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Late Night Thoughts is a rising folk/pop duo made up of Brian Rauch (vocals, writer) and Michael Harlow (vocals, guitar, writer). The two talented musicians met while attending Brandeis University and are now based in New York City, where they frequently perform at notable venues such as Rockwood Music Hall, The Delancey, Mercury Lounge and The Well. On December 3, they will release their new EP, Bridges and Tunnels, on Mifflin Street Music.
Hi guys, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
LNT: Hello! Thanks for having us here. We’ve been extremely busy, but for all the right reasons. So we’re both exhausted and elated.
Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Sacrifice”?
LNT: “Sacrifice” is about endeavoring to find a balance between the pursuit of a passion or dream with the commitment of a healthy, loving relationship.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
Brian: No particular event inspired “Sacrifice,” but it all started from a place of considering the future through the lens of the past. What started out as two lines in a voice not — “I’m afraid what you’ll say when four years in and I’m still playing, running on fumes in these empty rooms” — grew slowly during a month’s worth of commutes, and was completed, at last, with the final line of the hook “the one thing I won’t sacrifice”
Any plans to release any sort of video for the track?
LNT: We had the pleasure of co-producing a music video with a wonderful team of actors and writers led by our wonderful cinematographer, Jack Belisle. You can view it on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grKeIYtZbaY
The single comes off your new EP Bridges & Tunnels – what’s the story behind the title?
LNT: The name Bridges & Tunnels comes from a few different places. As this is our first release since moving to New York City we felt that this EP is serving, in a way, as a bridge for our music career to really settle into the city. Additionally, a lot of our songs write through a struggle and emerge with at least a shred of hope or optimism for the thought of resolution – a light at the end of a tunnel. And, entirely by coincidence, we realized that the bar we had frequented next to the studio we used to record was called the Bridge and Tunnel Brewery.
How was the recording and writing process?
LNT: At the beginning of the pandemic, once we realized that it would be longer than a couple months, we were concerned about how we were going to record music without going in to a studio, so, per the advice of our long-time friend and producer, Adam Sickler, we bought ourselves an Apollo interface and Vanguard microphone. Living together at the time, we were able to record the first demo of the tune in our bedroom studio. We then sent the file off to Adam who lives down in Nashville, and after a few back and forth drafts, he mentioned to us that he thought the song could benefit from a post-chorus. So we went up to our rooftop (where we spent much of early COVID) and wrote that melody. Then a few months later it was off to PIRATE studios to record our final vocal tracks.
Where do you find the inspiration for your songs and lyrics?
Brian (lead lyricist/vocalist): In terms of the lyrics, in order for us to bring out the best performance, we need them to be as sincere as possible. Every time we get stressed, our most healthy outlet has been to write down what we feel. That manifests in so many ways, but lyrics have become the main form because we feel like singing is the most vulnerable form of self-expression. We see singing almost as a form of organized yelling, so the emotions of it have to be raw and that means the inspiration for those words have to be something worth repeatedly sharing.
Michael (arranger/guitarist/vocalist): About 4 years ago I read a book by Victor Wooten called The Music Lesson – this book reframed my relationship with music in a way that allows me to sometimes see myself as a vessel for music to express herself – when I am truly able to do this, I am not thinking about where my fingers go on the guitar, but I am guided, rather, by what feels right in the moment. This leads me to discovering chords I did not intend to search for, such as various voicings in our song “Dust” and the entire guitar part in our tune “What Love Truly Means”
What role does NYC play in your music?
LNT: As we said earlier, we write often from a place of personal experience. So, living in New York City these past three years has certainly influenced the content of our songs. The fast paced city life has been full of some intense highs and lows and some of that has made it into our tunes.
What else is happening next in Late Night Thoughts’ world?
We have a new song called ‘Faith’ that is to be released on November 5th and the rest of our 5 song EP ‘Bridges and Tunnels’ will be coming out December 3rd, so we are very excited for those!
Stream “Sacrifice” here: https://orcd.co/lntsacrifice
Follow Late Night Thoughts:
lntmusic.com
facebook.com/latenightthoughts.music
instagram.com/latenightthoughts.music
twitter.com/lnthoughtsmusic
