Nate Krenkel (Team Love Records) shares his reading habits and the music that motivates him during isolation.

As we quarantine ourselves to help the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, we drop in on some of our music pals to find out how they are coping.  We caught up with Nate Krenkel who manages Team Love Records based in New Paltz in New York state.

Nate also runs NAG Management with Gabriel Gonzalez and Autumn Seguin.  Between them they manage Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes, Joanna Sternberg, The Lowest Pair and Jamie Saft.

Are you keeping well and how are you spending lockdown?

Home-schooling the kids is taking up a good part of our day. We live in upstate NY in the Hudson Valley (New Paltz) so we can get outside everyday for a walk. We read a lot, do house projects, try to stay off the internet for chunks of the day and check in with friends and family a lot more than normal.

Does music mean more to you now than ever and how are you responding to it creatively?

Some music, very much so. So yes, music has been very important these this last month. That said,  I’ve found that a lot of indie-rock is lacking a certain relevance, it  just feels uninteresting at the moment. We are lucky to have a nice vinyl collection and so music is playing morning til night. But like, postings about new music have barely registered with me. I would rather listen to Beethoven’s 1st Symphony or James Brown Live At The Apollo over and over then click on a link to a new release.

What music are you listening to right now?

I’ve been turning more toward classical music (Tchaikovsky, Schoenberg, Beethoven, Berg, Satie, Chopin, Bach), jazz (Coltrane, Ellington) and early rock (Fats Domino, Ruth Brown, The Drifters, Lavern Baker, The Ink Spots, Jesse Belvin, Chess, King, Sun and Speciality releases) and blues (Slim Harpo, Speckled Red, Memphis Minnie ). Not a lot of contemporary music apart from a few releases that fit our larger vibe: Kali Malone, Jeff Parker, Mhysa, Shinichi Atobe. I’ll wake up and in my mind I’ll be thinking: Right, coffee and then Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, that’s the plan. And that motives me to start the day.

Have you discovered any music gems during isolation?

I was looking up a bunch of the records that are on the home page at Sounds Of The Universe. Through that I started listening to Priscilla Ermel and Ratgrave.

Get fit or embrace the bulge?

Fit. No doubt.

Have you been surprised at the contents of your kitchen cupboards? And have you made anything delicious from said contents?

My son just read that Acid Fat Salt book and he’s fully embracing the kitchen. At dinner we will often list the restaurants we will visit first when/if this is all over/ever ends.

What habits have started to form or are starting to fade?

I’ve started to reach out to friends that I’ve not had any contact with in ages. Not sure if that’s really a habit, but it’s a nice thing. I don’t touch my face that much anymore.

What random things are you buying online?

Bought a book on pet lizards. Some hipster coffee beans. Soap.

What are you doing to keep motivated? (Because by fuck it’s hard.)

I have about 4 books I’m reading, so I bounce back and forth between those depending on my needs (one’s a novel, one is a music history book, one is about Greek philosophy and one is about William James). I’ve started the Fall of Rome podcast and I’ve made a point of not letting that little orange cocaine-haired nazi fucker get too far into my head, despite the horrors he’s currently inflicting on the nation.

What are you most looking forward to doing again this is all over?

Going to the record store no doubt.

And finally, have you anything you would like to plug or declare?

Team Love is going to be releasing a bunch of music this year. We adjusted everything to fit what’s possible, meaning mostly less physical product. We can work from home quite easily but I do miss the walk to and from the village to our office, the local book and record shops on our block, and just the faces on the street. Coincidentally, a good amount of the music we have lined up is instrumental, experimental, heavier, poppier, all of it is very Team Love in the usual no-master-plan/utter confusion type way, but I hope a few of these releases do the trick for people stuck at home.

Check out the moving solo piano album, Mists from new Team Love signing, Philip Norman Watson below, who is also featured on the Team Love 2020 Spotify playlist.  Phillip Norman Watson is a lifelong student of the piano and an avid hiker who currently resides in the Pacific Northwest.  Mists is a collection of meditations on natural phenomena.

Discover more about Team Love Records: Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

 

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