In Tall Buildings
Interview by Smo Ostrowski
In Tall Buildings, the music project of Erik Hall, is gearing up for the release of his newest album Akinetic, out now! Signed to Western Vinyl, In Tall Buildings has received praise for his unique spacious, experimental music that touches alt-rock, indie folk and electronic sounds. On his new project, Hall teamed up with producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron & Wine) to make an album filled with spacious and textured handmade pop. Gearing up for his Milwaukee show at The Back Room on March 23rd, Erik was kind enough to answer some questions for OffTheRecordPress.
OTR: What was it like working with Brian Deck?
Erik: Working with Brian was fantastic. I had been aware of him and his work for a long time, having loved Califone and certain Iron & Wine records over the years. When he and I finally met, it was for the sake of getting to work on this album. Luckily he was more than happy to work with me in my home-studio, which is where I'm used to making records. We got along great, and having him there to engineer and co-produce felt like a privilege.
OTR: What inspiration did you get from working with him?
Erik: He helped me to not remain too hung up on any one decision, which has been my personal short-coming over the years. Just having someone else involved, and to be held accountable to, made the whole process more productive and fluid. When the music posed a question, we addressed it together, executed the solution, and moved on. This is a wonderful contrast to my previous method of tinkering around on any given challenge for months at a time.
OTR: What do you wants fans to know about your new album Akinetic?
Erik - This is music that works best on actual speakers (or headphones). So many decisions over countless hours go into making records. The greatest gift people could give back to me would be to listen and absorb this album on a good sounding system. Otherwise, they may be missing out on a lot of information.
OTR: Why the name “Akinetic” does it mean something to you or this album?
Erik - The word 'akinetic' indicates a lack of the capacity for movement. Akinetic the album is ultimately about our emotional and cognitive inertia, the consequences of how it conducts us, and how we deal with our inability, or unwillingness to change.
OTR: What's different about this album?
Erik: It's my most straight-forward songwriting. Few of these songs are longer than four minutes. I wanted to make a record that more-directly declared itself to the listener, rather than merely passively inviting them in.
OTR: Who is your current inspiration or favorite artist? What music have you been listening too?
Erik: Lately I can't get enough of Max Richter, Elephant Micah, the new-ish Alice Coltrane compilation from Luaka Bop, and always Neil Young.
OTR: What else is in store for “In Tall Buildings” in 2018? Whats next?
Erik: Tour dates with full band have been announced and are on sale now at
Get tickets to Eriks, In Tall Buildings Milwaukee show on March 23rd > http://bit.ly/2FyuJkp