The Young Electric

Tragic Hero Records has announced the signing of Provo, Utah alt-rockers The Young Electric.

Formed in January 2011 by brothers Riley and Drew Hamnett, along with Natty Coleman, and Mat Deason, the band has been working nonstop writing songs, practicing, playing shows, and perfecting their sound. This dedication to their craft is evident on the band’s debut full length, Machines, which was produced and recorded by Jim Wirt (Incubus, Jacks Mannequin) at Closerlook Recording in Cleveland, OH and will be released this November.

The first single “Golden” will hit radio on September 19th, with a music video to follow.

In a joint statement, the band says, "We are excited to be a part of a family and team that believe in our music as much as we do. Signing to Tragic Hero Records will enable us to get our passion and art into a much broader audience. We couldn't be happier."

Tragic Hero Records founder Tommy LaCombe offers, "I'm pleased to be putting a foot back in a direction musically that we haven't been in a while and couldn't be more excited to take that step than with The Young Electric."
- AltSounds

With influences like A Wilhelm Scream, Bright Eyes, Tom Petty, and The Cure, and musical guilty pleasures like Enya and Third Eye Blind, one would think that a band would get confused when the time came to write their own music. However, for The Young Electric, these influences have helped them sculpt their music to be focused, exciting, and just plain good. Members Riley Hamnett (vocals), Drew Hamnett (bass), Natty Coleman (drums), and Mat Deason (guitar) sat down to discuss their new sound, their struggles with the industry, and working with producer Jim Wirt to create their debut album, Machines.

Tell me a bit about The Young Electric? What’s the difference between any of the music you recorded in the past and this new music?
Riley: One of the big differences is in the song writing. We also started taking our music more seriously. It’s definitely a more mature sound. We all know what we want and I think that’s the biggest part. We all bring different styles to the table, but we’re all more focused on what we want The Young Electric to be and what we want the songs to be about. I think part of the problem with past bands was that we didn’t know what we were.
Natty: I don't write the lyrics or anything like that, I play the drums. So hearing the songs after the fact is sort of like hearing it from sort of an outside perspective, but still a part of it. So for me, I would have to say the major difference is that the music is a lot more meaningful and compelling.
Drew: It used to be a really broad scope of trying to decide what we were rather than saying, “Alright, these are our influences and this is what we want to sound like.”
This is your first album, right?
Drew: Yes it is. We have done a recording with the four of us before, but it was under a different name. Ever since Mat started playing guitar for us though, it’s been a completely different band.
Natty: The writing dynamic changed a lot with Riley just focusing on singing.
Riley: This full-length album is almost ten years in the making, it feels like. We had something like thirty songs to choose from when we came in to record, and we narrowed it down to eleven for the album.
Drew: It used to be that the dynamic was collect a group of songs, whether it be five songs or seven or ten, and then collect the money to find somebody to produce it, or even just record it, then release it. Then you write more songs, record and release those as well, with no real timeline or focus. As Riley said though, we came to the table with about thirty songs and whittled it down to the cream of the crop that we thought...
Natty: sounded good and sounded like an album.
How do you like working with a producer like Jim Wirt, who has worked with acts like Fiona Apple, Incubus, and Jack’s Mannequin?
Riley: It’s really, really good. Working with Jim is definitely not for every band though. I think he expects a lot out of us because he knows what we’re capable of. At least working with him in the way that we do, it’s definitely hard and you’ll leave some nights feeling bad about yourself, but then you come back and do better. It makes for the best work I think.
Drew: He one-ups you. You come in here thinking that you know your part, but then he rips your part apart, telling you you’re not playing tight enough; it’s the best kind of criticism, because it’s not meant to be negative at all, it’s meant to help you. When you think you’re at 100 percent, he sees you at 70 percent and pushes you to do even better.
Natty: When it’s finally recorded you realize that him tearing it apart and playing it over and over again until you get it absolutely perfect, was worth it; that’s why he is who he is.
So he pushes you to do better than your best?
Mat: Yeah, and he really makes himself a part of the team. We show up and we’re recording with Jim, and Jim’s just as much a part of it as we are.
Drew: Yeah. While we’re here we’re a five-piece band. We’ve got drums, bass, guitar, vocals, and Jim. He makes himself just as big of a part in it as you. So you want to feel like you’re contributing just as much as him. I mean, that guy spends 20 hours a day working on your band; you should at least be putting in that much effort and make sure you’re playing your part right.
Rumor has it you guys don’t swear or...
All: We swear
Drew: Like sailors
Okay, so you swear. But what about drinking and drugs?
Riley: Yeah, I think most of us have never touched alcohol or drugs.
Drew: We were all raised with a background in LDS theology, Mormon, and we were all raised in Mormon Utah. It’s something, regardless of personal beliefs, we’ve all acknowledged that one of the best ways to get a leg up on other bands is by not spending time partying, but rather spending our time focusing on what matters like songwriting or touring. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve played one off shows or two off shows with bands and they’ve either missed the next show or have been late to sound check for the next show because they had been drinking the night before.
Natty: Plus it’s expensive and we don’t have any money!
Drew: We want to do this for a career. What career can you go hung-over to or go and give a mediocre performance because you were high or drunk and you’ll still get the same paycheck? That doesn’t happen. So why is that acceptable in music?
So it has helped your career?
Riley: Actually, I’d say that it has more hindered it than helped. We’re fine with people drinking and smoking around us, but you tend to not get invited to parties if you don’t, and for a band, networking is everything. You can’t make it unless you have friends and unless you’re partying with people. So I would say that it has really, really hurt us and held us back.
Natty: I’ve been surprised actually to have fans be disappointed that we’re not drinking and smoking with them. They get pissed off sometimes.
Tell me, why should people listen to you? There are millions of bands out there that people can choose to listen to. What makes you special?
Drew: They probably shouldn’t.
Natty: It’s the devil’s music.
Drew: No, but to say what we’re doing or the influences that we have are different or better than other people is a load of crap, because there are so many bands and nothing is really original anymore. I think execution of an idea is where you can separate yourself.
Natty: In a musical sense I guess you could say that we are a rock band and we do a lot of rockin’ parts and things like that, but when we executed all of these ideas in the studio and had Jim on our team, he helped us realize the musicality of it. Like bringing in these classical chord progressions and cool guitar tones and things like that.
Riley: I don’t know if this is the best way to put it, but we take it more seriously than most bands, and we are really passionate about our music. I know that a lot of people are, but this is our job, this is what we do. We practice three or four hours a day, every day of the week. The best way to see what separates us is to come see a live show.
So your music is meant to be heard live?
Natty: In the past we have prided ourselves on the fact that our live shows are pretty good.
Drew: I don’t know…because Jim’s doing a damn good job. I’m stressed about living up to the amazing work that we’re doing!
Riley: I think that that’s definitely cool to say, but the live shows definitely don’t suffer. It’s like watching a movie compared to watching a play; like a really good play. A really awesome play.
Drew: Like Cats
Mat: Also it all comes with us just wanting to work harder. Every band will work hard to practice, but they’re just practicing old parts, not everything that comes with it. So of course we pride ourselves on our live performances because we work hard at them. We’re not just working hard to write good songs, we’re working hard to have good performances. It’s not just a cool CD, it’s a whole package.
More information on The Young Electric can be found at their website http://theyoungelectric.com/.
By Deborah Singer
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