By Dustin Lothspeich
“She holds up pretty good. Sometimes she likes to give me a lot of shit. And we get in a fight and then we make up. Kiss and make up. Making up is the best part, you know?”
Desert Noises‘ singer/guitarist Kyle Henderson is talking to me on the phone from Boston in the middle of that epic (or not so epic, depending on who you ask) snowstorm they had recently, and he’s not talking about his girlfriend – that comes later. In fact, he’s waxing poetic about his other steady squeeze: a 1963 Truetone semi-hollow-body electric guitar, made once upon a time by Kay Musical Instruments for Western Auto stores. It’s a gorgeous sunburst model with all sorts of knobs and vintage gadgetry. But rocking such an old, finicky instrument night after night on the road could prove to be a risky and perilous endeavor.
“A lot of people say that [it’s risky] but it’s just, like, my guitar. If she decides to crap out, that’s just what she decides to do. But that’s actually the only guitar I used on the last record.”
The record he’s referring to, “27 Ways,” is the jewel in the Desert Noises crown thus far. It may be premature to say, considering the Provo, Utah-based band (comprised of Henderson, bassist Tyler Osmond, lead guitarist Patrick Boyer and drummer Brennan Allen) only has a couple other releases under their belt — their 2009 self-titled debut EP, a 2011 full length, “Mountain Sea,” and 2012’s three-song “I Won’t See You” EP. But it doesn’t change the fact that their latest is indisputably their best, combining early ’70s rock hooks and current alt-country melodies; soaring vocals; huge, anthemic guitars; and a thunderous rhythm section rumble.
It’d all be for naught if they had lackluster lyrical content, but they’ve got that covered too, with Henderson sounding at his best with his voice curled around contemplative, romantic words. Luckily for us, they’ve been coming easily to him lately too.
“I’m writing a lot about the new relationship I’m in. That’s been something awesome for me. I don’t think I necessarily wrote a lot of ‘love songs’ before; or rather, they don’t sound like love songs but they do have that meaning, completely. I just try to be as honest as I possibly can about the feeling. And sometimes I’ll just hit those lines where I go, ‘I don’t even know how I said that.’ Sometimes it just works out. But for the most part, they are autobiographical.”
Does his girlfriend mind being the focus of his newfound inspiration?
“I think she kinda likes it, you know? [laughs] I was in a really bad space for a while and I was having a really hard time writing. And ever since I started dating my girlfriend, I’ve had a lot of inspiration — I’ve written more songs in the last month than I’ve written in the last six months, to be honest. A lot of times, that’s how I’ve noticed it’s been. Sometimes when I get into a good situation, I’ll look back and reflect on the bad situations and write about that, even though that can get me in trouble in the relationship I’m currently in. They’re like, ‘Why’d you say this?’ and ‘why’d you say that?’ No, no, it’s not about right now, I promise [laughs]. I promise I’m a good guy.”
That kind of reflection fits nicely into the band’s M.O. As much as “27 Ways” is the sound of four musicians pushing the envelope of guitar-led music in a landscape full of hipster posturing and overly saccharine folk pop revivalism, it’s also the sonic document of a band settling into its musical identity, both as individuals and as a group.
“’I Won’t See You’ was definitely a period of change,” Henderson admitted. “When you hear that EP, you think, ‘Whoa, this band is definitely different than before.’ A lot of that was [Allen] stepping in on drums for sure, but all of us had been touring for a while at that point. [’27 Ways’] was everyone coming into their own skin. It was recorded, literally, in the middle of tour. We were on the road for a solid two months, and we ended up in El Paso. We played the show there, then drove to the studio later that night, loaded in and recorded live for four days.”
There are some bands who tour — and then there are bands, like Desert Noises, that tour. A lot of us assume touring is the great party on the go; a never-ending stream of debauchery, alcohol, groupies, gas station bathrooms and loud music (OK, some of those are true). And while there’s a certain charm to it, Henderson admits (with a certain amount of weariness in his voice) that it can be tiring — even though he knows the amount of time they spend on the road bumps them into a different echelon of band altogether.
“We’ve been everywhere pretty regularly, at least for the last three years, really. We’ve just been working hard to get our name out there for a long time … But I think that just being on the road has set us apart. I think that’s why we kind of stand out in some ways; just by how much we’ve played as a band in so many different settings and different cities, in front of different crowds, good times, bad times — that experience kind of pushes us apart from other bands — maybe.”
It’s absolutely true. After witnessing the band live three times in the last two years, they’ve gotten better, tighter and more confident with each performance. And they have a lot to live up to at The Casbah when they return to San Diego on Feb. 21; the last time they were in town, at the 2014 San Diego Music Thing — they were the de facto stars of the entire three-day festival. And that was no small feat with Cults, Meg Myers, Waters and a hundred others on the lineup. That the band consistently turns heads and converts casual listeners into hardcore Desert Noises fanatics instantly can be attributed in part to the band’s glowing onstage charisma, no matter where they’re playing or who they’re playing to. They always look like they’re having the time of their lives.
“Whether it’s two people or 5,000, we always try to bring the same energy,” Henderson said. “That’s always been our goal. And having the best time you possibly can — that’s what it’s all about.”
–Contact Dustin Lothspeich at [email protected].
