Picking up a guitar at the age of 13, Mike Fraedrich began his musical venture.
Following time studying music production at university, the journey well and truly began and so Bright Towers was born.
With the recent release of their new album ‘City Lights’, we caught up with Mike to find out more.
Can you tell us more about how you got into music?
Wow, I could probably spend all day answering this question. I remember being introduced to music at an early age and I was instantly addicted. Music was almost always playing in my house growing up and I was always interested in the people who made it, so it was only a matter of time until I started making it myself. Piano lessons started around the age of 8, but I eventually picked up the guitar around age 13, which is my main instrument today. I started recording songs on my computer as soon as I could get my hands on the software, but it didn’t really get serious until college, when I moved to Nashville and started studying music production at Belmont University. There I grew tremendously as a musician and also formed many of the relationships that would help me get to where I am today. I’ve been a part of a few bands before, but Bright Towers is the first project that I feel really carries my true artistic vision and I’m just really excited to finally get to share it with the world.
Which bands/artists influence you musically?
Probably a sum of everything I’ve ever listened to, but I’d have to say the most influential to date would be bands like The Killers, Mutemath, Paper Route, Luna Halo, Switchfoot, Coldplay, and U2. Lately I’ve also really been digging some tunes by Haerts, Chvrches, Haim, Walk the Moon, and even reaching back for some classics by Tears For Fears.
You’ve recently released your new album ‘City Lights’, which track would you recommend we should listen to first?
I really want everyone to hear the opening track and first single ‘Innocent’, which is why I’ve made it free to download on the Bright Towers Bandcamp page. Hopefully you don’t stop there, though, and give the rest of the album a listen!
How do you go about the writing process for your releases?
For me it almost always starts with a musical idea, which sometimes just pops into my head randomly. I usually try to record that initial idea as quickly as possible (mostly so I don’t forget it), then tinker around and see how far that idea can take me. Sometimes that initial tinkering results in a fully formed song, other times it doesn’t go any farther than the starting idea, just depending on how inspired I am in that moment. Then when the inspiration dries up I store whatever I have in my folder of ideas and come back to it another time. So when I decided to put together ‘City Lights’ I had a fair amount of material to pull from: some songs fully written, others just needing words, and a few just bits and pieces of ideas.
Lyrics are the hardest part for me to write, so for this project instead of waiting for inspiration to strike I decided to team up with a good friend of mine, Wes Pickering, who co-write most of the songs on ‘City Lights’. Often I get stuck after writing just a hook or maybe a full chorus, but Wes helped me finish all of the half-written songs in my queue and even contributed an original work of his own with ‘Control’. I couldn’t be happier with the results of our collaboration and expect it be a regular part of my writing process going forward.
In terms of a live set, what can we expect from Bright Towers?
I’ve never wanted to record anything that couldn’t be reproduced live, so the goal for a Bright Towers full band gig will always be to sound as good or better than the record. I’ve been personally disappointed before by bands that have slick production on their recordings but then can’t deliver on that promise in a live setting. With Bright Towers, I want to bring all of the attention to detail, the electronic elements, and high level of musicianship that went into the studio recordings to the live performances as well. I’m also working on a solo or duo acoustic set for smaller venues that, while not sounding exactly like the recordings, will hopefully be equally interesting in its own way and at least capture the signature elements of each song.
Would you be interested in touring the UK at some point?
Absolutely! I actually have some friends and relatives scattered about England and Ireland and take holiday trips over there at least every other year. Hopefully one of those trips in the near future will feature some Bright Towers tour dates!
What are your plans for the rest of 2015?
Well, now that the record is out it’s all about sharing that music with as many people as possible and that means playing as many live shows as possible. Booking is currently underway for this summer and fall and I hope to have some dates posted to brighttowers.com very soon. I’m also planning video content for the Bright Towers YouTube channel for the next few months, and I’m really excited about where that creative process is already taking me. Stay tuned!
Anything else you wish to add?
Big thanks to you, Claire, for reaching out and for introducing your readers to Bright Towers. I really appreciate what your site is doing, not just for me, but for artists everywhere just trying to share their love, through music, with the world.
Keep in touch and up to date with Bright Towers on Twitter @brighttowers) and Facebook. Thanks!