Love Letter Writers

ISABELLA SOARES

PHOTO PROVIDED BY LOVE LETTER WRITERS

Jazz band, show choir, and musical theatre seem to be the extra-curricular activities that we all participate in high school, but end up getting into a whole other business when enrolling in university. Yet, they can also be just the beginning for talented individuals to connect with one another, play a couple tunes, and create an unbreakable bond. This statement couldn’t be more truthful about local band Love Letter Writers, formed by Nathaniel Muir (vocals,) Carter LaFleche (bass/vocals,) Aidan Clarke (drums,) Adam Yarish (guitar,) and Ben Schmidt (guitar.) Stylus Mag had the chance to speak with all of the band members about their early days, upcoming album, and how their musical influences made them grow and develop on stage.

This group goes way back to junior/senior years, when Nathaniel decided to put on a show alongside friends Aidan and Carter for an event called Apex Dance at Westwood Collegiate. At the time, they were known as Dissonance, a name that changed twice before they settled on their current identity. When asked about the origin of this name, vocalist Nathaniel Muir revealed: “I wrote a song for us called ‘Love Letter Writer…’ Basically all of our songs are love letters, and Carter and I thought of calling ourselves Love Letter Writers, but Aidan said “no”. Eventually the name grew on everybody.”

With only two songs available on streaming platforms, the early 2000s-like funky bop “Tangerine” and the catchy indie rock track “Crazy Daisy”, the band has more coming our way as they are set to release their first album this October. Carter LaFleche shared a couple details about what we can expect from this debut project, “Our album Arona, which will be available on October 23rd, has seven songs that were made as an ode to the people who made us what we are today.” The album title Arona, means colorful in Hawaiian, and it will feature a blend of sounds they call “pop runk” (mixture of pop, rock and funk).

One of their highlights this past year was playing for the first time at The Park Theatre. The show was described as incredibly energetic and it was the first experience guitar player Ben Schmidt had playing with the group to a live audience. “It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. We were expecting about 50 people to show up and there were over 100!”

Despite having a couple shows booked after this event, everything was eventually canceled due to the COVID-19 shutdown. The band spent months without interacting face to face due to quarantine, but the time apart was filled with productivity. “A lot of good things came out of it, Nathaniel and Aidan had a lot more time off because they had lost their jobs due to COVID. They had time to record some concepts and we recorded them later after phase two or three, when we went back to the studio.” (LaFleche)

Yet, the thought of having to go live again on a restructured format that accommodates social distancing measures gives them mixed feelings. Drummer Aidan Clarke explained, “It’s hard for us because most of our band feeds off of the energy from the audience, so it’s really hard to play when everybody has to social distance, but we are definitely going to plan something very soon.”

Lastly, when reminiscing about the group’s growth and development on stage throughout the years, each member revealed what changed for them and who they looked up to during this process. Names such as Robert Plant, Alex Turner, Flea and Paul McCartney came up as some of the band members’ primary influences when evolving from Jazz Band and Musical Theatre to their live performances together. Adam Yarish, one of the latest additions to the group, said: “It’s pretty new for me honestly. I have only done one show with these guys, and before that the only live experience I had was filling in for my dad’s band playing keyboards in the back, so I didn’t really have to worry too much about stage presence”.

As we wait for this highly anticipated album release that will probably bring some lively and upbeat tunes, as well as attend their upcoming shows, Love Letter Writers will focus on engaging with fans and sharing more about themselves through their social media. The band has plans to release a couple videos online to promote their new music, so make sure to keep a close eye on them to not miss any of the fun.