Greenhorse: Q&A

Greenhorse have been sparking a buzz among fans and critics since the release of last year's Transcontinental EP. The duo, made up of high school friends Chris Hackman and Shawn Day, is currently writing songs for their follow-up to talk to about musical influences, dream collaborations and explaining what "post-pop" means.


How did you come up with the name Greenhorse?

In a way, it was inspired by the film Broken Flowers. We wanted to create an image that symbolizes rebirth and hard work. And we wanted something simple and clean.

What were your early musical influences?

Shawn: As early as 16 I loved the Smashing Pumpkins. When I moved out to London, the first band that inspired me was Arcade Fire. Hmm… We recently got referenced to the band "Suicide", and I thought that was pretty interesting.

Chris: I'd rather not tell you what I was listening to early on… Some of my influences from medium-on include Radiohead, Primus and The Crystal Method.

What was the first album you bought?

Shawn: Guns N Roses, Appetite for Destruction

Chris: Live, Throwing Copper - we recently recorded with the engineer from that album and it was an amazing experience to come full circle like that.

What artists/producer are you currently listening to, and which ones would you like to work with?

We really love the work that Bloodshy and Avant are doing right now; We love the last Mike Snow album. Ideally, we'd want Trent Reznor to produce our first full length album.

How does the songwriting and music production process work?

One of us will start an idea and bounce it over to the other. We'll kick it back and forth until it's listenable. Now that we've been writing for awhile, a lot of our songs are inspired by shared experiences. For example, we recently recorded several new songs inside a cave in Wyoming.

What kind of musical sound can fans expect from your upcoming EP?

Post-pop. It's a sound we've been carving out for the last year. It's got the emotional weight and musical depth of classic pop, but with greater immediacy. You're not going to know whether to dance or just stand back and listen.