Photo Courtesy of Tyler Bradley
Unconventionality can be found in all aspects of this young band's music and daily lives
With an album case hand cut out of corrugated cardboard and tied with a pink ribbon, Cold Mountain Child has aimed to make even the most commercial aspects of their music personal.
Cold Mountain Child is comprised of high school friends Spanish junior Tyler Bradley on guitar and vocals and Western Michigan University student David Spalvieri-Kruse on the piano, keyboard, bell set and melodica.
The State News: How would you describe your sound?
Tyler Bradley: It's based on a lot of layered instrument parts and a lot of texture.
(The texture) creates a sound that's not really identifiable as a distinct guitar part or a sick bass line. It's more ambiguous. It's not really cut-and-dry.
SN: Who are your influences?
David Spalvieri-Kruse: Nick Drake, Explosions in the Sky, Built to Spill, Sun Kil Moon and Maurice Ravel.
SN: How did you two meet?
TB: I'm from the Kalamazoo area and we went to high school together.
We started playing together in an instrumental band. That was still with me on guitar and him on piano.
It was a rough start but we ended up writing a lot of cool stuff and forming our alliance.
SN: What makes you different than the average MSU band?
DSK: The term (average) implies a formal and constructed approach. We try to approach all the music we make in an unconstructed fashion.
TB: There aren't a lot of bands at MSU that have this type of sound.
I'm not saying it's a better sound, but in general I haven't encountered anything like it.
I've been looking around for a while.
It's kind of nice to be representational of a certain mood that isn't necessarily represented in other band forms.
SN: Where did the name come from?
TB: It's based on a collection of poems by a poet called Cold Mountain.
He wrote a lot of poems about being human but being in solitude and all the feelings that come with it. They're really beautiful.
I think a lot of the emotions he expresses are somehow the same as ours. We're like kindred spirits.
SN: Name one band you hate and why.
TB: I think David and I stand firm in our total hatred of The Ataris.
Don't even get me started. His song composition skills leave much to be desired as well as his voice and all the other aspects that could make them potentially good.
DSK: They said they were going to expand their sound and that they were listening to all this great music, but then they released a new album which is the exact same crap.
SN: If you landed a million dollar contract, what would you use the money for?
DSK: We'd probably take the money for our own record label, which is small but legit and sincere.
We function on a label called Togethering … it's very scattered and not put together.
People can have things they really believe in.
Everything that has been released has a human element.
Every time I hold one of our albums, I think about sitting on a porch in shorts with a razor blade (making the album case). When someone buys it, it's very personal.
TB: Our routine (last summer) would start with us waking up, sitting on his porch and grinding coffee.
The grinder was really dull so we would have to grind it for an hour and a half.
Once we had that coffee, we'd furiously chug it and go down to the basement and craft things and play music.
DSK: But with the rest of the money?
There's this book where the kids burn all the money just to see what happens. So, maybe.
TB: If he was going to burn it, I guess I wouldn't stop him. I might try, but only half-heartedly.
SN: Where can people hear your music?
TB: I'd recommend the Togethering Web site (togetheringrecords.com) in conjunction with the MySpace page (myspace.com/coldmountainchild), just because there are a couple other really good artists that have joined us in this conglomeration of friends.