New York – Fort Lean is a rock ‘n’ roll, static-hued band out of Brooklyn that’s been bowling audiences over since its debut in 2011. The band couples together evocative lyricism with electrifying technical execution, and cements its sound with inimitably solid compositions.
This is a band that’s hard to place in one set genre, as it sports 60’s inspired harmonies as handsomely and as tastefully as it wears a new wave indie-rock cap. As far as we’re concerned, labels are unimportant when it comes to Fort Lean. This band is downright enjoyable to listen to, and could seamlessly soundtrack a beach escapade as poignantly as it could compliment an endless night spent with old world gutter punks under the BQE.
With an album slated to surface early next year, dubbed Quiet Day and out on Ooh La La Records, Best New Bands caught up with lead singer Keenan Mitchell. For what it’s worth, Mitchell is both a self-aware soul and an enlightened thinker, and his persona lends an air of humility to a band that, to date, has already earned innumerable bragging rights. Read on for a deep dive into Fort Lean.
How did you get into music and how did Fort Lean come together?
I’ve been into music since I was a little kid. I was in the church choir early on and my dad had an electric guitar as I was growing up, too, which was sort of my foray into the eternal electric guitar. I started really playing guitar when I was about 12, and have been playing ever since, straight through middle school and high school. I met the guys in Fort Lean while we were in college at Wesleyan.
After we graduated, it took a little while for us all to reconvene. We had all played in different bands. Three of the band mates are one year, and Will and I are a year younger so we graduated after them. But I’d say three years after college we all found ourselves in Brooklyn, and not encumbered by various projects. That’s when we decided to get the band going.
Do you have other things that you’re all dedicating yourselves to?
Absolutely, otherwise it would be impossible. Everyone has, like, three jobs. I am a studio assistant, I am also a waiter, and I work to make fancy menswear for an online company and handle all their shipping. Will [Runge] works in a hospital doing research in the emergency room, Sam [Ubl] is a tutor, Zach [Fried] does tech work online and Jake [Aron] is a recording engineer.
What do you think the value or the biggest challenge is of juggling all those jobs in order to do music?
We’d all prefer to be doing music full time, but there is value to be found in what we’re doing, too. By virtue of having these flexible jobs we’re able to fit in tours at anytime. It also gives us a variety of experience that we’re drawing on for our work. And it gives us incentive to get better at our music.
Say you’d never picked up a guitar. What profession do you think you’d pursue?
I’ve only ever wanted to be a musician, my entire life. I have no backup plan, really. I have no career fallback [laughs]. I don’t know if it’s great, but it does make the whole thing a necessity rather than a hobby. If this doesn’t happen I’ve got some drastic reevaluating to do over the next few years.
What’s the songwriting process like for Fort Lean?
It’s 100% collaborative. At different times we’ve had different incantations of the process. Even on this album there are some songs that come from a single person fully formed, but that’s a rarity. Usually somebody comes to the band with a little piece, like a core idea, and everyone fleshes it out on his own respective instrument. We keep working on it in our practice space until everybody’s happy with the result. It can be time consuming, as a result, but ultimately makes the work stronger.
For practice, we all get together in a tiny room in Brooklyn that we share with several other bands and we crowd ourselves in the middle of the room because it’s full of gear. We set up in a circle facing each other because that’s the only way we can really do it, and if we want to work on a song we play it a hundred times in a row. It’s rarely contentious, generally pretty easygoing and always enjoyable.
How would you describe the music scene in Brooklyn?
As a music consumer, it’s great. I love that I can walk out of my door any night of the week and see world-class music. In that sense, I feel incredibly lucky. But that same concentration makes it a bit challenging, too. We have a pool of friends doing similar things that will play shows with us. Or, we can drop in when someone’s working on a new song, and influence each other or borrow gear.
If it ever feels like being in a band is an impossible fucking lifestyle, living in Brooklyn makes it feel a bit better, especially in my neighborhood. I can look outside and see 20 different people walking around with instruments and think, ‘huh it must be possible somehow.’ It can be inspiring in that way.
You played a handful of shows during CMJ. How was that?
It was fun, a little bit exhausting. We played four or five shows in less than that many days. It was like being on tour, but you get to sleep in your own bed everyday. Compared to touring it was like an easy breezy dream! It’s always fun playing everyday, or even playing two shows in a day. We had a good time, we met some nice people, we saw some good bands, I got really drunk one night! I’d say it was a success. We got a little press about a week later, which was a nice surprise.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your work before?
I’d describe it like a rock band that will take you on a sonic vacation that will make you feel really good and really weird. It’s hard for us to pinpoint a certain genre, or maybe we just haven’t found it. We have our group of friends that we collaborate with a lot in the city, but we don’t feel like our music is part of that ‘scene,’ per say.
Which of Fort Lean’s recorded songs is the most meaningful to you?
Personally? There’s a song on our new album called “Home For Dinner,” which I wrote about my grandfather’s relationship to the rest of his family. That was pretty personal. A lot of my songs are kind of story-esque, but don’t necessarily draw on things I’ve directly experienced. So for that one, it was really ripped out of my family history. That’s probably why I like it more than anyone else.
From the full band’s perspective, which has been the most challenging track to get down right?
It took a long time to finish the song called “My Name Is Heard,” and it took a while to get the vibe right on that track. But now I think it’s one of the strongest songs on the album. Some songs we just write in an afternoon and it seems like there’s only one right way to play it. Other songs, like that one, little tweaks can dramatically impact the kind of song it turns into. Getting the song just right for “Twenty One” took a little longer to get right, also.
What’s the timeline looking like for your forthcoming album?
We’re going to put out our second single in the next week or two, and we’re going to put out a couple videos that we made ourselves. We’ll drop the new album around February, depending on how everything gets lined up.
What new musicians or bands have impressed you as of late?
A lot of the bands I’m impressed by are friends of ours, groups like L1ef, Rapper, Ludwig, Harriet and Empress Of. There are a lot of old standbys, but everyone knows them. I listen to a lot of old music.
What advice would you give to younger, aspiring musicians or groups?
David Byrne once said, “My only advice is don’t listen to any advice.” But I guess he already said that. And he doesn’t even remember saying that! My advice would be to keep doing what you’re doing. That seems to be the only common thread to any successful band that I’ve know personally. Every time a band surfaces and people think ‘Oh, they came out of nowhere,’ that’s actually a group that’s been chipping away at their work for years. Or, they got extremely lucky. It’s important not to get discouraged if, say, your whole team quits on you, or your album doesn’t get reviewed, or your equipment breaks and your van catches on fire and you have to start over. Just write some new songs and keep going. Otherwise, what the hell are you doing, kid?!
Liz Rowley
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