Youth is a great thing. Youth brings energy, curiosity and innovation and the willingness to take risks. Knoxville is especially blessed in having a constant crop of hungry, exciting new musicians burst onto the scene and bloom into exciting, vital artists in front of our eyes-bright new stars in the local music constellation.
Hazel is one of those bands.
Siblings Elijah (21) and Hannah Cruise (19) and their friend Cale Bramer (21) are recent transplants from Pigeon Forge and they burst onto the Knoxville scene immediately last year with a series of shimmering, emotive electronic indie-pop singles like “Famous,” “I Met a Boy,” and “Head Full of Diamonds,” which they submitted to the 2016 NPR Tiny Desk Contest.
In their first two years as a band, Hazel has grown on such an exponential curve that they’ve recorded, released and pulled music several times over (they “scratched” a series of singles recorded in Nashville and pulled their self-produced 2016 EP Wild Animals, calling it a “pretty shitty demo” now). They soon replace older songs with newer ones that show a rapid growth curve. “Songs get old very quick.” Elijah admits.
Hazel juggles influences as varied across the indie and electronic and pop music spectrum as The Cranberries, Lana Del Rey, Chvrches, Sylvan Esso and M83.
“We use the differences in the influences,” Elijah says. He often brings core elements of songs and lyrics to the table, Bramer creatively edits or adds instrumental flourishes, and Hannah will tackle the lead vocals, almost like an efficient production assembly line that results in a well-oiled machine when it comes time to record and perform. “We really like our system,” Elijah smiles.
The band is poised to release a new single, “Shadow”(which will appear on a Spring 2017 EP release entitled Emotion Synthesis) at a special release show January 21 at Open Chord, playing with Knoxville indie vanguards Senryu and Hudson K.
“Everybody’s been really nice,” Elijah says. “We kinda were scared but we’re very thankful for the Knoxville scene.”
One interesting approach Hazel takes that reveals the benefits of their youthful perspective is the lack of focus on a traditional full-length album. And while the band is working towards, an EP, they have unique plans to massage and draw out the life of each single.
Take “Shadow,” for example: the band is doing a release show around it, taping a music video, and releasing three different versions: the original, their own remix, and a remix with local rapper Thelo-Que. What he did on his version of their song, Elijah says, is “one of the most poetic things I’ve ever heard.”
In a music scene where social media and sharing dominate, collaboration is an important element of how Hazel works as well. Tanner Rutherford from The Valley Young appears on their EP as well, and while Elijah’s wife Olivia is the band’s official manager, they have weekly sit-downs with Alec Cunningham at Open Chord to glean music wisdom and strategies.
“She’s super supportive, encouraging and helpful,” Elijah says.
Luckily, or maybe by design, Hazel is avoiding the pitfalls many burgeoning artists fall into, like substance issues. Elijah says the group has avoided those for the most part out of healthy respect for their power. “It’s a scary thing,” Elijah says. “It can mess up your whole life.”
Hazel has also avoided the inevitable work-art struggle many bands face as members go through school or enter careers…by taking the risky plunge into doing music full-time and giving it all of their focus. “It frees us up for any opportunity that comes our way,” Elijah says.
“We do it with a lot of financing and a lot of beans,” Bramer adds. Hannah is a part time worker at a library back home and Elijah will occasionally take a shift at the Pigeon Forge Melting Pot, but other than that all time is devoted to Hazel.
“We’re trying to use the music to its full potential,” Bramer says.
Elijah adds, “our big goal is to play festivals but things tend to lose value if they don’t benefit other people. We want to offer hope and a message of peace. Our purpose right now is to help people.”
And help people they have–Hazel organized or played in a variety of benefit shows to help Gatlinburg wildfire victims, many of their friends among them. “We tried to do as much as we could,” Elijah said. “Everyone gave very nicely.”
Observant readers may notice lead singer Hannah Cruise was not quoted throughout. That’s because she didn’t attend the interview. That’s another thing Hazel is doing right–leaving a little mystique for the fans.
“She’s just wants the music to speak for itself.” Elijah says.
To hear this music, check out Hazel, with Senryu and Hudson K, at Open Chord on January 21.
