The Nightowls

Catch up with Ryan Harkrider, frontman of Austin-based soul band The Nightowls, and watch the video for "Right Around The Corner" off the band's latest EP, Royal Sessions, out now.

What brought you all together?

Ryan Harkrider: I'm actually the only one born and raised in Austin, everybody else is a transplant. We've got folks from California, Wisconsin, the East coast; basically from all over the U.S. The Austin music scene is really vibrant and all of our guys are studied musicians and all came to Austin to play in bands and play music and, particularly, came to play in soul and Motown bands. All of us grew up listening to this kind of music and fell in love with it and have played in other similar projects and I started the band about 4 1/2 years ago now. I had been in another soul band and I had all of my songs - I wasn't a band leader at that point but I was a songwriter and I had a bunch of songs - that I felt would be good for a project like this, so I started this band with some of the guys that are in the band now and we made our first record and we've been making records and touring ever since, basically.

Do you remember the first song you wrote?

I'm trying to think... It might have been our song, "I Don't Mess With That". I don't really know but, probably, there's a song on our first album, Good As Gold, called "I Don't Mess With That" and it was definitely the first one or two songs.

Which musicians have you been influenced by?

Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Michael Jackson, Prince. I'm a big Beck fan. A lot of '60s and '70s soul and Motown, so I love The Jackson 5; I love The O'Jays; Earth, Wind & Fire. Yeah.

How would you describe your sound to someone who had never heard your music?

Man, you'd think I would have a good answer for this but I don't [laughs]. We're a high energy, soul, RnB, and funk band steeped in the classics - the '60s and '70s - style and presentation but very much a modern twist to it.

Where does your name, The Nightowls, come from?

[Laughs] Honestly, I'm not really sure. Basically, it's just a melding of two things. I really like owls, since this started 15 years ago and I just think they're really interesting and really noble and, of course, they stay up late... There's no meaning behind it necessarily [laughs]. Other than like, I kind of suffer from some pretty real insomnia and nightowls is very fitting for both of those two ideas.

Could you tell us more about your new EP, Royal Sessions?

Sure. Royal Sessions is a continuation of an idea that we had a year and a half ago where we wanted to take the band to classic studios that have made records with some of our heroes. So, about a year and a half ago, we made a record at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, which is where Aretha, Wilson Pickett and, then really, more or less notably - but more importantly - The Swampers, which is the house band that basically played on all of those records that we know and love. So we made a pilgrimage, basically, to this studio - which is still a working studio - and we made an album there. We were very much inspired by that sound, by the room, and we even brought in some of those Swampers who are still alive, some great musicians, to play on our album.

For, Royal Sessions, we wanted to continue this idea and go to a different part of the country and tour to a different style of music and that was Royal Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. Royal Studios, notably, one of our heroes, Al Green, that was the place where he cut and recorded "Love and Happiness" - among many others - which is one of my favorite recordings of all time. We really wanted to go there and be inspired by the room, by the city, by the music, the studio. Simultaneously we found ourselves, about a year ago, we were going to the studio with a band that really, for the first time, had found our process of writing music together and we were able to really collaborate to a very high level which, in turn, really made this recording and this album probably our best work to date, because we all got to put our blood and our sweat into these few songs and these recordings. All of these songs are very true to our experience as a band going into the recording. A lot of the songs were written on the way to the studio and we really wanted to make something that was very timeless and very much captured our sound, our process, our experience, and our life as a band last Fall.

How would you sum up that EP in one sentence?

Uhm, I don't know [laughs].

You're on tour now, do you have a favorite track off that EP to perform live?

Different songs for different reasons. "Right Around The Corner" is always a good one. It's usually our show closer and it has a great call and response at the very end, which we love getting the crowd involved, singing and dancing, and there's a moment at the very end where we get everybody involved, which we really love, so that's probably our favorite.

Could you tell us more about your video for "Right Around The Corner"?

We actually brought our friend, Jeff Ray - who is a director in Austin, Texas who's done videos for Sigur Rós and Blue October and he's extremely talented - and we got him to come out to Memphis back in December when we were recording Royal Sessions. After recording the album we were in the studio for a couple days and, on the last day, we set up the camera and basically just performed "Right Around The Corner" live. For us, as a live band, trying to capture that energy and the performance on film is always what we want to do. What we love about it, like I said, is at the very end of the song there's that call and response and that's one of the best moments we had in the studio together as a band; singing and laughing and dancing and having a good time in the studio. So, the video's a lot of fun. It's got video to it, obviously, but also we captured a bunch of black and white photographs that catalog and give a good little snapshot to life in the studio as a Nightowl.

What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music?

The reason that we like this style of music is because it's all about connecting to an audience, it's about playing music but it's also about getting people on their feet, dancing, enjoying the moment; you're very much trying to connect with people. So we hope that people, when they hear our music, they find something that - and lyrics - that resound in them but, also, just, we hope that this music makes people feel good, it makes people want to get up and dance and have a good time.

Is there anything you want to add?

We're on tour right now and we're on the West coast. We've been touring for the last 9 days up on the West coast and we head to Denver in a couple days and then home. Then, in October, we are touring again; we'll be on the East coast, so Chicago, New York, Boston. We'll be going up through Memphis, Nashville, and Atlanta so, if people are around, come see us.

Tour Dates
8/17 - Cervantes - Denver CO
8/19 - The Blue Light - Lubbock, TX
8/26- The Phoenix Saloon- New Braunfels, TX
9/2- The Palace Theater- Bryan, TX
9/3- Three Links- Dallas, TX
9/9- The Continental Club- Houston, TX
9/16- House of Fifi Dubois- San Angelo, TX
9/22- Discovery Green- Houston, TX
9/24- Pecan Street Festival- Austin, TX
9/25- Texas Reds Festival- Bryan, TX
9/30- Levitt Pavilion- Arlington, TX
10/1 -Lafayettes - Memphis TN
10/4- Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland OH
10/5- Tellus 360 - Lancaster PA
10/6- Pianos - NYC
10/7- Union Hall - Brooklyn
10/10- Local 506 - Chapel Hill NC
10/11- The 5 Spot - Nashville TN
10/12- Smiths Olde Bar - Atlanta, GA
10/14- Maison - New Orleans, LA
10/21- Phoenix Saloon - New Braunfels, TX

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Minor Soul

Catch up with acoustic pop duo Minor Soul, listen to the brothers' new single, "One Chance", from their upcoming album Nights Like This and check out their last interview with us to hear more about the singer-songwriter duo.

What were your inspirations behind your single "One Chance"?

Jack: "One Chance" is about speaking your mind even when it is difficult, but you know it's the right thing to do. It's a meaningful song to us personally but it also has a laid back and fun summer sound.

Could you tell us more about your upcoming album and what we can expect from Nights Like This?

Max: The new album is bigger and every song is really powerful, I think. We have gone through a lot personally since the Tiger album and I think it shows in our songwriting. The album has a lot of really fun songs but also the kinds of sensitive songs that we had on Tiger.

In one sentence, how would you sum up Nights Like This?

Jack: What everyone is thinking versus what everyone is saying, what everyone is saying versus what everyone is feeling. 

Is there a track off that album you're most excited to share with fans and listeners?

Max: I'm really excited about the song "Million Pieces", which is one of my favourite Minor Soul songs ever.

Jack: I'm even more excited for an incredible song Max wrote called "The One Who Gets The Girl".

What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music and Nights Like This?

Jack: I hope our fans and new listeners will be able to relate to our lyrics because they are about everyday situations, and I hope they also see us as a breath of fresh air compared to most of the quite electronic pop on the radio.

Is there anything you want to add?

Max: Look out for a new single coming soon and thanks to all our fans for sticking with us for three albums now! Love you guys!

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Eyelid Kid

Catch up with Austin-based indie eletro-pop group Eyelid Kid's Paul Grant and watch the video for single "Landscape" off the group's upcoming album, Hometown, to be released this Fall.

What brought you all together?

Paul: My drummer, Sam, he's been my older brother's friend for a long time so he's known me since I was 6 years old so I kind of grew up with him and he watched the project grow and saw what I was doing and really wanted to add his touch to it, add live drums and make the live show a little bit more interactive and energetic. So, he joined in and then I performed with the two Taylor twins - dancers - they improv-d at one of these art shows that we were throwing and it just meshed really well with the music, their style of dancing, and so they just joined in as if they were a bass player or guitar player, something like that; we picture them as much a part of the band as any other member would be.

Which musicians would you say you've been influenced by?

Well I started out just listening to pretty indie music and experimental music but, as I've grown up in the music scene, I've slowly just gotten more attracted to pop. Lately, I would say Drake has been a really big influence on just songwriting and lyrics and melodies and things like that. Justin Bieber's new album is really killer, I think, with the times and sounds. And, besides that, Animal Collective was really influential a few years back and Vampire Weekend and Foster The People; I'd say those are a good solid few.

What words would you use to describe your own sound?

We've kind of been calling it frosting pop which I guess is kind of hard to describe, but I think it's really a blend between hip hop influence and indie pop. It takes on two pretty different cultures and blends them together a little bit, but the production is very electronic and pop-y and the vocals are very, I wouldn't say out of my element in the way of hip hop, but they're like rhythmic, sensual rap.

I think what's funny about that is just, being here in Austin, it's very not a pop culture city. There's just a lot of people being alternative and rebelling and a lot of bearded hipsters and specialty beers and it's just funny coming out of here. I mean, there's a lot of people who support it too, but I feel like a lot of people don't really know what to think about it.

What were your inspirations behind your single and the video for "Landscape"?

That track was a bit different, it was more of a synthetic ballad of sorts. It didn't really have a lot of different parts, but it definitely had build and intentisty. My girlfriend at the time, she just really liked that track and wanted to make a music video for it so we went into this abandoned house and we were a little intoxicated and started writing the music video that night [laughs] and the next week we went and shot it. I think that house that we were in really shaped the inspiration for the music video because it was a very old house, very haunted feeling because no one had lived there in a really long time, and it seemed like everything was really empty and decayed. The kind of lo-fi scary aesthetic I think came from just the location and being in that space.

Could you tell us more about your upcoming album, Hometown?

Yeah, Hometown is the first body of work that kind of represents the style or that sound that I feel I've really found, that blend between hip hop and other genres - like indie pop and alternative, whateve you want to call it - so I think it's its own thing as a pioneer of that, for me at least. Other than that, it's my first body of work as a producer. I self-produced all of it and, actually, it has a few credits for producers who helped me on a few tracks but, for the most part, it was all out of the bedroom and learning software and everything, so I think it's a really special project in that sense. It's just a first of many things for me.

Is there a track off that album you're most excited to be sharing with fans and listeners?

I think the ones that may not get the most hype are a track called "White Noise" and a track called "Man". They're a little more just softer, introspective songs that aren't just about a relationship of anything like that, they're kind of just father questions for me and I think, for that reason, they hold a special place and I'm just really excited about them. But then, besides that, I think "Touch" is one that stands out to me on the album; it's one that actually uses acoustic instruments and things like that, so it really blends the electronic and acoustic world together in the album.

How would you sum up Hometown in one sentence?

Hometown is understanding a dream but questioning reality.

What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music?

Just a relatability to it and just enjoying it, it being true entertainment that they can just listen to with their friends. There's tracks like "Heartbeat" that can just wash over you and just be dance-y, but for those who want to listen in deeper to some of the lyrics on some of them, I hope to just relate with people and address some of the feelings that I feel like a lot of people are feeling right now.

Is there anything you want to add?

I also do fashion. It's at eyelidkid.com/wear and I'm pretty into it and wanting to get more into it. I'm about to go to Fasion Week in New York in September; I'm pretty excited about that but, yeah, it's just another aspect of the project.

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Sabrina Salice

Catch up with pop singer-songwriter Sabrina Salice and watch the video for her new single, "I'm All In", off her debut EP to be released later this year.

What first got you interested in music and performing?

Sabrina: I was really young when I first started singing. My mom and my dad put me and my siblings into piano lesson at a super young age 'cause they wanted us all to take piano and I started singing while I was playing my simple songs, like "Jingle Bells" and all that stuff [laughs]. So, my mom and my piano teacher realized that, I guess, I had a pretty good voice and a lot of people were like, 'oh, you should get her into voice lessons!'. So, at the age of 8 I think, I started getting into voice lessons and into community theater and I just loved it; I loved being on stage. Yeah, that's pretty much how I got into it [laughs].

Do you remember the first concert you went to?

It was me, my mom, my godmother and her daughter - which is my cousin. We would go to a Celine Dion concert every single year - this was back when I lived on Long Island - and I was so young and the first one I went to, I remember we drove all the way into the city and saw her and I knew a couple of her songs because my mom just listened to her on repeat in the car all the time but, in the middle of her concert, she announced that there was a friend there watching her and she invited him up onto stage to sing and the whole time - I had to be 7 or 8 years old - and the whole time I was like, 'oh my gosh, what if it's me? Oh my gosh!'. [Laughs] I don't know why I was thinking that! But then, when I saw her invite him up there and they started singing, I was like, 'oh my gosh, I want that to be me so bad'. So, from that point on, I was like, that's what I want to do.

Which musicians, other than Celine Dion, have you been influenced by?

She's definitely a big one. I guess her, also Billy Joel, Elton John, and The Eagles my dad always listened to. At a very young age, those were the artists I listened to the most because my parents had the pre-programmed radio station on and those were the songs that were pretty much going on and so I took a liking to '80s rock and stuff and I liked the raspiness that people put into their voices and the soul, so that was influenced into my music. As I got older, I loved listening to Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson because they had that grit, that soul to their sound. Also, as I matured and really got into music, I really liked Jay-Z, his producing and all that kind of stuff. I really like Kanye West's producing - his music [laughs] - but yes, all the people that I mentioned. And Katy Perry is a big one too, just because I really like her songs and how they're such feel good songs and that's how I want my songs to be.

How would you describe your sound to someone who had never heard your music before?

I would definitely say that I have a deeper tone to my voice. I have a richness sound but I think it's also clear, when people listen to my voice, that I have a trained voice. I would say, trained but with a soul richness, because I do have a deep tone - I've been told that. I don't know, I have a big range but, other than that, there are people that refer me to Amy Winehouse - her sound - or Celine Dion - I've been told that, too - and I think that's because I was also influenced by them, so some of the things that I do are because I was always listening to them and I was like, 'oh, that's so good, let me try my own kind of thing like that'.

What were your inspirations behind your single "I'm All In"?

My inspirations were definitely my parents. I went through a really tough time my freshman year at college and, pretty much my whole life, I never imagined really going to college: I would always be like, 'oh, that's a really pretty school,' or, 'I would love to go to this campus,' but I never saw myself going and picking a major and all that stuff; I always just saw one path for me, and that was I'm going to work hard until I make this singing thing my job. It was my senior year and everyone's applying to colleges and I was like, 'oh my gosh, what am I doing?' and so I went along with everyone else and started applying and I was like, I guess that's what you're supposed to do. I have nothing against college, I think it's a great thing, it just wasn't for me and it put me, personally, in a box; that's how I felt and so I made a decision with my parents.

They actually took me home the summer after freshman year because I was kind of hating on music because it wasn't making me happy - I guess 'cause I was unhappy and it was always able to make me happy - so they made me cover some songs with a friend they knew and right when I got back - it was even just a home studio - but literally the first day I was back I was like, 'oh my God, now I love this'. I was literally going to transfer schools and be a finance major because I was just so bummed out because something that always made me happy and I loved, I was unhappy so I blamed it on that, and my parents just wouldn't let me; they were the ones that were like, 'no, she's not going back to school next year, this is her passion and we're going to go at this together and she's going to go at this'.

I wrote that song and the bridge is like, 'thank you for bringing me back, you saved me,' and that was thanking them and the song starts with, 'I can't believe I almost threw it all away,' and that's what that's all about. I think it's a really good feel-good song, because the chorus is simple but it's like 'I bet on myself', and I think that's a huge thing for so many people; take a chance on yourself, believe in yourself, so that's where it came from. [Laughs] That was a long explanation!

Could you tell us more about this upcoming EP?

Yeah, there are five song on the EP including "I'm All In" and "I'm All In" definitely has the most dance/electronic vibe to it. The other songs definitely remain in the Top 40 pop genre, but they're not as dance-y. I have a song called "Love Heist" which is like a fantasy song, a romance; every girl, you know when you daydream and you think of things that could never happen, it's kind of like bringing that into reality. "Iconic Love" is another song and I based that song off of that famous picture in Times Square when the soldiers came back from World War II and there was that famous kissing picture in Times Square and it's very imagery and huge and I think that one, because of how distinctly it paints a picture, it really stands out from all the other ones. There's a song called "Leave Me Curious" which is a very different sounding song; it's a little darker and mysterious and it's really cool. The last one is "I'm Sorry" and that's a ballad, almost along the lines of an Adele pop song, if you're going to try to relate it to something. It shows off my voice and it's the biggest song for me that really shows my talent, so I love listening to it and I'm really excited about that one. It's a little slower, but it still really catches the audience and really tells a good story.

Which of those tracks are you most excited for your fans and listeners to hear?

I think it would be "I'm Sorry" just because it mixes the two worlds of 'this girl really can sing and she's showing off her voice, showing off she really does have talent and training' but also it puts in contemporary Top 40 sound and that's why I'm really excited about that one.

What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music?

I hope that people really listen to the words, not just listen to the sound of the song [laughs] because I think music is supposed to tell a story and take people to a different place and I hope my music takes people to a different place; takes them to a good place where they just want to dance and you're excited about anything, something simple or something huge, it just amps them up just a little bit more.

Is there anything you want to add?

If anyone wants to find out about my events or anything coming up, they can find me at sabrinasalice.com. The rest of my EP is coming out soon; in the next month, month and a half, we should be releasing the songs and I'm super excited about that and if you want to keep up with the release dates and everything, definitely check out my website and all my links to all my social media and everything is on there. And thank you so much for having me!

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