Dalton is the solo-project of indie musician Nate Harar. A multi-instrumentalist, Harar writes and produces every track on his own, recording them in his tiny studio apartment. With this no-nonsense approach, his music conveys easy-to-digest verses and infectious hooks through stripped down piano and electric guitar – a nod to rock’s no-frills delivery of the early 1990’s.
The project began in 2012 when, tired of jumping from band to band, Harar decided to write and record on his own in his Brooklyn apartment. After posting some demos online under the moniker Dalton, the music began to grab the attention of several music sites and critics, lauding the music for its scrappy energy and effortless production. Yahoo! Voices exclaimed that “Dalton has delivered lo-fi pop at its best,” while Indie Rock Café echoed those sentiments, saying “Dalton has breathed new life into the genre”.
With this newfound acclaim, Harar continued to accumulate songs for what would become his debut album. During this time he also relocated from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. In February 2015, he released his self-titled debut album as Dalton on Fierce Panda Records. Of the album NME remarked “[t]here’s a joy to his melancholy… one that draws you in and holds you close until the song’s final notes”, while Drowned In Sound proclaimed it “…something of a triumph for its creator”.
Since the album’s release Harar has found himself in a state of flux, alternating between Los Angeles, Brooklyn and his hometown of Alexandria, Virginia. While continuing to write in his usual solitary method, the music began to take a more inward approach. Gone were the distorted guitars and strained vocals, replaced instead with acoustic instruments and strings. This new collection sounds less like The Replacements-inspired indie rock of his debut, and more akin to the introspective work of Peter Gabriel’s early albums.
While the delivery may have changed, the impactful melodies and incisive songwriting has not. As Dalton continues to progress so does the music, and there continues to be a through line underneath that hinges one song to the next, creating a cohesive narrative unmistakably his own. On “Wailing Wall,” Harar creates a beautiful fingerpicking pattern and gently mournful lyrics that call to mind Christopher Paul Stelling. In our interview, Harar tells us about his process and his encyclopedic knowledge of 2000s indie rock.
Who are some of your musical influences?
The list is long but most of my music is influenced by what I listened to growing up in the ‘90s. It started with Nirvana early on – I was absolutely obsessed with them. They were the first band that I was fully immersed in – bought every album and bootleg I could find, bedroom wall covered with magazine photos, the whole deal. The first two Weezer albums were super important to me as well (and actually influenced a few songs on this album). After that I really got into Blur and then Gomez a little later. I’d say that by the end of high school my musical tastes were set. And that’s not to mention the legacy acts that were just as important to me growing up – David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Randy Newman. I like to think it all gets mixed and filtered in and then comes out in the music in varied and unique ways.
Name a perfect song and tell us why you feel that way.
One that comes to mind is “Wind Phoenix (Proper Name)” by Cymbals Eat Guitars. I think it’s a very special thing when a song is so complete it can invoke not just a memory but an overall feeling everytime you hear it. This song does it for me and I cannot even begin to explain why. It’s upbeat, it’s sad, it’s angry, it has peaks and valleys – this song has it all. And for whatever reason it invokes a very specific sense memory of fall, which to me is the best season of them all. A hugely underrated band.
Explain the title of your album.
The title track “To the Woods” was written smack in the middle of when everything was locked down and we were all isolating. Then in the middle of that my wife suddenly had to go back home for a family emergency and I was completely alone for a few weeks. So that song came out of that period of complete isolation and tries to take a semi-tongue in cheek view of being lonely and the only cure for that loneliness is to run away to the woods with the one you love because, hey, at least the animals are there. It’s a not so serious love song about loneliness. Kind of that Weezer influence creeping in.
Does your album have an overarching theme?
Not overtly. The way my albums generally come together is by constantly recording as much as I can and mining the best material from that. It’s usually not until all of the songs are put together that I can go back and see a through line that ties them as a whole. They were all written during a specific timeframe and that timeframe obviously influences the creative output (especially considering the past year and a half we’ve had). So I’m sure it’s in there just waiting to be discovered.
Do you start off with the music or lyrics first? Why?
Music, always. If the music is good it almost doesn’t matter what the lyrics are. Look at a band like WU LYF – you can’t understand a word they’re saying but the music and the feeling is there. Not that the lyrics can be anything. But I just feel it’s important to have the music down first because in a lot of ways the vibe and feel of the music help inform the lyrics. I’ll rarely have any lyrics completed beforehand, other than maybe a stray line here or there. Once the music is complete, only then can the panic of lyric writing commence.