The Hellos

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Giraffes for Wings
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The Hellos

Post by Giraffes for Wings »

I entered my first SF about a month ago, but I only just discovered this thread. I guess I will put a basic intro here if anyone is interested.

I find a lot of joy in writing my little songs. Mostly I just crank out chuggy or bouncy acoustic guitar stuff, but sometimes I write on ukulele, and more rarely, on accordion. In college, I wrote exclusively on accordion, but it’s been a decade since that time. SF may be a good chance to try it out again.

Most of my songs eventually end up as “full-band” numbers with proper production, but I know how to do almost none of that, and since my producer just had a baby, all my submissions for the foreseeable future will be extremely lo-fi (at least I’m using a DAW; that’s more than can be said for my lo-fi COVID EP, which I recorded on my phone). I guess all I can say is that I don’t necessarily expect a lot of votes, but I enjoy the opportunity to come up with new ideas and share them with a community. Thanks for listening!

I will throw in here that my main influences seem to be John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats (that will come through loud and clear, I think), Stephen Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, and, philosophically as much as musically, (SongFighter) Jonathan Mann.
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sleepysilverdoor
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Re: The Hellos

Post by sleepysilverdoor »

jkelver wrote:
Sat Dec 26, 2020 4:58 pm
I entered my first SF about a month ago, but I only just discovered this thread. I guess I will put a basic intro here if anyone is interested.

I find a lot of joy in writing my little songs. Mostly I just crank out chuggy or bouncy acoustic guitar stuff, but sometimes I write on ukulele, and more rarely, on accordion. In college, I wrote exclusively on accordion, but it’s been a decade since that time. SF may be a good chance to try it out again.

Most of my songs eventually end up as “full-band” numbers with proper production, but I know how to do almost none of that, and since my producer just had a baby, all my submissions for the foreseeable future will be extremely lo-fi (at least I’m using a DAW; that’s more than can be said for my lo-fi COVID EP, which I recorded on my phone). I guess all I can say is that I don’t necessarily expect a lot of votes, but I enjoy the opportunity to come up with new ideas and share them with a community. Thanks for listening!

I will throw in here that my main influences seem to be John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats (that will come through loud and clear, I think), Stephen Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, and, philosophically as much as musically, (SongFighter) Jonathan Mann.
For what it's worth I know that at the very least, both owl and vom (some regular contributors around here) are huge Magnetic fields fans so you'll find some common ground if you stick around!
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vowlvom
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Re: The Hellos

Post by vowlvom »

That is accurate. Big Magnetic Fields fan, at least up to "I" - the albums after that are weirdly missing... something, for me.

But anyway, welcome! I haven't really been listening or taking part lately but looking forward to hearing your contributions when I can pull myself out of this rut!
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Giraffes for Wings
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Re: The Hellos

Post by Giraffes for Wings »

vowlvom wrote:
Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:04 am
That is accurate. Big Magnetic Fields fan, at least up to "I" - the albums after that are weirdly missing... something, for me.

But anyway, welcome! I haven't really been listening or taking part lately but looking forward to hearing your contributions when I can pull myself out of this rut!
Thanks! Stephen Merritt is kind of weird as an influence for me because I like maybe a quarter or less of his songs (all of i and a lot of 69 and a lot of Memoir and then not much else), but the ones I like, I like a whole heck of a lot. It’s mostly reflections of his rhyming ideals that trickle into my own songwriting.

I don’t believe I’ve seen any of your songs in a fight yet, but I will be sure to check some out in the archive.
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vowlvom
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Re: The Hellos

Post by vowlvom »

Interesting! I haven't really managed to get into 50 Song Memoir yet (although I love the concept). I don't really like the first couple of albums but I love Charm of the Highway Strip, Holiday, 69 Love Songs and I. At his best he's a fascinating songwriter so I totally get the influence thing!

You can hear some Magnetic Fields covers from me and miscellaneous owl over here, if you're interested: https://prfmonthlytributeseries.bandcam ... tic-fields
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Re: The Hellos

Post by owl »

Welcome jkelver! I’m also a big fan of the Mountain Goats (not as much as crumpart/Hot Pink Halo though) and the Magnetic Fields. Two of my favorite lyricists! But my favorites from the Magnetic Fields are more the earlier albums and 69 Love Songs, I never even heard most of Memoir as it was pretty daunting to get through all 50. I haven’t listened to the new fight yet but looking forward to hearing your promised boombox-era Mountain Goats impression.
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Giraffes for Wings
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Re: The Hellos

Post by Giraffes for Wings »

I checked out the tribute album; I liked your contributions a lot. They weren’t MF songs that I particularly remembered, which makes me think I should revisit his catalog to see what else I’ve passed over.
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MicahSommer
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Re: The Hellos

Post by MicahSommer »

jkelver wrote:
Sat Dec 26, 2020 4:58 pm
I find a lot of joy in writing my little songs. Mostly I just crank out chuggy or bouncy acoustic guitar stuff, but sometimes I write on ukulele, and more rarely, on accordion. In college, I wrote exclusively on accordion, but it’s been a decade since that time. SF may be a good chance to try it out again.
Welcome from another accordionist! I haven't submitted in the past year but I hope to again soon and my submissions are usually pretty accordion-heavy. I enjoyed both your submissions; if you do bust out the squeezebox, you will have at least one sympathetic listener. :)
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