On this episode of INSIDE MUSIC, host James Shotwell chats with Dylan Mattheisen of Tiny Moving Parts about his band’s new album. Dylan tells James about his creative process, as well as the way bands in the midwest build their careers from basements to nationwide headlining tours. We’ve already talked about several phenomenal records hitting stores this month, but Tiny Moving Parts’ Celebrate may be the absolute best. Click here and support the band by ordering a copy of the record today, or grab a copy in stores starting May 20.
The music you hear in this episode is from the song “Common Cold,” which appears on Celebrate.
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If you’re anything like me, you probably started the day by recognizing that the start of a new work week had indeed arrived and then immediately began shaking your fists at the sky in anger. Monday is rarely anyone’s favorite day, and from what I have seen firsthand it feels safe to say it’s the one day of the week some people outright hate. I guess to them the arrival of the work week symbolizes the end of their quote/unquote freedom, and as a result they head into the office/factory/restaurant/store with a negative outlook already on their mind. This leads to bad attitudes, which only makes the experience of being at work worse, and for some reason it also seems to make time slow to a crawl. We’re not about that life, and we hope this post can do the same you that the song contained within it did for us.
Bands comes in all shapes and sizes, cropping up wherever there happens to be a group of like-minded people with a passion for creativity, but I have always felt a sense of kindred spirits with people from places no one knows. Well, not actually no one, as almost anyone from anywhere knows someone who knows they exist, but people from tiny towns and villages that only register as legitimate places to people who grew up in the same geographic region. That was always the case with my hometown, a tiny village in the Southwest corner of Michigan known as Constantine, and as I’ve grown older I’ve unfortunately witnessed the town sinking further and further into obscurity as state plans to change the paths of major roads have made the once thriving community a place where many residents are fighting to maintain their way of life. It’s heartbreaking, but not all that unusual in the so-called rust belt of the midwest, and whenever I meet another young adult from a similar town we seem to share a mutual understanding that the place we could quite possibly outlive the place we call home. We hate that fact. Every single one of us hates this fact. That doesn’t change anything though, so instead we push forward, striving to create something that speaks to the inspiration and experience we gained from our lives in our hometowns, and in doing so at least a part of us feels like we may keep our community alive — at least in spirit.
Tiny Moving Parts hail from a place in rural Minnesota they themselves will tell you no one knows. It’s a tiny community lacking any tangible music scene, yet it gave the members of Tiny Moving Parts everything they needed to find a unique take on the crossroads between punk and indie-rock that has now become the group’s trademark sound. Listening to their latest release, Celebrate, brings to mind a lifetime of memories spent contemplating the unpredictability of the human experience from the security of your childhood home. It tells of growing up and finding one’s true identity, as well as all the hardships and unforeseen consequences that you must face in the search of truth about practically anything. In roughly thirty minutes, Tiny Moving Parts encapsulate a moment in life when you finally realize just how unique and inexplicably beautiful your own existence is, and through doing so they challenge you, the listener, to ask what you’re doing to make the most of your time.
What is it about Tiny Moving Parts’ hometown that made it possible for the young men in this group to be who they are? I could not tell you. Even if you could tell me, I am not sure I care to know the answer. When Tiny Moving Parts share their art with the world they are consciously sharing every pivotal moment and emotional exchange they have experienced through a riveting and lively take on rock that is unlike anything their industry peers are even attempting to produce. It’s a style of music that the group has more or less been sharing since day one, but in the roughly five years since they became the talk of the alternative underground no true competitors or knock-offs have made themselves known. The reasons for this are probably as varied as the reasons why certain people prefer sneakers to sandals, but I like to believe it’s because we as an alternative community recognize they are something special unto themselves. Tiny Moving Parts are part of this world, but they exist on an island unto themselves, and each new release shares a little more insight into how they see the world around them. Celebrate is the best example of this yet, and I cannot wait to see what they do next.
James Shotwell is the Digital Marketing Manager for Haulix and host of the Inside Music Podcast. He is also the Film Editor for Substream Magazine. When not working, James can be found in Minneapolis with his two fat cats, Paws Von Trier and Chub E. Chubs, watching old police procedurals and eating copious amounts of popcorn. You should follow him on Twitter.
