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Inside Look: Ether Aura
Though their first two full lengths, “Crash” and “Before We Could Sing,” were relatively recent affairs, (2005 and 2007 respectively) the band has made the type of sound change that represents a much longer sense of maturity. It was during 2007 that Ether Aura put out two very different records. The aforementioned “Before We Could Sing” exhibited a mellow rock sound synonymous with the likes of Curve and Lush, while the “Semblance” EP, comprised of three covers, two originals and a live track, ditched their shoegaze sound for a Mazzy Star brand of music on the cusp of alt-country. This change can be attributed partially to a line-up change that occurred between the two releases; but with the driving force of the band’s creativity, the husband and wife team of Tony Hamera (guitar) and Kate Hinote (vocals), still in tact, it is mostly a conscious effort reflective of changing tastes. As the band currently works on what will become their next album, “Semblance” is a very good jumping off point from which one can predict how their next installment will sound. “It definitely has its roots in folk, but then we kind of build from that base,” said Hamera of the new direction. “It’s slow, folky Americana.” “If you listen to our entire collection from start to finish, you can definitely hear the transition,” Hinote added. “There’s just a sprinkling of alt-country (on “Crash”) and then in the second album there’s even more alt-country, and then with [“Semblance”] there’s barely any drums on it at all. You can hear how it’s evolved.” But if you’re drawing a mental picture of trading in Chucks for cowboy boots, check yourself at the door. “The country is used just as a little seasoning rather than the broth of the meal. …I prefer to use [the word] Americana because to say that it’s country or even alt-country is not really accurate,” Hamera said. Detroit Fashion Pages received the opportunity, to pick the brains of Hamera and Hinote. DFP: How did the band get started? Tony Hamera: The band was started in late 2004 just with Kate and I messing around with some songs. I knew some other people from some other bands and we just got together and started playing. Really no long history behind it or anything. Kate Hinote: We’ve had a few member changes and we’ve kind of evolved our sound a little bit. So it’s been going on four years now. We started as a four piece, then we added a fifth member and now we’re back to a four piece. TH: We’re the only two left from the original line up. DFP: You’re working on your third album. Are you in the recording process or are you writing the music for it? TH: Just the writing process, yeah. We’re about two-thirds of the way through the writing process so far. DFP: Does the line up change go hand-in-hand with the changing the sound up? KH: For sure. TH: Yeah, when we lost our first drummer and bass player they were more rock-oriented guys. We weren’t writing rock all the time so when they left it kind of freed us up to explore the less rock sound we’ve been wanting to do – the more folky, acoustic stuff. DFP: That explains “Semblance” sounding the way it does? KH: Yeah. That’s also because, before this, I had never done any song writing at all. So it just ended up that it was easier for me to write those a-little-bit-more-country type songs. The melodies just came out a little better and it just came a little more naturally for me. It just made sense to go that route. DFP: What kinds of bands inspired you early on and who do you draw from now? TH: A lot of the same bands are inspiring [us] even though the sound may not come out that way. Bands like The Smiths, Slowdive; the whole UK shoegaze movement was a big influence. And then, on the other side, the alt-country scene with bands like Tarnation and Mazzy Star were big. So we’ve tried to always blend those two kinds of sounds. Even in previous bands I was in, those were still heavy influences on me. DFP: Has the writing process changed with all of the member changes? KH: We’ve done all the writing all along. I don’t think [the writing process] changed so much with the members, it’s just finding what we’re better at. Lyrically, I would say I definitely have the hardest time with lyrics just because I’m certainly not a poet – it just doesn’t come very natural to me. So with the writing process I definitely go through periods where it’s a lot slower and not very prolific. DFP: Talk about playing in Detroit and grinding it out here. TH: For me it’s definitely changed because I’ve been playing around here since the mid 80s in different bands. There just seems to be more bands, more things to compete for people’s entertainment time so it’s hard to get a full on local audience at every show. At least for me, I don’t know about other people. We’re really just playing for the enjoyment of it. If there are ten people there, that’s fine. If there’s a hundred people there, then fine. KH: I don’t think we necessarily try as hard. Not because we’re not interested in it but because we’re not super young and we don’t have as much energy to push the hardest. We all have day jobs. So we may not play as often as the other bands. At one point it was like once a month. Then we actually went on a long hiatus because I was having vocal trouble and we started back up a couple months ago. TH: If we play twice a month that’s a lot for us. We’re really more concerned about the writing and the creative process and recording rather than playing out all the time. DFP: Do you think it works for you guys to play fewer shows, maybe a little less pressure? TH: Yeah, I think so. You can only have your friends at the same show for so long. KH: They’re only going to come so many times. TH: If you can space them out then you can kind of lean on that. I think it’s hard for everybody, unless you’re like The White Stripes or something. KH: We’ve seen a lot of really incredible bands lately and there will be only a handful of people there. I don’t think it’s any representation of your ability or even your stage presence; it’s just that people have a million options. There are a million bands playing in this town every Friday and Saturday night. DFP: Does it seem like, at some point, bands just have to leave this city to get bigger? TH: That’s a way to do it. If you’re 22 years old you can get in a van and go out and play for two people in a city, come back there later and play for 20 people and build a following that way. But, unless you have a CD out that has good distribution and good promotion, there’s really no other reason, in my opinion, to play out other than for the enjoyment. If no one knows who you are then they’re not going to come see you. KH: We’ve received a lot of good reactions and responses from people and even they don’t come out to the next show – or the show after that, even. I think it really takes a lot these days for people to come out and spend their money. TH: Plus, with our new sound, we’re shifting to a bit of an older crowd. It’s a lot harder to get those people to come out to shows all the time – the thirty-somethings and even older. That just comes with playing what I guess you could call a more mature kind of music. DFP: What are you guys listening to these days? TH: Not very much new stuff, for me. Once in a while a new album will come out, like The Last Shadow Puppets (“The Age of the Under-statement”) came out with their CD and just blew me away. The last Ravonettes CD. I discovered this sort of folky, country female artist called Eilen Jewell. I found a lot of stuff just surfing Myspace and clicking on links and listening to people. Really no major label stuff, it’s all crap to me. KH: I’m a little less picky about my music. I listen to Band of Horses, one of my new favorites. I still love The Shins album that came out last year. And, even more commercial, Feist and Stars. The lower commercial end of Indy, I definitely like a lot of that stuff. Probably one of my favorites is Neko Case. We actually named our dog after her. Lightspeed Champion, too – just all over the board. DFP: Do you think it’s a good thing that people today have all these options or is it just a case of overload? KH: I think it’s more of a case of overload because it’s really hard for me to get real psyched about anything anymore. Now there’s just so much of everything and it’s so hard to sound different. TH: I just think that everything that’s on Subterranean (MTV 2) just all sounds the same and it’s uninteresting. I think it’s good for independent bands to get their music out on I-tunes, but, on the other hand, all those commercials and stuff are just execs looking to sell a product rather than promote a band. It’s kind of a double-edged sword, I guess. If you want to check out Ether Aura, they will be playing the Magic Bag, in Ferndale, on August 15. -Nick Degel
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