes Piano on the new record because we wanted the record to be timeless like Wilco's Sky Blue Sky. We wanted to showcase the melody. We do a lot of guitar parts with an electric guitar and a classical guitar doubled up doing the same notes."
5. Can you describe the vibe at your live shows? Also, what do you enjoy most about a venue when you do a show?
"The vibe of the live show has changed and evolved for us. On the one hand we are enthusiastic for the music and we enjoy ourselves onstage. However, we've had a lot more introspective live shows with the new album. We're always chasing those fleeting moments on stage, we're trying to cultivate an environment where the audience is invited into that. We're still a dynamic live band, but we're still trying to lean into those moments."
"For venues, we really enjoy and respect when a venue feels it's a music venue first and a bar second. We love attention to detail, where the audience feels safe and validated."
6. What is one thing that you want the public to know about your music?
"We would advocate for listening to our new album from start to finish and all records for that matter. We love listening to an album from start to finish so that you pick up on things, little cues from an artist, or the story the album tells. For our music and our band our philosophy we're more invested in albums than soundbites."
7. Do you have any upcoming projects you would like fans to know about?
"We have a European tour in October and a North American Tour November (see dates below) in support of our album How Do We Stay Here?. We performed a series of silent concerts using 360 degree technology headphones, partnered with a French company, and will be coming out with a live album from that. There will also be a documentary about that tour."
TOUR DATES
For tickets visit
OCT 15 TUE INTRNT EXPLRR, BERLIN-ALTGLIENICKE, GERMANY
OCT 19 SAT BEDROOM DISCO, DARMSTADT, GERMANY
OCT 20 SUN JAHRHUNDERTHALLE BOCHUM, BOCHUM, GERMANY
OCT 21 MON CLUB SUBWAY, COLOGNE, GERMANY
OCT 22 TUE FZW, DORTMUND, GERMANY
OCT 23 WED TIVOLIVREDENBURG, UTRECHT, NETHERLANDS
OCT 24 THU NOCHTWACHE, HAMBURG, GERMANY
OCT 25 FRI POPPODIUM HEDON, ZWOLLE, NETHERLANDS
NOV 15 FRI THE SULTAN ROOM, KINGS COUNTY, NY, UNITED STATES
NOV 16 SAT VINYL LOUNGE, WASHINGTON D.C., DC, UNITED STATES
NOV 19 TUE CLUB SAW, OTTAWA, CANADA
NOV 21 THU THE BABY G, TORONTO, CANADA
NOV 22 FRI JILLARD GUITARS, HAMILTON, CANADA
NOV 23 SAT THE REC ROOM, LONDON, CANADA
NOV 24 SUN THE OWL, CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES
NOV 25 MON 7TH STREET ENTRY, MINNEAPOLIS, MN, UNITED STATES
NOV 27 WED THE GOOD WILL, WINNIPEG, CANADA
NOV 28 THU THE ARTESIAN, REGINA, CANADA
NOV 29 FRI W/ NATURE OF, PALOMINO SMOKEHOUSE, CALGARY, CANADA
NOV 30 SAT W/ THE DEN, AVIARY, EDMONTON, CANADA
DEC 1 SUN W/ NATURE OF, BO'S BAR & GRILL, RED DEER, CANADA
DEC 4 WED W/ NATURE OF, THE FLYING STEAMSHOVEL, ROSSLAND, CANADA
DEC 5 THU W/ NATURE OF, WISE HALL, VANCOUVER, CANADA
DEC 6 FRI W/ NATURE OF, THE QUEEN'S, NANAIMO, CANADA
DEC 7 SAT W/ NATURE OF, LUCKY BAR, VICTORIA, CANADA
DEC 8 SUN THE CROCODILE BACK BAR, SEATTLE, WA, UNITED STATES
DEC 19 THU BROADWAY THEATRE, SASKATOON, CANADA