Solo music from Henry Nowhere has been a long time coming as he’s worked in good pal Day Wave’s band for many years. But he’s finally stepping out on his own with an EP, Not Going Back, which comes out Sept. 14 and includes the track “Good Thing,” which premieres exclusively below.
“I’ve been recording my own music for a long time, and it’s been a few years for creating this project,” Nowhere (nee Moser), a California native and resident, tells Billboard. “I think seeing my buddy Day Wave, Jackson Phillips, where he can take things, inspired me to do it myself. We’ve been playing since eighth grade, and when your friend’s having success and making things happen, it’s really inspiring. He really showed me how to take it to the next level.”
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Nowhere, in fact, says that having a record of his own “has always been my dream since I was a kid,” and being prolific hasn’t been a problem. “What I tend to do is make a bunch of music and then I get sick of it and don’t do anything with it,” he explains with a laugh. “It’s like a game of keeping up with myself and trying to get stuff out there before I get tired of it or think I can make something better.” He’s particularly “stoked on this batch of songs,” however, most of which were written shortly before he got into the studio to record it.
“Good Thing” is a track that demonstrates Moser’s enviable multi-instrumentalist skills. “I started with more acoustic sounds — I played piano, my mom’s old flute, put some trombone on there, tried to make it very orchestral and lush and kind of rich harmonically and all that sort of stuff,” Nowhere says “I have a big soft spot for lush arrangements.” He adds, however that, “I do like a song to be really good without all the ornamentation, so it’s really about getting a good song first.”
“Good Thing’s” lyrics, meanwhile, are boy-girl, but with deeper philosophical edge. “I’ve been with my girlfriend for four years now,” he says, “and I was thinking about how when you’re in a relationship it just evolves over time. You wonder, ‘If I hadn’t met this person, where would I be?’ So for me that song was kind of exploring that chance to evolve and start appreciating the person in a different way. Giving love a chance, I guess, is the cheesy way to put it. You get a new depth as you go along — that’s kind of the idea behind it.”
Nowhere plans to celebrate the six-song EP with a release-day show at The Factory in Los Angeles. He’s not sure about touring yet, but there’s also plenty for him to do in his own creative space. “I’ve got a lot of stuff,” he says. “I’ve got countless songs, but probably on the next EP I’m not going to go back for anything. I’m just going to write some more stuff. It’s hard for me to rework something like that. I just always feel inspired. That’s my favorite part is writing the music and making tracks. I get itchy for it if I don’t do it for awhile.”