Tory Hanna & The Pondsiders are creating a buzz of their own this Summer with the upcoming release, Learning to Share, due out August 19th. Recently releasing the single “Waiting on You,” we see an impressive side of the group, as they make their official debut of the piece.
Led by musical troubadour Tory Hanna, the band draws inspiration from the Berkshire region’s “natural beauty, quiet mystery, and invitation for adventure.” Their sound is equally parts gorgeous and haunting as they carefully craft each piece, making a unique and eclectic sound throughout.
Learning to Share, which will be released via Electric Giant Records, is one of the most highly anticipated records in the Americana-Indie-Folk world this year. Described as an “11-track journey told from the perspective of someone who has experienced, as we all have, the joys and struggles that defines what it means to learn to share,” this record will entice your ears and your soul. Tory Hanna & The Pondsiders not only showcase their talent for performing, but for songwriting as well. We had the chance to catch up with the up and coming act, for an exclusive interview at No Depression. See what Tory Hanna has to say, below.
What comes first when writing, the music or the lyrics? Why so?
Love the question, typically for me the music comes first. I have landed over the years into a serious mode of guitar-based song writing, as in relying on the guitar as the central instrument for creating new songs, new melodies, new ideas, etc. A lot of songwriters use the piano, or other full range instruments to write, I’ve become pretty reliant on the guitar. I actually think this has focused the type of songs that I’ve been writing, particularly with Learning to Share. There’s a lot of twang in this record. I usually start with the music, and then the lyrical concepts and melody’s come from there. There are topics and ideas/ideals I have in my back pocket to write about, so when a hook or a vibe comes out of the ethos, the lyrical concepts match up and a song is born. All this said, there is occasion when lyrics drive a song out of the nothingness, Wild Wide Open Spaces came out of major life changing trip to Alaska, where I met a woman named Fay, a gritty, incredibly kind Alaskan homesteader who opened my eyes to the beauty of the land. She had green eyes and lived on a 1000 acre parcel of land filled with little streams running to the Bay of Kachemak. I stared singing ‘roll me down the river, drop me in the sea, find me a green eyed lady…’ and the whole song followed.
What is the theme and concept behind the upcoming record? What inspired you?
The theme and title of the Album is Learning to Share. I guess it somewhat speaks for itself, but ultimately this is a lifelong pursuit. From child hood till death, we are all working at or striving towards learning to share things. Whether its toys or emotions or even words as a child, or love and intimacy or professional/artistic endeavors as an adult. One never achieves this entirely, it’s sort of a spectrum on which we all exist, and some work harder at it than others. But if you expand this concept outwards and look at it with a bit of a more macro-perspective, I think we can safely say that if we all tried to work towards learning to share better, we would create a more beautiful world. A world with less war and hatred, less division amongst the global human experiment, and more equity all around. The concept is about creating harmony, but that this concept is by no means easy at all and that we need to work at it every single day. BUT, that it should be our collective goal. I was inspired to pursue this topic through these songs because I would like to think I’m working at learning to share every day, in a number of ways, and if the album art of this record to the songs themselves and the music can be used as a metric, working towards this can be a very very beautiful thing.
Your vocals are silky smooth with an incredible Indie-Rock edge to them. What vocalists do you look up to and how did you craft your vocal style?
Thanks! Totally flattering. I’ve listened to and sang for years, classic soul vocalists such as Bill Withers, Sam Cooke, and Otis Redding. I sang with a funk/soul project for a number of years and have some old friends who are in the jazz and funk scene with whom I’ve been playing/singing with for a long time. I think this is and has been a huge influence on how I sing and what I feel like sounds good. These classic singers are undeniably awesome and timeless. But I do appreciate and am a product of a much more modern style of Indie rockers and new age song writing. I had a deep Death Cab for Cutie connection for quite a while, and then turned towards Jack White in a big way. He’s basically a hero of mine lyrically speaking. I remember hearing his rendition of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ and just being blown away. I’d play this at open mics in the Berkshires time after time, just loving the story line of the song, but also the way Jack White as a male sang his heart out to that tune. I also envy Arcade Fire and Win Butler’s lyrical freedoms and liberties, the looseness and wandering style that brings their songs so eloquently out of an archetypal indie rock vibe.
What kind of instruments do you use on the new record?
The record is packed with a ton of instruments, I played a 60’s Gibson vintage acoustic, and Jeff Malinowski who played on and produced the record played a B3 Organ that was at the studio as well as a Wurlitzer. We had a suite of fun toys to play with. We recorded at Grand Street Studio with the amazing Ken Rich who engineered the entire project. Jeff Howard, the guitar legend you hear behind the scenes played a whole ton of slide work on a 1901 acoustic guitar that Ken Rich’s grandparents owned and he used play as a child growing up and spending time with them. The guitar was so freakin’ old, the action on it was super high so Jeff thought it would make for a good slide vibe. You hear it on Waiting on You, as well as Wallabout Bay. It’s a super raw earthy sound, I personally think it makes the whole record and was choicely captured. On bass you hear a Fender P and dope as fuck 66’ Hofner club bass played by Brooklyn’s finest, Andy Doherty. My man Alex Hayes also played some beautiful bass licks on the other half of the record.
Do you record the new album on your own, or did you head to the studio with an outside producer?
I used Grand Street Studio in Brooklyn NY, led by Ken Rich the sound engineer. Most of the record was recorded and produced here, although we did have a horn tracking session at BeatStreet Productions in Manhattan. Grand Street is an unbelievable open floor plan room great for live recording, which we wanted to capture the raw performance style of the Pondsiders. The whole shebang was led and produced by the immensely talented Jeff Malinowski, who had produced my friend and musical colleague David Tanklefsky’s recent Be Brave album. David and I play together in the Folk-Americana collaborative band, The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow. He had encouraged me to reach out to Jeff and ask him to produce Learning to Share because I was really blown away by the production quality on his Be Brave record. Jeff agreed and the rest is history, I couldn’t have a picked more talented and eloquent guy. Jeff was unstoppable in the studio and we pretty much banged out 11 songs in two full studio days. He eloquently captured the live and rootsy vibe we were shooting for.
What is the inspiration behind the new single, “Waiting on You”?
This tune speaks to the utter despair that we encounter when we open ourselves up to love and connection, but invariably or often enough, things do not work out. Waiting on You is like putting your heart on the line waiting for a lover to come back, and the unfortunate pain that results when they do not in fact return. It’s not so much of a tale of being walked out on, but I tried to draw that type of analogy, in which you wait and wait for that someone or something to come back to you, but the cold truth of being forgotten comes to the fold, and that the other person has moved on, thus you must do the same. But the tune also expresses the fact that ultimately you weren’t made to love one another. The moon and the sun stop spinning, the world stops, but ultimately you need to move on and keep up the search, which is a very raw human characteristic. It’s ultimately about perseverance.
With elements of Indie and a dash of Folk-Americana, how do you combine those elements to craft your own, unique sound?
I focus on the guitar as the main instrument to guide my song writing, and I think that inherently constructs songs with a Folk-Americana nuance. I love basic chords structures to lay beneath lyrics and storytelling, because it give the lyrics power to be at the front and center of the music. I think this is a lot of what makes Folk music so power, unique and attractive. People connect with lyrics and stories, and I always have. So I’ve been drawn to this. The way its presented I think is more driven by an Indie sensibility. Some of the edge that you can create, that may be more off the beaten path, the words chosen, the way one creates a story, and really the type of story I present is more Indie-focused I guess, whatever that might mean. My first ever EP, Pondside, was a lot more heavy on the Indie front, with varying sound-scapes and electronic influences. This record I think dives more deeply into my roots as a songwriter, but I hope brings the two styles together in a really fun way. I mean, I love every single song on this record, and I think it’s extremely entertaining from start to finish. Comfortable to listen to but also rather unpredictable. I dig this type of dichotomy.
Where do you see Tory Hanna as a musician, 10 years from now?
I see my career in music being in full swing. I hope to have another record or two or three done by then, but more importantly I see myself gaining traction with new fans, new opportunities in the industry, and playing with a wider variety of musicians. I love the collaboration that playing music offers, and honestly I’d love to be opening for tons of artists across the country and ideally having my own opening acts, folks that I’ve never heard of before. Hearing new artists and having your jaw drop is pretty much what makes this industry fun for me. Collaborating takes it a step further. Its challenges a musician to continue to grow. I hope to be on the road playing far more than I do now, supporting my family through my music, and working to leverage my music as a positive voice and vehicle for change in this world. I think collaboration is a great way to do that, and I hope to keep making music, telling stories and putting forth a positive message of making the world better place each day as my overall goal.
