Monthly Archives: February 2013

Even – Port St. Willow Even – Port St. Willow (Free Download / Buy)

Last week, I was fortunate enough to spend an hour or so catching up with Port St. Willow’s Nick Principe. After reminding him of his performances with Peter Silberman of The Antlers in our school talent shows (organized by my amazing mother), we chatted about his new home in Portland, his current projects, and how the relationship he has with Peter helped spawn both of their music careers.

Our conversation started with recollections of our time growing up in Somers, New York.   When I asked who influenced the music I remember him playing back then, Nick replied, “A lot of it came from jazz because that was my main musical outlet when I first started playing.  As I got older, I started moving into folk and also listening to more art rock and indie rock, some of the saddle creek stuff.  There was an Elliott Smith phase and a Jeff Buckley phase.  Those two still stick around.  It’s not stuff I actively listen to, but I think it’s a little bit in the DNA [of my music].”

Nick went to college at Cornell University, but once his time there was complete, he made the move to Portland, Oregon instead of joining his friends in Brooklyn.  “Portland has had a huge impact on the records I’m making now.  The sound, the patience.  Sort of this neurotic approach to recording. [Portland allows you to] get very involved in what you’re doing.  You [also] see it with the coffee, beer, food, art, and music out here.  Everyone’s very obsessive with their thing, whatever that may be.”

The creative community in Portland has allowed Nick to fully explore his talents, working during the day as a barista and making time every afternoon to work on his music.  “It’s a weird culture.  A lot of musicians and artists I know out here work in coffee or piece together work from a mix of jobs.  It’s nice because I generally work in the morning.” After he’s all caffeinated, Nick will take to the studio.

The artistic culture of Portland is pretty similar to that of Brooklyn.  As Nick told me, “this place is a bunch of transplants.  There are definitely Portland natives, and then there are people who are inclined to the lifestyle, which is a little bit slower than back east.  There are also a ton of people from New York, LA, Chicago.  It’s a really relaxing place to live.  I think I was always a little too mellow for New York.  I would go to stay with Pete [Silberman of The Antlers], and every time I went, I knew I was supposed to be moving there, but it stressed me out.  I was proud to be from New York [when I first decided to move west], but I guess wasn’t ready for it yet.  I think it’s a hard place to be if you’re not quite sure why you’re there.”

The creative environment has clearly had a large impact on Nick’s music.  His latest project, Port St. Willow, brings to mind the hushed vocals of Bon Iver and The Antlers, yet the personal sincerity of his music makes it something entirely his own.  I’ve already seen multiple blogs compare his music to that of his friends in The Antlers.  I asked Nick what he thought about the comparison.  “I think that [WXPN’s] Weathervane [which was produced by Peter Silberman] did a really good job of exploring that.  One of the things we talked about going into the session was that it was a very unique situation.  We [grew] up together writing songs all of our lives.  There’s not an ounce of bullshit in it which is why we both felt OK doing it.   I think what’s been helpful is even as The Antlers has developed, and my own music has started to take shape we still toss ideas back and forth.  It’s less of a thinking thing, and more of a shared intuition.”

Port St. Willow is currently setting out on a West Coast tour at the end of March to be followed by a trip back east in April.  You can download Nick’s EP, Even // Wasteland, for free on BandCamp.  If you feel like shelling out some dough, check it out on iTunes.

For some great videos, check out Shaking Through’s feature on Port St. Willow here.

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Screenshots taken from Shaking Through: Port St. Willow