We’ve been hip to HalfNoise, the ambient, indie, electro rock project of former Paramore drummer Zac Farro since just about day one, and it’s been amazing to watch Farro really come into his own as a songwriter and performer over the past several years, first with his debut EP, then last year’s incredible full-length, Volcano Crowe. A resident of Music City, originally raised in Franklin, Farro is a frequent collaborator with friends of the site like Paper Route and Canon Blue, and, while he’s limited his HalfNoise outings to one or two local shows a year, he’s never ceased to wow us each and every time. Fresh off an appearance of the latest episode of our podcast, HalfNoise is set to perform TONIGHT, June 18 at The High Watt. That alone is worth the trek (and the low $12 price tag), but the addition of new local indie pop duo MYZICA, who we’ve been obsessing over for months, as openers totally sweetens the deal. You don’t want to miss this. Keep reading if you need more convincing!
HALFNOISE
Pretty much everything you ever needed to know about HalfNoise, we covered in the latest episode of our No Country For New Nashville Podcast, which you can listen to right here. If you don’t have a spare hour to kill, however, here are the cliff notes: HalfNoise began in 2010 as the solo musical vehicle of singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Zac Farro, following his exit from Paramore, for which he served as drummer and founding member from 2004-2010. Combining elements of ambient, indie rock, electronics, lush orchestration, and sweeping, experimental instrumentation, HalfNoise was brought to life with the assistance of producer and arranger Daniel James (Canon Blue), and released a self-titled debut EP in 2012. Following an extended period of time spent writing and recording in New Zealand, Farro settled even more confidently into his own as a songwriter on the project’s debut full-length, Volcano Crowe, released last fall. Already working on new material, HalfNoise most recently employed the help of producer Joel Little (Lorde) for an infectious and extraordinarily poppy new single, “Inside.” For this live run, Zac has enlisted the help of friends from New Zealand to serve as his backing band, and we have no doubt that it will be the best HalfNoise performance we’ve seen yet!
MYZICA
The brainchild of producer Micah Tawlks and singer Isaaca Byrd, new local indie pop duo MYZICA are one of our favorite acts to emerge in recent memory. Unabashedly nostalgic in their sound, the group harbor an obvious affinity for ’80s pop, but combine that with modern, arena ready indie pop sensibilities made popular by contemporary acts like Bleachers. The duo’s first two singles hypnotized us back in the spring, and their self-titled, debut EP, which arrived last week, is already a strong contender for best Nashville release of 2015. We’re unbelievably exited to see these guys live, and, coupled with HalfNoise, we can’t think of a single better way to spend this Thursday night,
HalfNoise and MYZICA will perform tonight, June 18 at The High Watt. The show is 18+, begins at 9 p.m. (doors at 8 p.m.), and tickets are available for $12.