A collective sigh of relief was echoed by indie fans all over Ypsilanti when it was announced that Natural Monuments, a band composed of Alec Jensen, Travis Bravender and Aaron Quillen, would release a new two song single online—for free. “Alone, Etc.” backed with “Wite Out,” is a taste of what’s to come from Natural Monuments and was released May 18.
Natural Monuments burst into the local music scene with the “For Sanity’s Sake” EP in 2007. It brought its unique brand of indie-pop all over the state of Michigan and frequently performed at Ypsilanti’s Elbow Room. The EP introduced the band’s talent for writing catchy, distorted pop songs, which is obvious on the first listen of the songs “Alex Phelge” and “Rescues.”
“Alone, Etc.” and “Wite Out” are the two new songs and show a change in the band’s direction. Its ability to write damn catchy songs still shines, and the musicians’ talent still shows. But “Alone, Etc.” catches Natural Monuments at its rawest, in the production of the single and the execution of the songs.
The rhythm section sounds as tight as it ever has, but the guitars are jangly and simple, and you can tell that no one even dared to touch the vocals with auto-tune: the songs just wouldn’t have sounded right if they did. The production is nowhere near as crisp as “For Sanity’s Sake,” recalling the wide-open (and maybe a little tinny) drum tones of Death Cab for Cutie’s earlier albums. The guitar sounds come off sounding like something off “Summer Sun” by Yo La Tengo.
“Alone, Etc.” and “Wite Out” came out of writing music after a long hiatus. While rehearsing to play at a CD release for The Word Play, a Detroit indie band, Natural Monuments decided to write some new material — not for a release they would hopefully sell, but for fun. The result was a free single that was as surprising as it was satisfying.
“We decided to start off with a self-recorded two-song single that we would either try to get pressed as a 7-inch [record] or just post online for free,” drummer Quillen said. “We recorded the songs in June of 2009 and sat on them for a while. After a couple of false starts and miscommunications, we decided to put the single up online as a free download back in May. The process couldn’t really have happened any other way. Mainly due to distance and job situations, it’s impossible for us to work on writing and recording all together.”
With distance and job situations considered, it is a miracle the single came out at all. Singer and guitarist Jensen lives in an apartment in Chicago, while Quillen lives in Ypsilanti and guitarist Bravender lives in Fenton. The recordings were sent back and forth between Bravender and Jensen; Bravender recorded his guitar parts and Quillen’s drum parts in Fenton, while vocals, guitar and bass were recorded by Jensen in his apartment in Chicago.
The evolution to a raw sound traced back to the band’s prior recording experiences.
“Our experience recording our first EP, ‘For Sanity’s Sake,’ which features ultra-crisp, over-produced pop songs and one sort of emo song, basically is what made us end the band in the first place,” Quillen said. “When we decided to start writing songs again, we purposely wanted them to be a little more loose and a lot more rough around the edges. An easy way to do this is to just take matters into your own hands, and record the songs yourself.”
With the way that music is traditionally released with iTunes and Internet downloads becoming more prominent, Quillen can definitely see Natural Monuments continuing to release music in this fashion in the future.
“We don’t have the time or money, nor do we know the right people to even think about releasing an actual LP and to put all the work into trying to promote it,” he said. “So, for now, we will settle for these short little free releases as a way to share our music with the people who are interested, and also, selfishly, just get our creativity out. We haven’t discussed this intensely, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we release another one before the end of the year.”
Natural Monuments’ free single “Alone, Etc.” backed with “Wite Out,” can be downloaded at NaturalMonuments.bandcamp.com and songs from “For Sanity’s Sake” can be heard at myspace.com/NaturalMonuments.
Winkler different from the norm
It isn’t hard to find a local singer-songwriter. Throw a rock in Ypsilanti and you are bound to hit a shaggy-haired guy in flip-flops that can play every John Mayer song and recite every Jack Johnson lyric by heart. You can see them at any open-mic, and whether it’s at The Ugly Mug or Oz’s music, they’re strumming songs in the key of G and their voices are smooth and seductive. With a genre where the formula makes the music pleasant to listen to but impossible to stay engaged in, it takes something special to lift peoples’ heavy eyes up from their coffee and actively listen.
Hannah Winkler is different. Yes, she perches up on a stool, and yes, her primary instrument is an acoustic guitar, but Winkler’s strength is her ability to relate her intricate songs to an audience that may not even know what a major scale is.
Leaning on song structures and chord progressions that shift far from the norm, Winkler crafts songs that are melodically exciting without relying on the acoustic guitar as a boring background instrument. Her voice is huge and could fill a room easily — with or without a microphone in front of her.
In March, Winkler won The Ark’s student songwriter competition. Competing against her peers, Winkler performed a five-song set that kept restless onlookers dead-quiet between songs. For winning the Ark’s songwriting contest, Winkler won a chance to perform at The Ark in Ann Arbor, opening for Joshua James (JoshuaJames.tv) on June 28.
In order to execute her music in this style, Winkler had to get a lot of experience under her belt. She has taken classical piano lessons and sang in choirs since she was 10, has graduated from the music program at the University of Michigan, sang with the acapella group “Dicks and Janes” through her four years in college and currently sings back-up vocals for the local funk band Groove Spoon.
In September, Winkler hopes to release her first EP. Supported by songs that she has been performing in her live set, Winkler adds flair to her recordings with additional instruments, ranging from organs to trumpet choirs. The album was recorded at the Duderstadt studio at U of M and in producer Brian Trahan’s house, and feature’s songs that stick to a core of acoustic guitar, bass, drums and electric guitar as the primary instruments. Winkler is excited but nervous about completing the album.
“We’re 99.9 percent done with tracking — just one more vocal harmony line to go,” Winkler said about the wrapup of her album.
For Winkler, this will be her first physical album release, and most complete effort to date. Although she has many songs posted online, nothing she has done has been a fully fleshed out effort, but she is excited to change that.
“I recorded a handful of songs throughout college, but they were all with different engineers and I never put them together into any cohesive project. I’ll be thrilled to have this EP to hand to people as a complete package. I’ve never been able to give anything to people who have asked for my music.”
Winkler’s performances can be seen on YouTube.com/hkwink and her self-titled album is set for a September release on Diag Records.
