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Towards the end of last year, and with everyone turning their attention to end of year lists, a real unpolished gem by Portland, Oregon\u2019s Hemingway<\/b> snuck out, courtesy of 6131 Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n
Recalling the 90\u2019s alternative rock of Knapsack, the driving punk of Samiam or the textured post-hardcore of Texas Is The Reason, \u2018Pretend to Care\u2019<\/em> has numerous reference points but still remains forward looking. That it is a debut is astonishing, and means Hemingway<\/b> are genuine ones to watch in 2015. Already Heard<\/b> sat down with singer\/guitarist Ben Ward to get the lowdown. <\/p>\n AH: First off, could we get a little background to Hemingway? <\/strong> AH: Was it a big decision to move to Portland \u2013 and was it a big move, or was it like just moving to the next town? <\/strong> AH: So, \u2018Pretend to Care\u2019<\/em> came out last year\u2026<\/strong> AH: So before we get into the music, what\u2019s the deal with the artwork? The artwork on the record is different to the artwork when I stuck it onto iTunes\u2026<\/strong> Pretend to Care by Hemingway<\/a><\/p>\n AH: What was the response like in that one month period? Did you expect a label to come in so soon, or was it very much just wait and see? <\/strong> AH: The thing is, there\u2019s so many amazing bands out there it is often the case of just trying to hit the right set of ears to get things to snowball\u2026<\/strong> AH: It does sound very much like a 6131 record. It\u2019s not a million miles away from the last Dads record and it certainly sits nicely next to Better Off. Like kindred spirits\u2026<\/strong> AH: In terms of Portland, I think back to a lot of the bands that I really like and I think of The Thermals and The Decemberists, and it\u2019s this crazy, diverse music scene\u2026<\/strong> AH: With regard to touring, are you focused on just that area at the moment, or are you planning on getting out of the region a bit more? <\/strong> I feel like, with every tour we do on the West Coast we\u2019re getting more attention. But say on the last tour, there was a lot of the same people there I noticed \u2013 which is great \u2013 so it would be nice to spread our wings a little and see how other people react to us. <\/i><\/p>\n AH: OK, so onto \u2018Pretend to Care\u2019<\/em> \u2013 when I listened through the album the first couple of times, I was genuinely surprised at how much it sounds like it could have come straight out of the 90s. Like there\u2019s nods to Samiam and Texas is the Reason and Knapsack and maybe The Jealous Sound\u2026<\/strong> AH: But, say if you listen to Saves The Day\u2019s\u2018Through Being Cool\u2019<\/i>, that record is phenomenal. We listened to that album a lot when it came out while we were at university \u2013 but you go back to \u2018Can\u2019t Slow Down\u2019<\/i>, and even though Lifetime\u2019s all over that record, you can still see that there\u2019s this huge potential for this band to go on and do something great \u2013 and I definitely get the same sort of vibe about \u2018Pretend to Care\u2019. <\/strong> ‘Pretend to Care’<\/i> by Hemingway<\/b> is out now on 6131 Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n Hemingway<\/strong> links: Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a>|Tumblr<\/a>|Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n
BW: Sure. I started the band with a good friend, who I actually live with right now. We knew each other from High School and we both moved to Portland, Oregon, and we just wanted to start playing music. So he hopped on the drums and I hopped on the guitar and we started covering Alkaline Trio and some other bands, and then we thought we should start writing music \u2013 and then we formed Hemingway.<\/i> <\/p>\n
BW: Yeah, it was quite big. Compared to Southern California, it\u2019s a completely different world. But we did it at different times \u2013 we both moved here for school and it just worked out that way. We didn\u2019t plan it together, it just happened. <\/i><\/p>\n
BW: yeah, October.<\/i><\/p>\n
BW: Yeah, so when we were finished with it and had it ready to show people, we had no interaction with 6131, so we were just doing it on our own and not even a month after we put it up on our bandcamp, they said \u2018Hey, we wanna put out this record\u2019, so we took it down as soon as we figured out that that\u2019s what we wanted to do with them, and the album artwork was just some iPhone photo \u2013 we weren\u2019t particularly attached to it \u2013 so we changed it.<\/i> <\/p>\n
BW: That was definitely the overall goal. We wanted to show as many people as we could. We did a small tour \u2013 and that was what actually got 6131\u2019s attention \u2013 and at first, I mean there wasn\u2019t an overwhelming reaction, but we were pretty pleased. It wasn\u2019t a big deal to me, I was just happy to be playing music, but when we heard 6131 were interested it was definitely a good feeling to know what we were doing was working and that it was getting a good reaction. And ever since then, it has improved and the word is beginning to spread about our band, which is pretty cool. I\u2019ve been very satisfied with how it\u2019s going so far. <\/i><\/p>\n
BW: Totally. I mean, with 6131, we literally just had an email from this really cool guy, Sean, saying \u2018have you done anything with this album, because we\u2019re really interested and we\u2019d like to do something with you guys\u2019. That was amazing. I\u2019ve known about that label since I was in high school and I\u2019m into a lot of the bands on the label. <\/i><\/p>\n
BW: Thank you.<\/i><\/p>\n
BW: it\u2019s definitely an interesting scene. I was just talking with a friend the other day about the best Portland band, and thinking within our scene, The Thermals did come up, and there\u2019s some great smaller bands that are coming up here, but my favourite band would be Tragedy. They\u2019re this hardcore band \u2013 we sound nothing like them of course! But yeah, it\u2019s really diverse. It can feel quite small \u2013 it\u2019s not like Seattle or Los Angeles, but it\u2019s pretty special in its own way. <\/i><\/p>\n
BW: We\u2019re definitely trying to do things in the region. Like we\u2019ve just gone to Seattle and Washington. But not so much Oregon as there\u2019s only a few places to really play. But I wanna get out there. We\u2019ve done the West Coast three times now \u2013 and we\u2019ve got the fourth time lined up \u2013 but after that we\u2019d like to do a full US tour. Get over to the East Coast, see some of the Mid West cities \u2013 that would be really cool.<\/i> <\/p>\n
BW: I\u2019m glad people are getting that, as it is what we were going for. It\u2019s cool, but then you do wonder if you did it too much or if it\u2019s a total rip off [laughs]. But you know, it\u2019s always really cool when people come up to us after shows and say “That sounded a bit like The Jealous Sound.” I reckon I listened to that album a lot when I was writing this. Or “wow, that really sounded like Jawbreaker.” <\/i><\/p>\n
BW: Thank you \u2013 I\u2019m hoping for the same thing! We\u2019re currently writing some new stuff, and I have to say that I think we\u2019re coming into our own a little more. It\u2019s a little different, and it\u2019s a slightly different sound \u2013 but I\u2019m really stoked for it. <\/i><\/p>\n