Anything but Ordinary Noise
Detroit’s Art of Conversation debut with the blissful summer acoustic ballad, “Sunset of My Mind”
What is that feeling, when you’re hearing a piece of music for the very first time and you happen to fall momentarily in love with it? It’s a guttural, instinctual notion that you’ve known your whole life, and I propose such a feeling ought to have a name.
Better and stronger yet is the feeling you get when this phenomenon takes place right in front of your eyes, as the music is being concocted on a stage two feet from where you’re standing…
Ah yes, live music. After so many dark months of isolation, worrying, and waiting, I’d almost forgotten that such a feeling could exist. But on an early summer day in Midtown Detroit, I found myself overcome by this feeling once more, remembering all the ways that the right song can make everything else fall into place.
Granted, that day, I was so happy to be standing in the sun, drinking a Bud Light and watching a couple of dudes plug guitars into amps, that I’m sure almost any ordinary noise that penetrated my ears would have sent me rambling on about the astonishing power of live music. But after listening a little longer and doing a little digging on my own, I can assure you that the band at the center of this oasis have a knack for producing music that is anything but ordinary noise.
Art of Conversation are an idyllic indie five-piece out of Detroit Michigan, and their first single, “Sunset of My Mind” is a wonderfully crafted acoustic soundscape that gives listeners remnants of early Father John Misty and Fleet Foxes. With new music looming on the horizon, I decided to catch up with Art of Conversation songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Tyler Purdy, to learn a little more about how the band came about and what’s coming next.
Why don’t you start by telling us a little bit more about what your role is in the band? If I remember correctly you were strumming on a nice 12-string when I saw, you guys- is that the same guitar you play on “Sunset of My Mind”?
My role in the band can be summed up as the auxiliary player. Whatever the song needs, I play. My setup consists of a few keyboards (one being a vintage Juno 60), a 12-string acoustic guitar, and a tambourine/shaker. I also sing in the band either as a backup or lead depending on the song. I recorded “Sunset of My Mind” with a 1978 Takamine 12-string which sounds beautiful, but I don’t want to risk its safety on the road, so I play a newer Fender 12-string for live performances.
And you’re actually pretty new to joining the band, correct? Walk me through how you met them and how you guys started playing together.
That’s right, I joined the band a few months ago. I originally met Ian, lead guitarist, and singer in the band, in college at Western Michigan University. He was randomly assigned to be roommates with a friend of mine from high school so I would spend time in their dorm to hang out and we quickly discovered our similar taste in music and love for creating. That was four years ago, and we have been friends ever since. Ian was actually one of the first people I showed some original music to and helped procure my confidence in sharing music. At that time, and up until a few months ago, Ian was in the band with the other members, Ryan, Christian, and Brandon, under the name Doctor Daisy. I would go see them at house shows and even helped them when I could by filming a radio session for Kalamazoo’s WIDR, and recording/mixing their final single, “New York.” I guess I was always around the band in one way or another over the last few years. Over time, we all got more comfortable together and I shared some of my musical ideas with them and finally, they asked me to join them with the plan to change the name and rebrand as a 5-piece band. I was flattered by the opportunity and quickly accepted.
“Sunset of My Mind” is a wonderful song- what inspirations were you drawing from and how did the song come about?
Thank you! The band took a writing retreat to a small house in the middle of nowhere in Michigan with the intention to practice our set but also allow any ideas to flow for new material. I personally wanted to bring something to the table as a way of showing my value and dedication to the group. So, with that mindset, I just started playing around on my 12-string that I brought and quickly found the chord progression for the song. It instantly sounded summery and relaxing so that was the direction I continued with. Once I found the progression, I shared it with the band, and everyone wrote their parts basically on the spot. There, of course, were adjustments and fine-tuning later on, but the spirit of the song was made in one evening. A day or two after the retreat, I wrote the final version of the lyrics and we set off on planning our recording process with full intention on releasing it as a single. I wouldn’t say there was any direct inspiration for the song besides the intention of it being a summer vibe.
I know the band is going through a little bit of a “rebrand”. Can you tell me a little bit about how your guy’s sound has changed from the past and what style we can expect on future releases? Walk me through what you guys have done to cultivate this new sound.
I'm going to refer to Ryan, the bassist of the band, for this one: “Our sound, in my opinion, has evolved in numerous ways. There was talk amongst the four of us throughout the near Armageddon that was 2020 that something about the band had to be changed. Originally when we were recording our upcoming EP, the plan was to release it under our previous name, Doctor Daisy, but as that idea set in it became more and more clear what we needed to do in order to keep the magic in the band. We had grown as individuals and as independent musicians-our tastes had changed and our standards set even higher. Although our history before AoC is the reason we’re all together today, we were all more than glad to ‘Leave it All Behind’ and emerge as a more sophisticated version of what we were trying to be before.
As for what we’ve been sitting on, it is, as I’m sure most bands have experienced, heavily influenced by nearly a year of isolation as well as a general air of anxiety amongst a charged socio-political climate. This EP was, at least for me, a healthy way of coping with the madness that was happening outside my door. It’s not jubilant, though it has its moments-it’s triumphant. It’s whatever emotion you choose to feel boiled down to its essence; it’s Art of Conversation. And for future releases, your guess is as good as mine! I’ve heard a handful of songs and snippets that my fellow band members have been working on and I seriously can’t believe I’m a part of it all sometimes. We each have a strong passion for songwriting and musical arrangement, so I’d wager that the songs are going to pull inspiration from a handful of genres and become more instrumentally intricate as we continually add to our repertoire of instruments.”
Obviously, this is a tune that you wrote and sang but that’s not the case for every song. How does the creative process work for you guys? How do you balance the burden of writing, recording, and performing?
The creative process differs slightly from song to song, but the general road map: is someone writes a tune or part of a tune, records a demo, and shares it with the group. If everyone in the band is on board, then each member begins to work on their individual parts. This is ideally done all together so we can work off of each other but, as life goes, we can’t all see each other all the time so remote practice and collaboration are used. Generally, the writer of the song takes lead vocals, but I am curious to see how the band will progress as we continue to get more comfortable playing together and writing becomes a more cohesive process.
As of now, recording has been mainly done at home. With “Sunset of My Mind,” the entire song was recorded at home. Rhythm guitar and main vocals were recorded in my bedroom, drums were recorded by me (played by Brandon of course) in the basement of a bandmates house, and all guitars and additional instrumentation like percussion and piano were done in bedrooms as well with a lot of help from Ian. I also mixed the song at home, so it is very much a home-grown product. This process is very satisfying but a lot of work. In the future, we want to find the right balance of what to do at home and what to do in a studio so we can make the best songs that we are proud to share.
Everyone has their defined roles when it comes to performing. Each member sticks to their instruments and is responsible for their parts. Performing is actually the most straightforward part of the whole band experience for me personally.
Lastly, tell us when we can expect to hear new music from Art of Conversation? Do you guys have any live shows coming up?
There is a lot to come from Art of Conversation in the near future. We have numerous new songs in the works as well as an original EP coming out very soon. I can’t give a release date right now, but I can tell you that you won’t have to wait too long to hear what we have been cooking up.
We have a couple of shows coming up as well. One is at the LBMA FEST on Saturday, August 7th at Pine Grove Park in Port Huron MI. We also are headlining the Loving Touch in Ferndale, MI on August 28th with a seriously amazing line-up. Tickets for that are available online right now and can be found through our Instagram links. If you can’t make it out to see us anytime soon, make sure to check out and follow our music on Spotify and Apple Music. And we maintain pretty active on Instagram so check that out to keep up with what we’re working on.
