100 Musicians Answer the Same 10 Questions

Part Fifty-Four: Nire

instigated by dave heaton

The Portland-based duo Nire, Josh Hinton and Erin Morgan, self-released an excellent whispery pop album called We All Shine On (Asuarus Distro), which I regret that I never got around to writing about. Their latest EP, My Father's Record Player (OIC), is just as nice, warm and timeless. Check out their website and MySpace.

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What aspect of making music excites you the most right now?

Josh: Building things up and then stripping them down.

Erin: Experimenting with my voice in quiet ways.

What aspect of making music gets you the most discouraged?

J: Erin can be very stubborn on occasion.

E: All the cords (not all the chords).

What are you up to right now, music-wise? (Current or upcoming recordings, tours, extravaganzas, experiments, top-secret projects, etc).

J/E: We'll be recording a new album (jesus-sunny-snow-rain-moon) this fall. We're planning a national haunted house tour for the spring (write us if you'd like to set something up - josh@niremusic.com).

What's the most unusual place you've ever played a show or made a recording? How did the qualities of that place affect the show/recording?

J/E: We played a show for a terminally ill man in his living room on his birthday. The situation and our music combined to make for an extremely sad night.

In what ways does the place where you live (or places where you have lived), affect the music you create, or your taste in music?

J: Portland makes everything ok and this lets the music become whatever it will, as it should.

E: We lived for awhile in a tiny, all lavender apartment. We're still trying to figure out what that did to our music. Our new place has much more space, as do our new songs.

When was the last time you wrote a song? What can you tell us about it?

J/E: We just finished writing a song called "All This Time." It definitely has a different feel than the one by Tiffany.

As you create more music, do you find yourself getting more or less interested in seeking out and listening to new music made by other people...and why do you think that is?

J: Definitely more, especially since friends of ours are making the music which excites me the most right now.

E: Sort of both. I'm not actively seeking out new bands, but new and exciting music is finding me (kind of like how cats adopt their owners sometimes).

Lately what musical periods or styles do you find yourself most drawn to as a listener? (Old or new music? Music like yours or different from yours?)

J: I like being in on fresh, lo-fi secrets.

E: I'm not really into specific periods or styles, but something in a song's tone really draws me in; I haven't been able to pinpoint what it specifically is though.

Name a band or musician, past or present, who you flat-out LOVE and think more people should be listening to. What's one of your all-time favorite recordings by this band/musician?

J: Junkface (www.myspace.com/junkfaces). They have a self-release that I've been playing non-stop for months on end. Look out for their west coast tour in October.

E: Mum and Son (www.myspace.com/mumandson). They don't have a release yet but I can't wait for their album to come out. They really are a mom and a son from France.

What's the saddest song you've ever heard?

J: "Twilight", by Elliott Smith ... the saddest and most beautiful.

E: "New World", by Bjork, as sung in Dancer in the Dark in the execution scene.

To check out the rest of the Q&As, click here.