Introducing KESMAR and his impressive debut single, Feel It Again

Originally kicking off his career with a folkier touch, Sydney's Nathan Hawes has now launched a new chapter, jumping into a more electronic backboned sound with his latest project KESMAR and its debut single, Feel It Again. Co-produced by LANKS, Feel It Again is a bright and weightless single that glides with a slightly dark edge, uniting this distinct indie-pop sound with a more dancefloor-suited teasing that arrives through left-field percussion and nostalgic synth lines. It's a far distance from his guitar-driven folk tunes however, but it's one we're glad he's taken and by the sounds of it, one he's glad about too. "When I was writing folk music, the simplicity was everything, but I felt I was limited," says Hawes on the single and the KESMAR project as a whole. "I used to write a song in a night, and only when I was feeling creative. Now, I have taken on a whole new writing method, starting a writing session with a stranger and finishing a track a day."

With co-writes alongside Lanks, Panama, Tim Ayre (of Tim & Jean) and George Nicholas (of Seekae) under his belt, Feel It Again is the perfect time to acquaint yourself with Nathan Hawes and his newfound sound, so do so now ahead of the single's launch on November 7th - more deets HERE.

Tell us about yourself?

Hi, I'm Nathan Hawes, I write and produce music under the name KESMAR out of Sydney, Australia. Coming from a folk background to where the sound is at now is two opposite ends of the spectrum, but I still feel I kept those folk songwriter roots. This new project has been about two years in the making. New image and sound. It started when I came to a point where I felt limited writing super simple folk music and wanted to branch out into new genres. From there I started producing and basically fell in love with vintage synthesisers and old 70’s disco such as Partice Rushen. I also started listening to a heap of European artists and took in all the inspiration I could find. Worked my way into a few writing sessions here and there met Tobias Priddle in Melbourne, who ended up co-producing the project. Working closely with Tobias and some other producers/writers, I crafted what you hear today coming out of KESMAR.

What’s the vibe music-wise?

Hmm I think genre-wise it would somehow fit into the alternative pop corner of the music world with influences of 70’s disco.

What are your production and writing processes like?

Usually always start off with production, if at the home studio starting on a drum machine/programming samples in, or if I have the luxury of being at my producers’ place we’ll track live drums. Then usually bass or keys comes next, sort out the structure, usually try and keep it pretty minimal at this point as we don't want a heap happening when we’re trying to write the track. Then basically sit down with a pen and paper and write each section as it comes. Usually then sit on it for a day, work on production and little mixing and the demo’s done.

Can you tell us about your new single, Feel It Again?

Feel It Again was written in the summer of 2017 with good friend Will Cuming aka LANKS in his living room in Sydney. The track stemmed from a recent breakup at the time, was still in the feeling of after a relationship ends you often question yourself “will I feel it again?”, basically saying will I ever feel the way I used to feel. Lyrics and actual track all developed around each other fairly smoothly. The whole track was pretty much done that day, I took it home added some other guitar, bass and synth parts then took it to Tobias’ studio in Melbourne to track live drums, re-do vocals and touch up on production.

Any shows coming up?

Playing the first KESMAR headline show on November 7th at the Lansdowne in Sydney, and got some other shows in the works. So plenty of fun shows over the warmer months.

What’s the rest of the year have in store for you?

The rest of the year is looking pretty damn good at the moment, cannot wait to release more of this music into the world after working away on it for over two years. But most excited to play it all live.

Where can we find more of your music?

Unfortunately, there is only the one track out for now, but don't worry, we have a tonne more music that I'm very excited to release out into the world. Also, most of my days are spent in my studio and usually uploading little snippets of music I'm working on to the social media pages.

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