Interview: Nathan Bowles (Setting)
Setting is an improvisational, instrumental band based in Durham, featuring Nathan Bowles (strings/keys/tapes/percussion), Jaime Fennelly (harmoniums/synthesizers/piano zither), and Joe Westerlund (drums/percussion/metallophones).
The band has released three records to date, including the studio album Shone a Rainbow Light On, as well as last year’s Setting at Black Mountain College Museum and Setting at Eulogy, issued last month. Both of the live albums were taken from performances in Asheville.
Setting at Eulogy reflects the band’s onstage modus operandi as the recording is made up of a single piece of music with no breaks (though it’s marked as six different songs that feel more like movements). Listening to their music on a device, the song transitions are easy to spot, but it’s harder when experiencing them live since the music changes like terrain shifting under one’s feet. The music is made up of swaths of sound and grooves that balance dark and light. Noises enter and depart that could be coming from industrial equipment, tones of a foghorn, or samples taken from a marina. All this occurs while Setting builds to a powerful peak and then eases down to a gentle yet slightly unsettling conclusion.
Prior to Setting’s Wednesday, Oct. 30, benefit show at AyurPrana Listening Room, Asheville Stages spoke with Bowles about the band’s connection to Asheville, live recording philosophy, approach to improvisation, and more.
Scott Bunn: To date, Setting has released one studio album and now two live recordings, both capturing performances in Asheville. What is it about Asheville?
Nathan Bowles: All three of us have personal connections to that area and we’ve been stoked to be able to perform there on a fairly regular basis. Speaking personally, as someone who lived in Appalachia for 15 years, I still feel a lot of pull towards that area and up into southwest Virginia. We feel fortunate that we’ve been shown so much support there both in terms of spaces to perform and in terms of like-minded collaborators. Mixing the ‘at Eulogy’ show with Adam [McDaniel] at Drop of Sun was a rewarding experience.
SB: I reviewed Setting’s performance in December 2023 at Eulogy. When will that be released? I’m joking! OK, maybe half-joking.
NB: I’m glad you dug it! I wouldn’t hold your breath for a release of that one, though.
SB: What do you all look for in a live recording to know that it should be released? What was it about the Black Mountain College and the June Eulogy performances that needed to be put out?
NB: There’s no hard rules to those decisions, but we all have to be on the same page in terms of the performance itself. We’re pretty open to different styles of capture, whether it be more hi-fi, close mic’d stuff or more spacious, live mic'ing. I think in the case of those two performances, we thought they were well-captured snapshots of where our sound was at the time, maybe after crafting some shapes and ideas over a series of shows and landing on a particularly potent performance while the mics were running. Then again, a lot of it is just gut feeling. If it’s a banger, if it throws sparks, you know it.
SB: As an improvisational band, how do you establish what you will play before a performance? Do you talk about tone or mood beforehand, or do you find it onstage?
NB: This is kind of difficult to talk about briefly. I guess I’d say that tone/mood/vibe or whatever is established in the performance and on the bandstand, not beforehand. You don’t know how it feels until you’re doing it. If we throw out ideas ahead of time it’s more architectural stuff: movement, density, harmonic areas, instrumental approach — that sort of thing.
SB: It seems as though the template to a Setting performance is that you start out playing the keyboard and then switch to the banjo at some point. How do you know when it’s time for that exchange? Do you ever break from that model?
NB: That’s something I’ve found myself drawn to do, but I wouldn’t say it’s a particular template or definite gesture.
SB: What’s the communication between the three of you after a set or a performance? Do you critique yourselves?
NB: I think we tend to focus on what we liked, what felt generative. Talking too much right after can be a bummer.
SB: You generously provided the song “Night Divers” for the Cardinals At The Window compilation to support relief efforts in Western North Carolina after the storm. What can you share about that track? Is it a leftover studio recording or a piece from a live recording?
NB: That was something from the sessions for the first record that didn’t fit into the sequence, and I think it works well as a one-off. Our friend Jim Becker plays on that as well.
IF YOU GO
Who: Setting with Superflower: A Benefit for Lamplight AVL
When: Wednesday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.
Where: AyurPrana Listening Room, 312 Haywood Rd., ayurpranalisteningroom.com
Tickets: Pay what you can, starting at $7.17
(Photo by Graham Tolbert)
