Kevin Hairs Drew This For Us

Chances are you haven’t yet heard an album by someone with COVID-19. Let us then introduce you to More Magic, More Magic, the latest Mini-LP from indie-pop artist Kevin Hairs. More Magic, More Magic was recorded when Kevin was self-quarantined on doctor’s orders inside his Brooklyn apartment. Allston Pudding virtually sat down with the self-proclaimed “Tweeird Pop” musician to talk about his irreverent and spectacular new record, which he digitally released on April 10th. Listen while you read the edited interview below:

AP: Well, first, congrats on the album release. Can you describe the album?

KH: It’s six songs, which I feel (these days) kind of counts as an album. The first Kevin Hairs release was a full band effort. This time around I programmed the drum machine and I was just a little more relaxed about it. I was really inspired and have been listening to a lot of Beat Happening lately [because of their] strumming out-of-tune guitar and semi-awkward singing. But it works, you know.

 AP: Your music has a lot of stacked guitars and washed out vocals which call to mind shoegaze that’s mixed with a bedroom-pop style of production. Is that an accurate description?

KH: Yeah. I was trying to explain this record to someone else and I was like, yeah, “it’s kind of Jonathan Richman but backed by Slowdive.”

AP: Your Bandcamp description describes it as “Tweeird Pop.” Is that a mixture of Twee and weird music?

 KH: I was talking to my boyfriend and I was saying, “how would you describe my music?” He’s not particularly indie or whatever. So he was like, “it’s poppy in that twee kind of way. But then it’s kind of weird and unexpected.” And I just thought that was really charming. So, I kept it.

AP: Counting your work under the moniker The Hairs, this is your 14th album, which includes previous collaborations with Jacob Sloan from The Pains of Being Pure At Heart. What sets More Magic, More Magic apart from past records? 

KH: I took some time off from doing music. And then literally as soon as I hunkered down, I was like, “I’m going to just see what it’s like to make music on my own again.” I haven’t done that since 2015.

And all the time that I thought that “I didn’t really know much about music theory and, you know, harmonies and all that stuff.” It’s kind of funny that even going back into it, I was like, “oh, this is this is a good bassline.” And, you know, “this is a cool way to harmonize with that guitar line” and [it was] all kind of intuitive as I was doing it.

I think it’s probably just maybe a little more reflective. Not that [The Hairs] was not reflective. But I think now I’m kind of embracing being a singer-songwriter type of guy. I’ve been playing shows with a drum machine and that’s actually been really enjoyable and fine. And I feel other people like it too, but I don’t really care. I mean, I like doing it, but I guess knowledge is the only thing that makes it different. And just being a bit older. 

More Magic, More Magic

AP: What do you hope listeners will get from hearing More Magic, More Magic?

KH: I hope they can find it somewhat emotionally resonant and relatable. I think my personality comes across in my music. So, I think that’s pretty cool. Not that… that’s the takeaway. Just hopefully something relatable or something like that. I think it’s kind of when you watch a movie or a good TV show and there might be some crazy B-line plot lines, but there’s actually a hard lesson, a lesson for the heart. 

AP: So you’re an illustrator and you’ve been posting a comic on your social media called “Marc got a Mystic Guitar.” What’s the connection between Kevin Hairs and your web comic strip character Marc? If there is any. 

KH: He’s probably kinda like me, but I don’t know. He’s kind of funny and he’s quippy. He says things that are on his mind in an honest way. So maybe that’s kind of where we parallel [and] the fact that we play guitar.

I’m reading a lot of things and studying comic art illustration. I’ve gotten back into old Marvel Comics and I was reading Doctor Strange and Thor. And so, just sort of discerning if there was a DIY gay pop guy that was playing guitar [that] just feels like an alien. So, I guess there. And then one day the mystical, magical kind of thing.

AP: And then one day Benedict Cumberbatch or Chris Hemsworth will play you.

KH: I mean, I might pick out somebody else like Joshua Jackson or who’s available, like the kid from The Sopranos. 

AP: The one who was arrested for selling pot? 

KH: I mean, I’d bail him out just so he could play me… Have you experienced the COVID?

AP: It hasn’t really touched my direct circles.

KH: I had it.

AP: You did!?

 KH: Yeah, I just got over it.

AP: No kidding.

KH: Yeah, probably when we got a mandatory “work from home.” The second day I was home, I was like, “oh, I feel very tired.” And I had a slight fever. All that time, I also had a little bit of a cough and a sinus thing. And then I lost my sense of smell and taste. I was cooking garlic last week and I had my head over the stove and I was like, “I cannot smell this.”

 AP: That is scary.  

KH: I mean, I can taste again. But there was a time when I was like, “I just taste mush in my mouth [and] I can’t tell you what it is.”

AP: No joke. And then did you do anything? Did you go get medical treatment for it? 

KH: I called my doctor and she was just like, “if you think you have it, just stay home. You might actually be more at-risk if you leave the house.” So, I was just told to quarantine right away.

I gave it to my boyfriend and then we have a third roommate and she hasn’t gotten sick. And I mean, it’s been [enough] incubation time that’s happened [for her to be safe], so… But yeah… it’s kind of funny. Sometimes I feel I’m [always] the one person that someone knows [who this kind of thing happens to].

AP: New York is the epicenter of it right now. So I guess it’s not too surprising if people I know there have [COVID-19]. But really glad it wasn’t so serious for you, man.

KH: Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. It was a minor case. I recorded [More Magic, More Magic] while I had it or was getting over it.

AP: No shit!

KH: Yeah.

AP: I’m noticing a lot of people posting songs about [COVID-19], but I haven’t heard of anybody recording a whole album while having COVID-19.

KH: In New York it makes sense. We’re all on top of each other so it’s quite easy for it to become a cesspool.

Check out the latest album More Magic, More Magic out now on bandcamp.