100 Musicians Answer the Same 10 Questions

Part Thirteen: Kyle Hamlett of Lylas

instigated by dave heaton

Kyle Hamlett writes songs and sings for the Nashville, Tennessee-based band Lylas, whose debut album Lessons for Lovers (Fictitious Records) displays their own unique pop sound. Their style is romantic, Valentine's Day music on the surface - waltzes and ballads, woodwinds and strings - but also has a sense of the macabre about it. Sweet and dark at the same time, it's a remarkable, rewarding album. Songs can be heard on their Myspace page and website.

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

For me, the writing stage is always the most exciting. The feeling of creating something (hopefully) worthwhile from nothing is always really rewarding. Once it exists as a song proper, it's always fun to watch it evolve; the guys in the band are great about figuring out neat arrangements and helping realize a song's potential.

What aspect of making music gets you the most discouraged?

Booking shows, definitely. This is a task meant for someone with far greater patience and organizational skills than myself. Bookers of the world - call us.

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

We're doing some live dates - instores, shows around the southeast, Team Clermont's Prom in Athens at the 40 watt.... We're also set to begin recording our next record, and we're all pretty jazzed about that. All the songs are written and we're just figuring out our recording schedule and brainstorming production and arrangement ideas.

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?

My brother Josh (bass) and I played a stripped back set at an old haunted house turned venue called Sassy Ann's in Knoxville. It's apparently one of the oldest houses in the town and in it's time has been everything from a brothel to a boarding house. The barkeep and employees had stories aplenty about haunted goings on and murders committed there. After we finished the set we played a few ghost song sing-alongs in a dark out of the way nook.. It was a neat place.

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?

Living in the south, especially Nashville, has definitely affected us. We're all pretty much classicists in terms of the country and roots kind of stuff we listen to - it's in the water. There's also a lot of great under the radar indie rock kind of stuff going on in Nashville that's really inspiring. A lot of diversity and disregard for convention. It's nice to see that lurking beneath the surface of music row..

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

I wrote a song the past week or so that will probably end up on our next record. It's sort of about the dual nature of growing up in the south - in an environment that feels somehow simultaneously cozy and oppressive. And I was thinking how relationships can be like that - so I guess it's ultimately a relationship song. Like all the rest. But informed by geography.

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?

I think I get more interested in hearing new music all the time. There are so many ideas and variations of aesthetic floating around out there - good and bad. And there's something worth taking away from all of it... or most all of it.

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?)

We've all been listening to a lot of 50's rock and doowop sort of stuff lately - lots of Roy Orbison, all the Spector-era girl group stuff. A lot of Chet Atkins for me. Also I've recently been introduced to some afrobeat kind of stuff which is totally new for me. A lot of the Ethiopques series, Mulatu Astatke.

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?

He gets plenty of love, but I think Leonard Cohen's early stuff if phenomenal. 'Seems So Long Ago Nancy' from Songs from a Room is just perfect. So haunting. I also really love Joanna Newsom. I saw her live a couple of years ago and was completely hypnotized.

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

I could spend hours mulling this over. Alas, I'll spare us. 'Needle of Death' by Bert Jansch is up there... Also, I've been reintroduced to 'Suicide is Painless' from M.A.S.H. recently. I had forgotten just how heartbreaking it was - 'The game of life is hard to play, I'm gonna lose it anyway'. God.

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