From left: Liz Kantor, Alasdair MacKenzie and Chris Haley of Hush Club perform onstage at NICE, a fest on July 27th. Photo Credit: Cole Parks
Hot off of a crowd pleasing set at this summer’s NICE, a fest, Somerville-born Hush Club will take the stage at The Sinclair on September 8th. Having released two singles already this year, the trio plan on a couple more releases before the annual ball drop. As they plan to hit the road, we caught up with members Alasdair Mackenzie, Chris Haley and Liz Kantor to discuss childhood heroes, pizza and Chappell Roan.
Allston Pudding: What’s your advice to other groups of friends or creatives coming together to make music?
Alasdair MacKenzie: At the risk of sounding hokey, do it with people you really like and really respect. I think there’s no substitute for that and those are two separate things. There are plenty of people I like whose musical taste and ability I don’t particularly respect, And people whose musical ability I respect, but I wouldn’t want to hang out with for hours and hours.
AP: Who were your childhood heroes or inspirations? Musically, or in general.
Chris Haley: I’d say when I was really young – I know this isn’t the coolest take but I was really into U2. My dad listened to them a lot. I really fell in love with The Edge’s guitar playing, and that’s what made me want to start playing guitar. As I got older, I got really into this band Dawes. They are probably one of my all-time heroes. I love [them], I feel like my guitar playing has been hugely influenced by the people in that band… Those are the first two that come to mind.
Liz Kantor: Yeah, I grew up doing a lot of theater so most of the music I listened to as a kid were show tunes and Broadway, which is also not the coolest answer in the world [laughs], but I’m a huge Stephen Sondheim fan. I’ve always respected his writing ability. He’s such a clever composer and lyricist and I feel like, even though now I don’t really do much theater, I feel like I try to think “what would Sondheim do?” if I’m stuck on a melody.
AP: Which musical is your favorite?
LK: I would say Sunday in the Park with George or Into The Woods probably. Are you a musical person?
AP: I don’t love a lot of musicals. I do theater so people are always like, “Oh you don’t like musicals but you do theater, you’re not a real theater person.”
LK: Are you in plays?
AP: Yeah, I do comedies but not many musicals. They’re stressful though, I respect people that do them a lot.
LK: I just played my first musical in years this past Thursday and I forgot just like, so many moving parts…
AM: It makes what we do look really easy.
AP: I wouldn’t say that! You guys also have quite a task.
AM: I’s different, the act of performance for what we do is maybe easier than the act of performance for a musical. We’re not acting and dancing at the same time that we’re singing. It’s harder in that we wrote the stuff and produced the recordings which Broadway stars don’t do for their shows. But at the moment on stage, I think they’re working harder than we are.
From left: Chris Haley, Alasdair MacKenzie and Liz Kantor of Hush Club. Photo credit: Joshua Murray
AP: Back to the original question, I don’t wanna take it away from you, Alasdair. Who was your childhood hero or inspiration?
AM: A lot of first generation rock ‘n’ roll. The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, because that’s what my parents loved. It’s sort of like what Liz was saying about Sondheim and you could probably say about U2 as well, just a pretty strong grounding in melody. Maybe not Bob Dylan so much but the others definitely. I’ll be off thinking what would Lennon and McCartney do? What would Carole King do? What would Smokey Robinson do? And that gets mediated through stuff that I’ve gotten into since then.
AP: Who would be a more recent inspiration for you?
AM: A lot of indie rock artists who we hope will be thought of as peers someday like Dawes, Fleet Foxes, the Shins, Tame Impala, the people in that world. Plus, and I think there’s sometimes a stigma about saying this in the indie world, but pop music is pretty great too. There’s a lot of great melodies if you just listen to Chappell Roan’s album or Taylor Swift.
AP: In the age of TikTok and instant gratification, fans and artists are closer than ever and viral marketing seems to be more of a need than a want for creatives these days. As a group who has already experienced levels of online success, do you find it to be more pressure or excitement, to be able to operate with fans in that way?
LK: A lot of pros and a lot of cons. Like youre saying, there’s a lot of pressure to be a musician, but also to have a public relations or marketing [background]. For the three of us, it’s not necessarily something that comes the most naturally. What we’ve discovered in the last year is just being ourselves and showing the true side of the band, that’s what connects us to the most people. Music and art are such saturated markets – it’s amazing that everyone can learn how to play an instrument, but there’s so many bands trying to break through. On the flip side of that pressure, TikTok does allow artists like Hush Club to actually get in front of a lot of people in a way that you wouldn’t necessarily get to, when it’s less common to get a record deal or sign to a label without having insane connections. I don’t think we would be where we are now if not for TikTok.
“Music and art are such saturated markets – it’s amazing that everyone can learn how to play an instrument, but there’s so many bands trying to break through.” – Liz Kantor
AM: In addition to the tangible career benefits that Liz outlines, it’s also about connecting to people. Sometimes it can feel like it’s just the three of us in a room making music, but social media makes me feel more constantly connected and of course, facilitates real life connections like meeting people after shows.
@hushclubband and check out The Moon wherever you listen to music! #pizza #indie #band #indieband #boston #somerville ♬ original sound – Hush Club
AP: What’s your favorite song that you’ve written?
CH: Probably “The Moon.” I’m proud of the composition but it’s fun more so than any other song that I worked on. I’ve experienced more people knowing the words and remembering the melody than previous songs, and that’s not to say what makes a song valuable is whether people like it or not but to Alasdair’s point, it’s a lot about connection and if something we created brings someone else joy that’s really special and I’m really grateful for artists that bring me joy.
LK: Yeah, I loved working on [that song]. I think it was the first song where we were appreciating more pop music, listening to Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan and trying to be really meticulous about every aspect of the song. Making sure there’s a hook everywhere, trying to make it really catchy and fun and danceable. I think that song is a really good encapsulation of what our writing process looks like. Chris came up with the melody and the chords and from there it was very collaborative.
AP: What’s your favorite song to perform?
AM: “Caroline.” It was very collaborative, then unlike “The Moon” it’s taken on a different life when performed live. There is a guitar solo near the end but it fades out [for the recording], and live it’s a chance for us to show off our secret weapon: Chris Haley. We typically are pretty self-conscious about solos because you can get numb to them. But for this song, it feels really special to have this moment where we don’t hold anything back, and we have a moment where we get the crowd singing along.
AP: That was definitely something that stood out from your NICE, a fest set: your crowd work. The way you played off of people, it didn’t feel forced or tedious. It felt natural.
LK: I love performing that song also and I’m glad to hear that the crowd work comes across naturally, but there is a part of me sometimes where – [the song “Caroline”] is actually about someone who’s name is really Caroline and she does live in Boston, so now that we’re getting more visibility, I’m like “she might be here.” That’s a real thing that might happen and she’s gonna know. Hasn’t happened yet, but who knows.
AM: And you figured you’d keep it under wraps and minimize the risk by-
LK: Talking about it in interviews, exactly.
AP: If you had to choose a neighborhood in Somerville as your identity, which would you choose?
AM: You have to say Davis Square right? Chris and I have lived here since we graduated college and Liz lived with us for the first few years, so wouldn’t it feel disingenuous to say anywhere else? Not that I don’t love the other squares…
CH: I’m gonna go out-on-a-limb and say Teele Square. I feel like I get a lot of food there and I identify with Teele Square because it’s kind of off to the side. I’m a little bit of an introvert.
AM: It’s the George Harrison of the squares. [all laugh]
LK: I feel like Davis is the one that’s the most important to me. I live in Providence [Rhode Island] now, but I spend a ton of time in Davis with Alasdair and Chris. But I think the one that’s the closest to my personality might be Union Square. I feel like it’s always changing and it’s very artsy and there’s vibrant nightlife.
AP: In honor of your recent post-show pizza giveaway, could you list some of your favorite pizza shops?
AM: Dragon Pizza’s gotta be on the list, yeah?
CH: I think Area Four in Kendall Sq.
LK: Area Four rocks.
CH: That’s some serious pizza and I’d say the other kind of sleeper because it’s new, in Harvard Square, is Joe’s. The New York place, kinda great! Open until 4 AM.
LK: I had an idea in my head and then you said those. They’re all so good. It’s so hard to choose. I also love Pinocchio’s in Harvard Square. That is a place that got a lot of my money in college.
@hushclubband ticket link in bio! #boston #somerville #indie #band #indieband #pizza ♬ original sound – Hush Club
AP: After your upcoming show at The Sinclair, you will be hosting an after-party at Lizzie’s ice cream. So what’s your favorite ice cream topping/flavor? Unconventional options encouraged.
CH: The best ice cream flavor I’ve had recently… my brother lives in Los Angeles and when I was out there, there’s a place called Salt & Straw-
LK: SO good.
CH: They had this blueberry banana bread flavor… Incredible.
LK: I love chocolate ice cream or raspberry sorbet, but specifically the salted caramel crackle from Honeycomb Creamery in Porter Square and the B3 from Toscanini’s in Central Sq.
AP: Both TIFFY and you have recommended Honeycomb Creamery now so I guess I really gotta check that place out.
AM: And Lizzie’s! Like Pinocchio’s with Liz, they took a lot of my money in college.
AP: So after all the pizza and ice cream, what does the rest of the year look like for you guys?
AM: Shows, shows, shows! Songs, songs, songs!
CH: We have The Sinclair show coming up, Philadelphia & DC, and we’ll be in New York in December with a great other Boston band called Copilot. Trying to take the show on the road and hang with some new people in different places!
For more information regarding Hush Club’s new music and tour visit their website! Follow Hush Club on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more!