Middle Part
An indie-pop artist of the new age, Brooklyn-based Middle Part has the summer-like tunes and homegrown, colorful aesthetic to match. His early gift of a Tascam 4-track recorder as a teen led him to follow the music of John Frusciante and further craft his identity through music. Middle Part’s music glistens with vintage guitars and airy synths, as live drums humanize the tracks. A lot of this music was created during his trip to Healy, Alaska, and all he needed were snowboard bags with synthesizers to keep himself busy. His isolation from his social circle and most of reality gave him time to record his first song, “Call U” and from there, his success in the music world has only increased. We recently spoke with the Middle Part about his Alaska trip, the vulnerability in his music, and more!
How did you start making music?
I grew up in Florida and started making music when I was a kid. My dad put a guitar in my hands at a really young age and tried to convince me that it would be rewarding. I kind of neglected that idea at first because I didn’t have a sense of self at 12 or 13. Something clicked around the same time where all I wanted to do was be good at guitar and learn how to play music that I loved. I was gifted a Tascam four track and was obsessed with John Frusciante’s solo work. I wanted to emulate that. I sat in my room and wrote little songs whenever I could find the energy. I think I still have a box of tapes in the attic of the house I grew up in. I never really understood music because I never learned theory, but I developed this relationship with it that I really connected with. I’ve always tried to sing but was never very good, and it took me a long time to feel good about recording my vocals in general…like forever, like until we started recording these songs haha. In high school I started playing guitar in a band and my uncle, dad, or bandmates would pick me up to come rehearse. I wasn’t allowed to go to parties as I was fairly sheltered so my escape from that were Friday rehearsals. I created an identity in music around those really young teenage years but never knew how to fully pursue it, or how I wanted it to feel as I was fairly insecure and unsure as to what I wanted to do with my life. I think everyone kind of goes through that.
Middle Part’s a pretty funky name, especially for a solo artist. What’s the story behind it?
Middle Part was a name that I came up with when I went to get a haircut, I thought “that's cute and fun. It just so happened to not be taken on Spotify either which was relieving. There isn’t much meaning behind it. I just wanted it to be a vessel to carry mine and Brian’s art. When I was playing in bands as a younger adult we put so much thought into the band names we would come up with. It was like it had to mean something or it wouldn’t work and I just don’t believe in that anymore. Middle Part has kind of become a character at this point or at least in my mind. Maybe it's the spirit that’s carrying the torch for my expression etc.
You spent some time in Healy, Alaska, isolated pretty much from everything. What’s it like to be so alone?
I was living in Nashville for 5 years with my old bandmates and close to my dad. I started to fall apart after recording a record (as a guitarist) which is when I met Brian, my collaborator, who played in that band live for a couple of shows. I quickly realized that making music with that group of guys wasn’t what I really wanted to do because I wanted to sing and talk about my experience, and I didn’t feel like I was able to express that in that band. I had a really tough year and put myself into bad situations so I decided to move to Alaska to escape that and better myself. I had these two synths that I brought with me in snowboard bags so I’d have something to do while I was out there. I lived in a town 45 minutes outside of Anchorage for the first few months which was a little more civilized than the second half of my trip, which was almost a year total. Even though I was surrounded by friends and people that loved me I felt really alone and wasn’t really happy there. So I moved more north to stay in a place, Healy, that I had spent some time in before circa 2016.
I knew I could make money there and get my life together as well as being more isolated which I feel like I needed at that point to really focus on who I wanted to be, especially as a musician. Healy is close to Denali National park which is 8 hours north of Anchorage and three-ish hours south of Fairbanks. They provided living situations for you and mine happened to be a shipping container. I kept my door shut with a rock and spent a lot of time in my room playing and recording ideas for music. It's where I fully wrote my first song “Call U”.
I’ve tried to talk about my experience in Alaska and it’s always been tough. The best way I can describe it is feeling like you’re in a coma because you’re so removed from reality out there. I didn’t really pay bills or get out much. You kind of don’t have access to a lot in a small place like that so you’re forced to get to know yourself and be alone. I also hated my job which was serving pizzas close to the national park so every morning we would take the employee bus, and I would try to shut my brain off for the day. I was listening to a lot of Phillip Glass’ “Opening” because it calmed me down and allowed me to kind of forget what I was out there doing. Then I’d go home and play my synths so I could continue to navigate what I wanted to sound like after not knowing for so long.
Does this feeling play a role in your music at all?
I think it plays a huge role in my music now because I never really felt like I had much individuality as an artist. It was completely new to me at that point because I had spent so much time relying on my previous band to “make it work”. I didn’t think I could do anything by myself, and I was positive that I couldn’t write a song on my own. I also had never felt so connected to a place so that isolated feeling was almost wholesome because beforehand I was overstimulated all the time between being addicted to various vices and going out in the major cities I had lived in. I also discovered a lot of new music out there, and I was constantly in my headphones listening and energizing myself. Alaska is a really great place to discover yourself as an individual. I think there’s some kind of cosmic connection there that’s hard to experience in other places. Maybe everyone has a place like that.
Can you walk us through the moment in Healy that you realized you wanted a career in music?
I lived in this shipping container with one other roommate, and in the first few weeks I was there mine moved out because I was always playing on my synthesizer or trying to sing. He couldn’t take it, but I couldn’t help but continue to write there because I just had nothing else to do. I desperately wanted to be good at it. I think I’ve always wanted to make music my career but was never sure how I wanted to approach that. I don’t think I was entirely sure if I was able to identify it out there either. I just knew that it was impossible for me to give it up as much as I had tried to in the past. It didn’t really click either until after I was in New York for a bit and Brian and I started working together. He plays a big role in the energy I have for making music. We also have another collaborator named Brooks Paschal that mixes our songs and has kind of taken us under his wing. We do a lot of back and forth during the writing process.
When returning to civilization, how’d you settle on Brooklyn as your base of choice?
Moving to Brooklyn was kind of an accident. I wasn’t planning on it originally, but all the music I was discovering out in Alaska were New York based musicians for the most part so I felt really connected to the idea of moving here. Brian, who played with my old band briefly, had kind of caught wind that I was toying with the idea of moving to New York, and he called me and asked if I was serious about it. I told him I wasn’t sure, but I thought that it was a serious possibility. We ended up moving around the same time. I think being here at first was a major culture shock. Being around so many people was foreign to me after spending so much time away from everything and everyone. Frankly, my first year here was extremely difficult, I had to get used to having adult responsibilities again and like doing normal everyday things I didn’t really deal with out in AK. I also fell into old habits when I first got here so it was hard to find a balance. Being here you’re surrounded by so much overstimulation and access to EVERYTHING. I wasn’t used to that and it was overwhelming and hard to balance out. I didn’t even start fully making music here immediately, I was navigating how to be comfortable and stable at first. I still thought I was bound to be a guitarist in a band; which I definitely didn’t want but didn’t know how to do anything else really.
Your music’s got some awesome cover art. Do you do it yourself?
Thanks, I love the cover art as well. I've actually only created the cover art of the first song I released called “Call U”. I became really obsessed with Daniel Johnston and loved how nostalgic all his art was so I wanted to have a similar vibe in my art. I quickly realized I wasn’t very good at drawing so I started seeking out artists that had a similar style to what I was looking for. I befriended a woman named Sofia that plays for a band called MICHELLE (You should check them out) and she showed me this band called “Medium Build”. I immediately recognized them because they were an Alaska based project. I kind of overlooked them a bit when I was out in Alaska but when Sofia reintroduced me to them I immediately connected with it. Medium Build's artist is a woman that’s based out of France named Kimmy Elliot, who goes by @linesbyher on Instagram. I reached out to her to see if she’d be interested in taking on my project as we were in the middle of finishing our record. There was something really sacred about working with an artist that was connected to Alaska, and I think I needed to work with her so this body of work meant more to me and stayed true to my vision. She’s really wonderful and did a great job of creating a visual identity for what I was creating.
Speaking of your music, it’s great. It’s full of so much feeling. Are you ever nervous about being so vulnerable in your work?
Thanks, I'm really glad you like it. I think for a long time I was nervous about being vulnerable with anyone and especially in music because I wasn’t in touch with myself. I think it can be a little nerve-racking sometimes but I don’t see a point in creating art if you aren’t being sincere or honest throughout your work.
With only two songs out you’ve already grossed over 25,000 streams on Spotify alone. What can you attribute to your success?
I think my team and I were pretty shook when putting out “& Cry!” because it did better than we expected. I still think we have a lot of work to do, but I can’t really take responsibility for how well it did at first. I think our support system between our label (Little Planet) and our distribution (Level) has really helped push it further so it gets heard. Brian and I also reach out to a lot of people so we can get in people's ears. I feel very lucky to have made this body of work and have it actually come out.
What’s next for Middle Part?
We have another single coming out in November as well as the one that’s out on October 13th and then putting out our record in December. Beyond that we are still working on new music, finishing up songs that we already have and trying our best to create something that means something to us, and hopefully that means a full record in the near future. I guess we’ll see!
