Let’s “comeonback” with Medium Build
After our dogs exchanged an acute conversational bark at the beginning of our Zoom call, Nick showed me a glimpse of the Alaskan landscape where his slice-of-life songs find a home through his moniker, Medium Build. Nick isn’t afraid to break down the walls of what it means to be a raw, rough-edged songwriter in a post-Phoebe Bridgers world. He created “comeonback '' as a mantra to the minimalist sound as he tells the story behind the creation of the internal monologue with Brooklyn-based Producer, Laiko. As he is set to support Briston Maroney on his “All Aboard” tour this Fall, Medium Build achieves to bring his audiences a rich scenery of intimate storytelling.
“comeonback” reflects a story of brutally honest conversations one has with a close friend. Lyrically, Carpenter sings truthful verses: “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t take you back? / I fucked shit up too, I’m reminded of that,” where passion and reality intermingle. It introduces one of many new tender songs from Medium Build’s up-coming soundtrack to a stripped-back life.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you remember the moment you wanted to start making music?
[MEDIUM BUILD:] Yeah, I've wanted to be in music since I was a kid. I was a huge NSYNC fan. They had come to Atlanta and they had all these mechanical bulls on stage, with fireworks and wardrobe changes. I thought to myself, “This is peak culture!” I started playing music in church and then after a while, I would write my own songs. Medium Build didn’t come in until 2015. I had been in a band, we then had broken up and then I started writing Pop Country music in Nashville. I started losing my way so I needed to write songs just for me, that no one else can hear. I never thought it would be this crazy thing, I always saw it as a little side hustle.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How would you describe the music scene in Alaska?
[MEDIUM BUILD:] We have a super weird and diverse music scene that includes all the genres. There are a ton of super talented folks up here, and we’re all stuck together which leads to a lot of magic crossover. It’s hard being so far from touring but it’s sort of a hedge of protection out here from the world and “industry things.”
[UNPUBLISHED:] Your new song “comeonback” has a very nostalgic sound and message - can you walk us through what this song means to you?
[MEDIUM BUILD:] Medium Build has always been me and a producer, so I would just pay someone to set up microphones and everything and proceed to do my own thing. That was my problem because everybody wants to kind of steamroll you and not let you do your own thing. I just wanted to be weird because I was inspired by Tyler, The Creator, and all that odd stuff. I’ve gone through a series of engineers and partnerships throughout the course of Medium Build - I think I’ve had five different relationships that you can hear throughout the records. “comeonback” was my first with this new Producer, a guy named Laiko out of Shifted Recording in Brooklyn, NY. I was on tour in November and I had a day off in Brooklyn so we had our first session together. After our session, he sent me this track he made and it was the music for “comeonback.” I instantly had 100 ideas because we had been talking so much about making more minimal, less-produced stuff. This song sounded like forgiveness to me or some sort of redemption. It was like that feeling when your friend is going through some terrible shit, you really can’t make it better, all you can do is be there with them. That’s kind of what I wanted the song to feel like.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How does it feel to finally have this song out in the world?
[MEDIUM BUILD:] It’s crazy. Usually, when you put a song out, you get so tired of it because you’ve been listening to it a million times but I feel like I’ve kind of protected this one a little bit. I just haven’t overly listened or played it so it’s an interesting time because it’s now out and people are hearing it for the first time. Sometimes you feel burnt out when people are loving the new song. Not that I have always been kind of raw and honest but I feel like this song is a new direction.
[UNPUBLISHED:] The music video highlights a place in Alaska and you described the bar in the video as its own character - can you expand on this idea?
[MEDIUM BUILD:] Yeah, there’s this famous shot in the movie Goodfellas where Scorsese follows this character and his girlfriend walking through this bar. It’s a beautiful shot and I wanted to do something like that so I thought, “What is the beauty of that Scorsese shot?” It highlights all these people that he interacts with along with the beauty of the building. My brother’s ex is the head server at this restaurant in old downtown Anchorage which survived the earthquake of ‘64. It’s called Club Paris, it’s just an old crusty ass beautiful bar with wood paneling and obnoxious decorations everywhere. It’s super close to my heart because it reminds me of Anchorage, also because my sister works there and my nephew has grown up hanging out in those booths. My family is intertwined in the video as well, it just made sense for me to make it messy and homey.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Your writing style is very raw, intimate, and honest. I feel like some artists may find it difficult to be this open with their audiences. Why do you think it's necessary to push through this possibly uncomfortable window to express these important ideas?
[MEDIUM BUILD:] I think I’ve always thought that was the goal, maybe because I grew up in a church where they overshare, or maybe because the artists I was obsessed with in high school were emotional emo shit. I was always into stuff I perceived as raw, authentic, and sometimes hyper-emotional. It took me years to learn how to write what I was feeling in a way that felt authentic. I feel like it’s really easy now in the post-Phoebe Bridgers world to write something dramatic and maybe not even mean it - it’s almost like a style now to be overly dramatic. I think I have this continued vigilance to think about what I want to say, how I would say it to my friend or my partner, and what my actual internal monologue is.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you draw any inspiration from any specific artists or styles?
[MEDIUM BUILD:] Yeah, I’m dedicated to folky music. My first love was James Taylor but then I got into “screaming” music in high school. Nowadays, it feels like the intersection is Hip Hop, Country, and Alt. I feel like I owe a lot of my inspirations to Tyler, The Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, and Kanye - I’m also drawing from early stuff like Billy Joel and James Taylor. I want to be in that world of simple songwriters and everyone just puts their spin on things. It’s like we are playing our parents’ Folk music with a crazy addition on top.
[UNPUBLISHED:] I saw you are set to go on tour with Briston Maroney this fall. Besides playing “comeonback” is there one of your older songs that you are most excited to play that you would consider a fan favorite?
[MEDIUM BUILD:] I would say the crowd favorite right now is “Rabbit” which is the single we put out last year. I didn’t know that was a hit until I got on tour last November. I always close with “Be Your Boy” or “99 Corolla” - which is more of a Pop song. I’m excited to play “comeonback” for that reason. We have a new song coming out next month called “Alone in My Car,” which I can’t wait for you to hear.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What’s the most memorable gig you have played thus far?
[MEDIUM BUILD:] That’s a great question. There are so many that I love! For instance, last week we opened for Young the Giant. It was probably the biggest show we’ve ever played and there were, I don’t know, 2,000 people in the parking lot in downtown Anchorage. It just felt so cool to be playing that loud and also having not been able to play very much live in the past two years, we played “comeonback” and it felt so cool to be doing it again. I think about my first Medium Build tour where I just played living rooms up and down the West Coast. I think the first time I played in Bellingham, Washington and I just cried because people were listening and singing along. I couldn’t believe that anyone knew my songs, it was just a series of heartbreaks.