motel void

How Strange It Is is a four-piece lo-fi/indie band from Portland, OR.

‘Head Holder’ is the first single off your new album. What can you tell us about it (e.g. the recording process)? When will it be released and how?

It’s called In the Light of the Blistering Moon and it’ll be our first full length album. A good
bit of the songs were pulled together in the months leading up to some studio time we had
booked back in December. I wanted to challenge myself to see what I would come up with in a time crunch. It ended up being a really great way to make a bunch of demos I liked without overthinking and it left space for some fun decisions on the fly when we were recording.

As is our usual process, I brought those demos to the band and worked out the full arrangement. Our synth player Benson starting phasing out his involvement back toward the end of last summer so I found myself leading with synth while writing a few songs which was new for me. That first session was at a studio called Ruby Machine with our friend Vin Christopher who worked on our first EP and once we had the basic tracks down, we finished over the next 4 months or so tracking at my house and mixing in Vin’s basement studio, both in North Portland just a few blocks from each other.

What came out is kind of a smattering of big feelings and observations. Less about
love/heartbreak, more about reckoning with the world and keeping your brain out of the blender. It feels like it makes sense once it’s all together but I guess that’s up for you to decide.

The album will be out everywhere on July 14th. Bud Tapes and Candlepin Records are
co-releasing it on cassette and we’ll be doing a small run of vinyl as well.

You released your eponymous debut album in 2022 via bud tapes and it included a lot of local DIY musicians from the Portland scene. How would you describe the current music scene there? Your favorite local artists/venues?

The scene here is really integrated and supportive. Bud Tapes especially plays a big part
in that. Emmet has been working really hard to foster a DIY community here and people outside of Portland are starting to notice. Bands I love on Bud like Babytooth, Canary Room, Boreen,and Pileup all have ties back to this project in one way or another. There are also lots of people opening up their homes or throwing generator shows in spite of there being a lack of all ages spaces in town.

During the summer months, I call my house Rainforest Cafe and throw shows in
the backyard. It’s easy to stay connected when I’m hosting and being able to give touring bands a place to play and crash has grown our community even bigger. Portland is a really easy place to get inspired by the people around you if you work your way into the right spaces. That’s kind of what makes this project work so well. I play bass in Annie’s band Yellow Room (the one that rips the solo in Head Holder) and I play guitar in Vin’s
band Nothings. Those collaborations outside of HSII made making this record a whole lot
easier. Especially the recording process with Vin. A lot of the production and engineering
choices he made went smoothly because he already knows what I like and how I work. Same goes for Annie’s guitar parts, nothing felt forced.

Your music is influenced by names like Built to Spill and Alex G? I’m a huge fan myself. What are your favorite albums by them?

There’s Nothing Wrong with Love was my introduction to Built to Spill and remains one
of my favorites. Car and Distopian Dream Girl specifically hit for me. The guitar production, songwriting, lyrics and delivery. It’s all so good! If you haven’t dug into their collab EP with Caustic Resin, I highly recommend checking that out too. There are so many good Alex G cuts, but as a full record, Beach Music is my favorite front to back.

Did any other artists influence your new record?

So many, but Yo La Tengo particularly comes to mind. Their ability to sway from tender
to ripping has been proof to me that you can have it both ways and that’s something I strive for as I try to keep things interesting for both myself and whoever’s listening.

I was also listening to a ton of Chad VanGaalen when I wrote some of the first tracks like
Head Holder. I think the only solid lyrics I had when I started were that first “what’s that hand you hold, growing from your head…” line. He creates these wild animations of psychedelic creatures morphing from one thing into another to go with his music and I think that’s what gave me the idea, like a third arm growing from your head, supporting you when you feel like you’re losing it, or maybe it grows into something else entirely. That sort of sentiment, both the morphing into chaos and simultaneous self soothing, are laced throughout the album.

Your plans for the rest of the year?

After the release and our release show (July 20th at Mississippi Studios for those who live in Portland). We’re going on a tour with our buds in Babytooth at the end of July (they’re putting out an album in August that I highly recommend keeping an ear out for) and we’ll be trying to play more shows in the PNW throughout the fall as well as writing and hopefully recording some new music.