KEVIN KRAUTER
Kevin Krauter’s debut LP Toss Up was created in an atmosphere he describes as “useful solitude”. the Indiana native – also a member of Hoops – has been taking time out from working collaboratively as part of a band to concentrate wholeheartedly on his own creative vision – and the results are stunning. Toss Up deviates from the style of wistful, stripped-back folk that Krauter championed throughout his initial EPs Magnolia and Changes into a rich smorgasbord of 60s flower pop, 70s easy listening, 80s new wave, 90s alt radio and 00s indie rock.
This change in pace and broadening of styles was germinated in the basement of Krauter’s family home, where he would spend hours repeating intricate melodies to himself, focusing intensely on the minutiae of each would-be track. “That was my domain for a long time,” he says. “I would hang out at home and smoke some weed and sit at my organ or my piano and play the same thing for three hours or so. It was this meditative experience where I felt kind of crazy, but it was also nice to be totally alone, to get to know myself a little bit in that way.”