Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Little City

What is your earliest memory connected to music?

We always had music playing in our house. When I was little my sister and I would take turns sitting on my dad’s knee while we listened to “On The Trail” from Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite. Towards the end it goes into this super-fast gallop thing and my dad would bounce us around until we were almost falling off, dying of laughter. We thought it was hilarious and would make him do it over and over again.  Now that I’m older with kids of my own, I realize that he was in better shape than I gave him credit for. Kids are heavy.

How did your passion for creating music begin?

I was in the school chorus in 7th and 8th grade. Someone gave me a booklet of blank musical staffs for my birthday and I spent days meticulously writing notes on the staffs…whole notes, eighth notes, rests, codas. It was a masterpiece…I called it “My Symphony”. One day I took it to chorus and the teacher sat down and played it for everyone on the piano. Man, it was terrible!  But you know what? She told me it was great, and to keep writing, so I did.  Thank you, Mrs. Barth!

What’s the story behind your current music project?

I spent about 20 years playing guitar in my basement, dreaming of playing live to packed arenas, but not really understanding the role fear played in my life and how it kept me from moving forward. About seven years ago I made some significant life changes and surrounded myself with people who support and encourage me. I decided it’s never to late to give your dreams a shot, so that’s exactly what we’re doing.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?

Little City is melodic, hook-driven, harmony-heavy rock with both nostalgia and polish.  Ultimately, we want people to feel something when they listen to Little City music and, if we really had our way, We’d love for them to feel compelled to sing along in the car with the windows down as loud as they can. 

What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?

I think I’m still learning, to be honest.  Each song gets a little closer to who Little City is at its heart, and becomes less about what I think people want to hear. Authenticity is critical but takes practice. I’m still that little boy who doesn’t want to be picked last for kickball.  Having the mindset that “If you don’t like this song, that’s cool…maybe you’ll like this next one” doesn’t come naturally to me.  I’m a work in progress when it comes to self-confidence.  I’m learning not to let my desire to be liked get in the way of creating.

What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?

I usually write scratch tracks on guitar, pull them into Reaper, then build them up through professional recording sessions in different studios before we send it over to the mix/master engineer to polish it.  I will say, that the voice memo app on my phone gets a lot of use.  I have to immediately record an idea when I have it or it’s gone. It could be a vocal melody, guitar part, lyric, harmony line….whatever.  If I don’t get it on tape I will lose it.  Maybe one day, after I’m gone, someone will post the “Little City Lost Sessions” of me singing lead guitar solo ideas into my phone on the way to the Post Office.

Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?

I discovered this band called Spectre Tapes a while ago and really like this dude’s sound and songwriting…worth checking out for sure. And I’ve become a huge fan of a young bluegrass artist named Bella White. I think she’s in her early twenties, but she sings and writes like an old soul. Her music is beautiful and painful all at the same time.

How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?

Whew…how much time do you have? Seriously, I think that I’m right where I’m supposed to be with Little City. It would have been cool to do this in my twenties, but the truth is I wasn’t ready.  I’ve gone through some pain since then, and I think I needed some wounds to access the light in me.

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?

Man, I hope they feel ANY emotion. Heck, why not ALL of them! That’s the whole point of this music thing, right? If I feel joy, pain, nostalgia, inspiration, melancholy or loss when I’m listening to music, I believe the music has done its job. Those emotions connect us to something greater than ourselves…they connect us to each other.  Emotions are our common ground as human beings.  I may be having a bad day, but if there’s a killer groove playing and you’re smiling and dancing along next to me, it’s only going to be a matter of time before I start feeling that too.  Its contagious.  I hope Little City can be at least a little of that for people.

 What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?

To keep creating….keep playing. I have a tendency to look at the time frame right in front of me and right behind me when I’m judging myself. If I had a particularly unproductive writing session yesterday, for example, or if I haven’t picked up my guitar for the last week, my head will start to tell me I suck and try to convince me to quit.  But when I widen the lense and look at how far I’ve come over the last five years, and consider where Little City could go over the next five, it starts to look more hopeful and inspiring.  Breaks and off days are OK.  Quitting is not.

What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?

I’ve had my eye on playing the Fonda Theater in Los Angeles as a short-to-long-term goal.  It’s a beautful, 1500-seat theater built in 1926 where I’ve seen some great acts play. The sound is great too.  If Little City could fill the Fonda, I could die happy.

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?

The guys from Tears for Fears are insane songwriters. I’d love to sit down and write a song with them, I could learn so much.  There’s also a band called The Paper Kites that makes beautiful music. I’ll bet Little City could do something absolutely gorgeous with them.

Where can our listeners follow and support your music? 

Little City is on IG and Facebook as @littlecityofficial.  

We are on all streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music:

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/little-city/1742381317

We are also hoping to get our YouTube channel up and running, just as soon as YouTube approves it!!

Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?

We’re working on the next 5 songs on the album as we speak.  Somewhere along the way we will start playing the songs out at local venues here in the Los Angeles area.  From there, sky’s the limit.  Come on out and support us and we’ll see what’s up!

What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?

I hope they discover that we’re honest. And pretty nice guys.  We all have families, wives, kids….dogs. We work hard on our songwriting, too.  We don’t use AI and don’t intend to. We never want to be a “copy paste/snap it to the grid” kind of band.  I guess I hope that people discover that, whatever Little City’s “image” is, it’s actually just us being ourselves.