HOMETOWN: Los Angeles
ALBUM: Mighty (EP)
MEMBERS: Ben Schneider
FOR FANS OF: Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, Animal Collective
Ben Schneider, a.k.a. Lord Huron, grew up in Michigan plagued by wanderlust. Once he graduated from art school at the University of Michigan, that desire to see the world not only took him to places like New York, Southern France and Bali, Indonesia—where he was fascinated by gamalan orchestras—it also shows up all over his own poly-rhythmic Laurel Canyon-by-way-of-both-Bali-and-Mali music.
“I always liked those old calypso tracks from carnival tents in Trinidad,” says Schneider, who now lives in Los Angeles. “My music is pretty rooted in American folk, but those other elements add the spice.”
Schneider initially moved to L.A. to pursue a career in the visual arts, and created the artwork for his two EPs. “I had a tough time deciding between music and art school,” he says. “I’d been doing these photo collages of things I’ve taken over the years, but I kind of got tired of how the art scene works. It’s nice to be able to do both.”
After all the travel, he returned to Michigan to record his second EP, Mighty. Both short-players were recorded completely on his own, but he recently gathered a full band in Los Angeles made up entirely of fellow Michaganers. One, Schneider’s childhood friend Mark Barry, drove across the country from Nashville, where he worked as a studio drummer. They’re joined by electric guitars, bass, theremin and other electronic effects.
WHAT’S NEXT: “We want to get out and play as much as we can and tour early next year,” Schneider says. “And I’m excited to get them more involved in the recording process.”