Today we’d like to introduce you to Lars Nelson.
Hi Lars, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up singing in choir through primary and high school. I was also actively involved with community theater musicals and high school musicals (before that became a Disney property 😆). My Dad and my Aunt were and are professional musicians, so music was a constant in my home growing up. I forged a lot of my own musical taste from my Dad’s record collection and Top 40 radio growing up. I took up a paper route when I was 11, in no small part, so ai could afford to buy records, cassettes and CD’s. If I’m being honest, that’s probably where not an insignificant amount of my money still goes to. Concerts also make up a good deal of my purchases as well. Money well spent as far as I can tell. I had bands throughout college and after college graduation. Along the way, I got to open for such giants as George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, Wyclef Jean, The Wailers, The Meditations and Cowboy Mouth. With the Lars Nelson Band, we’ve opened for platinum artists, Tantric. Our 2022 album, Midnight Anthems was named one of the best albums of the year by syndicated Spanish radio show, La Proxima Estacion.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t been a smooth road but I never expected it to be. As I get older, I’ve become even more cognizant of how important chemistry is, specifically of the musical variety. Changing one element of a band, say a band member, can greatly alter the sound and sometimes the trajectory of a band. Finding the right band members can be a quixotic odyssey to be sure and it can also be quite exciting. It’s not as important to share the exact same vision but it certainly helps to be on parallel tracks. Our own personal backgrounds, upbringing and musical tastes can really make for an eclectic tapestry to pull from and be inspired by. Each step of the journey has merit. It was thrilling playing open mic nights of three original songs and getting feedback from friends and strangers alike . You slowly build up a catalog and work your way from early in the week shows to weekend showcases. With it, your show begins to evolve and grow and that can be a fun process to witness first hand within your own projects and within those of your contemporaries.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
With Lars Nelson Band, we do a modern roots-rock thing. Someone called it, good time, beer-swilling rock n roll. I’m okay with that and am happy to embrace it. I also think it can speak to you if you’re vice of choice is expressos or energy drinks. I was pleased to hear a friend recently tell me that he listened to our album while he was running and apparently it made a good soundtrack to the national park he was in. I think more than anything it’s party music with definite blues/rock influences but that’s merely my take on it. Music can be so personal and once it’s released, how it’s defined become less and less the property of the creator. With my latest solo EP, Voyageur (on all streaming services, April 25th), I recorded all the demos for it at my grandparent’s cabin in the northwoods of Wisconsin. Most all of it was written and recorded during Covid insolation and with it took on more electronic musical textures. With that, my lyrical themes naturally were different. There are some themes that have remained consistent, the various dynamics of a relationship being one, but suddenly worldly themes starting working their way in. Uncertainty, memories, dreams, anxiety and the tranquility of nature and finding one’s place in it came to the forefront of my writing. As far as what I’m most proud of, I don’t know if I can narrow that down to one thing. I am very proud of our album, Midnight.Anthems. I’m proud of my band mates’ work on it. Dan (Fink) our guitarist has solos on it that are some of my very things I’ve had the good fortune to hear in music. I’m very proud of Voyageur and the ability to guide those songs from their embryonic beginnings to living, breathing entities of their own.. it challenged me as a producer and expanding the palette I was working with, I think to establish a thing you are most proud of, can lend itself to a certain contentment that I think can stifle creativity. The other side of that, is I think it can also provide an unnecessary border and ranking system that I also think is antithetical to creative expression. Accolades and recognition are wonderful but awards for art borders on silliness. The Grammys and Oscars are great promotional tools for the work but should not be taken any more serious than that. Art is not sports, despite some well connected people trying to turn it into that. . Art is and will remain very subjective. Knowledge or lack thereof of the history of music can inform those opinions but at the end of the day, your favorite band is also the best.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
That’s an intriguing question. I think good or bad luck really plays into the amount of preparation that one has going to any creative endeavor. I don’t think you can discount that luck does play a role in success but what success looks like really defines how much luck is actually needed. I think I personally feel that I’m quite lucky to be born into the family I have, in the area I’m in, to have the romantic partner I do and the friends I have. These are all very lucky and blessed things.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://larsnelsonband.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/larsnelsonband
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/larsnelsonmusic
- Twitter: @larsnelsonmusic
- Youtube: @larsnelsonmusic92
