Interview: A Deep Dive into KESMAR’s Upcoming Album 'Always Chasing Rainbows'

Written by Hannah Goldberg, Photo by Jenaya Okpalanze

Nathan Hawes, better known as KESMAR, is bringing a fresh sound to modern pop music. The Australian native maintains a vintage style with his production, sonically influenced by music from the 1970s. Always Chasing Rainbows, set for release on 5/12, is a collection of eight tracks, foundationally honest in their creation. Hawes insists on utilizing analog equipment for his recordings, another hobby of the multi-faceted musician. During a conversation with KESMAR, we dove into the album, his process, and the inspiration for it all.   

Hannah: So you’re based in Sydney correct? 

KESMAR: I’m about an hour and twenty minutes from Sydney down the coast.

Hannah: Did you grow up in that area too, or did you move there recently? 

KESMAR: I was a bit north of Sydney but I lived there for a while. 

Hannah: How did your environment growing up impact your writing and production style today? 

KESMAR: I think none of it influenced the music that I do today. When I was really young, I was playing folk music. But it wasn’t like Crosby, Stills & Nash, it was more like modern folk I guess. I liked Mumford & Sons when I was really young. I was fourteen/fifteen, I had a folk thing going under my actual name that I did for many years. I don’t regret starting that out because I signed to a label early, and I kind of figured out the industry quite quick. So, I can make the decisions I make today after making all those mistakes when I was younger. I was off writing songs on acoustic guitar. I never learned piano until later, keyboard, production, or learning how to build a song from a band’s standpoint. The main thing is I was always by myself doing it. That was formative in the way of figuring out how to finish a song. I was like “I want to experiment, I’m sick of just writing on acoustic guitar.” So then I got a laptop and Logic to produce on. I think when I got that, my mind was just blown. I went through a whole lot of stages of exploration. I started making like bad electronic music for a while. Subconsciously as well, I think I liked the folk music that I was playing but I didn’t want to like it because my parents liked it. 

Hannah: When did disco music become an influence in your music? Did that come later on? 

KESMAR: I think the disco thing came along when I turned eighteen and I could start going out to clubs. I heard an Earth, Wind & Fire song, and I was obsessed with it. But I was just making like bad edits of dance music. It was bad but at the same time I was listening to those songs and trying to re-create them in my own way. That eventually turned into writing. All of it was a subconscious journey that I didn’t even know was happening. 

Hannah: Right, it’s all part of the process of evolving as an artist. For Always Chasing Rainbows were there any specific influences, records, or albums that inspired you? 

KESMAR: One of my influences would be Gilbert O’Sullivan from the seventies. Pilot is also one of my favorite bands, Chris Rainbow, and there’s always the classics like The Beach Boys and The Beatles. Previously I’ve written most of my songs at a piano or on guitar the whole way through. But this album I did by myself completely, and I wanted to do it written in a traditional sense. Waking up, having a cup of coffee and breakfast and then sitting at the piano and writing the whole song until it’s finished. Since I am recording on old equipment as well, I have to play the song the whole way through. I can’t edit it or anything. 

Hannah: How does your approach to creating a raw, organic sound with your music tie into your recording process for Always Chasing Rainbows? What are some challenges using analog equipment? 

KESMAR: I think everything that I choose to do is very impractical and just stupid in a lot of ways. Everything is always breaking and if I can’t fix it myself, I have to have someone from hours away come fix it for me. There is amazing software that can replicate all of this, it just doesn’t make me inspired. It’s a hobby. 

Hannah: How would you describe your relationship with Tobias Priddle and Flore Beneguigui? 

KESMAR: I did my first KESMAR EP with Tobias about four years ago. He was really teaching me so much about songwriting and how to craft a song. He’s a great producer. I learned everything from him. The friendship with Flore has been for a while basically over internet. We were just sending each other songs through lockdown. I sent her the demo for Johatsu, and she wanted to sing on it. She is tight with her band L’Imperatrice, and she doesn’t usually do a lot of collaborations. When you’re in a band that successful all the time, they like to keep it close to the band. She pushed really hard for it to come out, and we were able to make it happen. 

Hannah: I think it’s great having those connections during the pandemic to still be able to create music. For Always Chasing Rainbows did you write it with a lyric-forward approach or was it more focused on the soundscape of the album first? 

KESMAR: I think it all kind of comes naturally with the writing process. Lyrically, the ideas came from the album title and that sort of stems into each song. A lot of the process for me was learning how to do it all and do it by myself. A quarter of it was writing it, a quarter learning the equipment, and the rest was just being able to put it all together. 

Hannah: Where does this album take you or challenge you for future creativity? What’s next for KESMAR?

KESMAR: We’re excited to do some shows and a couple of live recordings. The boys that I play with are just amazing. Just to showcase our live performance because we haven’t really done that before. And there will be a record following that, and then keep just songwriting. That was always what I intended for the KESMAR project was to put out records that I love.