Every so often, while sifting through hundreds – thousands since 2008 – of artist and band music submissions, we come upon a DIY artist that stands out from all of the rest.
The great thing about this series has always been that it profiles artists who are clearly talented, and are usually not widely known. Plus, as with all DIY artists, they write, record and distribute their music without the help of a label or a publicist.
This week we have chosen Dalton, the solo-project of Brooklyn singer/songwriter Nate Harar. Prior to embarking on this recent solo-project, Harar sang and played guitar with indie-rock band Sugar, It’s Eli. However, the band broke up when two of the members moved away.
Last year, Harar decided to embark on his first creative-solo project playing bass, guitar, synthesizer and drums while recording in his apartment studio. The result is his debut, self-titled EP, released via Bandcamp on July 24th.
In a year where indie rock seems to have lost some of its luster, Dalton is one new artist that is doing his part to breath new life into the genre.
Dalton’s sound is energetic, raw and exciting, boosted by a hodgepodge of genres, distorted guitars and wild-eyed, lo-fi vocals reminiscent of popular indie bands like Oberhofer.
“Breaker” – Dalton from Dalton EP
“Animal” – Dalton from Dalton EP
Harar has a wide variety of musical influences, but none more than David Bowie. “David Bowie is my favorite artist just based on the quality and longevity of his career,” Harar said. “His string of albums from Aladdin Sane through Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) is unrivaled in my opinion. I really take inspiration from his ability to constantly change his sound from album to album and still put out such amazing music.”
As for his own style, Harar said, “I don’t have any barriers in my songwriting. I don’t sit around and think: ‘I’m going to write a bluesy song today’. I let the music and the song dictate how it turns out. I would get bored limiting myself to one type of musical genre.”
“Hostel” is an earlier track that was not featured on Dalton’s debut EP.
“Hostel” – Dalton
Artists Opened For: None
Top Musical Influences: David Bowie, Nirvana, Gomez, The Pixies, Talking Heads, Arcade Fire, Peter Gabriel, Blur
Official Website: Dalton’s Bandcamp page
Year Formed: 2011