NYC Scene Report – Fia James, Hank Heaven, & Spaer

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Fia James with a “spotless state of mind,” Hank Heaven dealing with a pesky “Thread,” and Spaer needing a local, but only finding an “Express.”

* Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Fia James recently released her debut EP, and it’s something that’s been on her mind for quite a while.

Titled spotless state of mind, she explained the concept behind the album in a statement, saying, “‘spotless state of mind’ feels like romanticizing your own collapse in real time. It’s about memory, ego, longing, and trying to make something beautiful out of the train wreck. It took me over a year to make this record, and I couldn’t be prouder of it.”

She continued, adding, “There’s something really peaceful about finally letting it go, and allowing other people to have it now, to interpret it for themselves. In a strange way, making this EP felt like wiping the slate clean. Like degaussing myself.”

The title track of spotless state of mind is a pop gem, with a heck of an opening lyric, as James sings, “Maybe it’s me / full of bullshit and dreams.” Click play on the video, and check it out.

* Longtime guitarist Hank Heaven has started sharing their own story over the past few years, and the trans singer-songwriter’s latest single is all about a common “Thread.”

Heaven discussed the song in a statement, saying, “I wrote ‘Thread’ while being plagued by the memory of someone. It felt like no matter what I did, I was reminded of them. I saw their reminiscence in life’s most ordinary moments – doing my laundry, walking around my neighborhood. Even the concept of getting better became a reminder of them. The song is both a declaration, and an act of release.”

“Thread” has some classic ‘90s alternative vibes, and as Heaven boxes their way through the video, you’ll declare the song a winner.

* Closing things out this week is something that doesn’t just toe the line between avant-garde, and bizarre, it picks up the line, and jumps rope with it.

The song is titled “The Express,” and it’s the first release from the debut solo project of Spaer, aka Peter Spears, co-founder of NYC indie band Psymon Spine.

He discussed the song’s creation, which has been roughly a dozen years in the making, saying, “I wrote the first version of this song something like 12 years ago. The synth bass that drives the entire first half of the song was originally played on an acoustic guitar, and doubled with tuned bells. Over the next decade, it slowly evolved, the most drastic evolution being when I brought it to my bandmates from Psymon Spine, and it was suggested that I make the guitar melody the bassline. I made the change, but the song was still deemed too unlistenable for Psymon Spine, so with nothing to lose, I kept pushing it further. Besides juxtaposing the relentless bassline with Brian Wilson-esque vocal harmonies, and pushing the second half deeper into the psych rock world, I dug out my old 404 and decided to learn it properly.”

Spears continued, adding that “The Express” was inspired by waiting for the right train to arrive. “It follows the anguish, and patterns of despair, hope, pleading, and hatred that are accompanied by waiting for the J train, seeing one in the distance, celebrating, then being forced to watch as it blows past you in the express track.”

Off of Spaer’s upcoming EP, Lessons and Nonsense, which is due out August 20th, don’t let “The Express” blow past you, hop aboard by giving it a listen right here.

For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.