In my headphones she sang, "Be my sanctuary, I know it's not ordinary,
I can't get enough of you." The song ended as I stepped off the
L train at Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn on my way to interview Nina
Hynes. Brooklyn was not what I had remembered. Times had changed.
The Brooklyn artist community known as Williamsburg had somehow
morphed into a trendy Sohoian oasis between the Polish neighborhoods
and the Hasidic community.
There's always something disconcerting about gentrification. Maybe
the loss of inspiration that always seems to bubble up in the vat
of human hardship. Or maybe the fervor with which newcomers scramble
to pay rents the community would never imagine and can't possibly
afford.
The good news is, with the advent of bars and trendy restaurants
comes the opportunity for new venues for rock-n-roll. One such watering
hole, Galapagos (at 6th St. and Wythe) plays host to a post industrial
reflecting pool, as well as local film festivals, domestic and touring
acts. That night Galapagos was host to Irish artists Nina Hynes
and Ten Speed Racer both signed to the Dublin based Reverb Records.
Leaving college after a year in the early nineties, Hynes wandered
through Western Europe in search of a calling. Eight months later
the searching siren made her way back to Ireland, but instead of
Dublin removed herself to the tiny town of Donegal. It was here
Hynes bought her first guitar, a Washburn acoustic. She continued
to live in musical exile from the big cities, writing songs and
learning to play. When she finally returned to Dublin, she returned
a musician.
From there it was a steady road forward. First playing on the street,
then solo acoustic shows at the International Bar and the like.
Bands offered her opening slots; Kila and The Frames, DC. When the
Dublin Event Guide asked her to perform for one of their events,
she decided it was time to form a band.
Finding a band in Dublin wasn't so easy. "There's a hell of a lot
of songwriters in Dublin, not a lot of musicians, but a Hell of
a lot of people writing songs... most songwriters share musicians."
Finally the right group came together and the band was formed.
In April 1998, Hynes borrowed 3000 pounds (about US$4000) from her
father to take the band overseas to play shows in New York. She
performed at Fez, Arlene Grocery and Brownies, building a following
wherever she went. Soon after, her drummer quit and she spent the
next six months rebuilding the group from the ground up.
The first record was produced, mixed and engineered by Joe Chester
whose solo project, The Sound of Bells, has a large following in
Ireland. The CD was recorded over many months and financed by the
band. The songs are filled with imagery and intelligence, self-revelations
and a love of poetry.
Last year Michael Fitzgerald, an American transplant in Dublin,
launched Reverb Records with Hynes' release as the first signing.
Michael brought the new incarnation of the Nina Hynes group back
to New York in April. They played select shows with Stereolab and
showcased in Texas for SXSW. This time touring behind her critically
acclaimed first release, Creation.
"A lot of people have these romantic visions of what you do as an
artist - but that's a load of crap. I hate being on the road - staying
at hostels. Driving in a van five hours a day, loading gear, being
the back line engineer. It's tough. I'm not going to quit - love
it at the same time."
After the tour, Hynes was disappointed with the new drummer and
the band split up again. She spent the summer writing and looking
for the right musicians to fulfill her musical vision. What inspires
her songs? "Everything I see inspires me ... my personal life, eavesdropping,
films, passing moments ... the street really inspires me." She points
to other musicians as well; Beck, PJ Harvey, Don Cherry, Jeff Buckley
and Stina Nordenstram.
The band's most recent incarnation is a five piece. Nina Hynes playing
guitar and singing, Nico Liebing on the sampler, Joe Chester on
electric guitar, Shane Fitzsimons on the bass and Finn O'Leary on
drums. Hynes says this band is "more of a band, not so much a songwriter
with her band. Everyone's bringing themselves into it, we're just
becoming one unit of ourselves". So much so the next CD will be
released under a band name (to be announced) in the fall and followed
up by a lo-fi solo album under the moniker Nina Hynes in the spring.
On stage, Nina Hynes is a transcontinental dreamscape. The band
climbs together, a rising wave beneath the flying dove that is Hynes'
voice. "The world is your oyster, I've seen on TV." she sings. A
lazy cigarette hangs out the side of the bass player's mouth. Is
it all worth it? "Can't help it," she says, "it's got me I don't
have it. It is the bane and freedom of your life." |
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