Oberhofer

Photography by Drew Reynolds. Interview by Heather Hawke.

Currently based in Los Angeles, musician Brad Oberhofer begun his solo project known as Oberhofer when, in 2008, he moved from his native Tacoma, Washington to New York to study music composition at NYU. Fast forward to last November when he released Smothered, his first proper full-length album in six years. 

After making his recorded debut in September of 2010 with the self-released single “o0o0o0o0o,” by the following fall Brad had connected with legendary producer Steve Lillywhite (U2, Rolling Stones, Talking Heads) in Brooklyn to record the project’s full-length debut Time Capsules II (released in March 2012). Those releases helped him hone-in on his penchant for lo-fi bedroom synth pop and raised his profile by touring with bands like Sleigh Bells, Neon Indian, and Twin Sister. Over those next few years, amid touring extensively, he released an EP entitled NOTALGIA (2013), a solo sophomore album, 2015’s Chronovision (an album in which he recorded in various cities including Tacoma, New York, and Los Angeles) as well as an album of wide-ranging cover songs, Table 19: Oberhofer’s Ultimate Wedding Mixtape. 

After years of touring with his Oberhofer band, as well as having had produced the project’s music and having landed dozens of synch placements, Brad started to compose for film (Table 19, After Maria), commercials (Calvin Klein, NBA, Keurig, Cricket) and television (Alone Together, The Maker. He has also performed as an instrumentalist on recordings for artists such as Katy Perry, King Princess, Moses Sumney, Amber Mark and many more. 

Though 2021’s dream-like Smothered is Oberhofer’s first full length in six years, it follows a string of stand-alone singles including 2018’s “Dreamed I Was Gonna Be Your Man” and 2020’s “Following the Clock to Sleep.” Like the album’s yin-yang quality of the notable yet not flashy starred studded collaborations (such as King Princess on “Dreaming Of U,” Teddy Geiger on “All I Want,” as well as Shamir and Nick Valensi on “SUNSHiiNE”), Smothered is rooted in hazy, ethereal tones yet emotionally soaked in a striking tangible reality.

Oberhofer’s web/socials: Bandcamp – Soundcloud – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter 

Hi! So, these past 20 months have been pretty intense due to various reasons including the pandemic… Before we began, how are you doing with everything? How has this last year been for you and how are you feeling? How have you been coping with everything? 

Whoah, where to begin?  This past year has been fulfilling in a lot of ways, but also disheartening in some.  The world feels like it’s on its head and I’m just pushing through as best I can by making as much music as possible and spending time in nature.  I’ve been trying my best to check in with people on a regular basis and make sure the people in my life are okay too.  It’s been impossible not to launch into deep existential thought constantly throughout every day. Getting to make and release my first album in 6 years does feel amazing.

I feel like the music industry has shifted even more so during the pandemic. How has it felt, to you, as an artist? Has it been freeing? Is it scary trying to question how to approach music making and then how to or if you want to creatively release it to the public?

I kind of gave up on music industry infrastructure years ago.  Just before the pandemic, I had begun releasing a few songs on my own, just putting them up online.  I try not to allow my musical approach to be influenced by the state of the music industry.

Going back to the beginning. Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like growing up there? Did creativity/music/art play a big part of your childhood?  

I spent my childhood in Tacoma, Washington.  It’s a really lush, beautiful, cold, wet, rainy, and green place with a lot of wildlife and a mountain in the distance.  My mother sings opera and was constantly singing around the house all throughout my childhood.  She always had a song to sing for every moment.  I’ve really inherited this trait.  I’ll start singing about things like looking through the fridge or cleaning my room or doing laundry without even realizing it.  It’s a gift and a curse.

Tell me about your musical upbringing. What music did you grow up listening to? When did you first become aware that music was going to be a part of your life? What was your formal / not formal music education like growing up? 

I first remember feeling inspired to make music when I heard the song “One Mic” by Nas on the radio when I was 11 or so.  I remember having a thought along the lines of “Making popular music can have so much depth. “I then religiously memorized Nas’ lyrics, watched every Outkast video (I was/am obsessed with André).  I then got really into freestyle rapping and would do it constantly every day.  

Then there was a day when I got hit by a car and had a pretty severe concussion.  I then started getting little melodies in my head and began plucking them out on my parents’ piano.  I started getting really into making beats and eventually started writing pseudo-orchestral music – hip hop beat arrangement is a lot like symphonic orchestration: percussion section, low-end instruments, strings/melody line and little flourishes.  

I then went to a public arts high school (Tacoma School of the Arts) where they had music theory classes.  I started taking drum lessons and heard the Strokes’ Reptilia on the radio and wanted to learn guitar. I then studied music theory for two years at NYU.

When you were old enough to start seeking out music, where did you regularly find yourself (a certain record store / internet site / getting recommendations from a certain friend)? Who were some of the artists you first found and then were always on the lookout for? 

I first started hearing music on Kazaa.  I was obsessed with Outkast, Nas, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliot, Snoop Dogg, Nelly, and Eminem

Talking some more about your formative years… What was the very first concert you attended? Did you play any sports / go to summer camps? Were there posters on your wall when you were growing up? 

The first concert I ever witnessed was Macy Gray at Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle.  I played basketball, soccer, and tennis a little, but was never very good.  In high school I was a Pole Vaulter for one year.  I went to a few Jewish day camps and some overnight summer camps but have always had a difficult time with enjoying group activities. 

Growing up, I think I had one Strokes set list hung up on the wall, a Space Jam poster I won at an arcade, a Sigur Ros poster and the poster that came with Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible.

I know that your upcoming album, Smothered, comes six years after your last album (Chronovision). What was your songwriting/creative process like for Smothered? How long was the writing/recording process of it? Was there an event or a specific timeframe where a large chunk of the lyricism came out?  

I had been demoing songs for a few years, but a real breakthrough happened when I went to stay in Tacoma by myself for 5 weeks.  I really began checking in with myself and re-discovering my own voice.  I demoed a few dozen songs that were album contenders, re-recorded some and flushed out a lot of the demos with Jonathan Rado (Foxygen, Weyes’ Blood, The Killers, Cuco, Crumb) at his studio.  Then we mixed it with Andrew Sarlo (Nick Hakim, Big Thief).

Did you have any parts of the tracks off of Smothered (whether it be lyrics, beats, harmonies) around the time of Chronovision or before? 

The opening theme of Smothered was a melody I had written around the time of Chronovision.  It was a melody that sort of became my theme song at moments where I was overcoming depression and needed to function as my own hero. 

Where were you at physically, mentally when you wrote the lyrics/music for Smothered? Did your writing process change since the last time you worked on music? Is that process something that’s shifted for you over time?

I began writing lyrics a lot more deliberately on this album.  I would question every line a little more: “Do you really mean to say this?” I spent a lot more time focusing the vocals, but also was a lot more experimental in the arrangements and instrumentation.

Did the lag in between Chronovision and Smothered make you see your music making process in a new light? 

The gap in between albums was directly caused by my former label’s rejection of every song I wrote for several years.  I felt as though my own spirit were being rejected. I couldn’t write songs for a while, and kind of stopped singing altogether.  

Gradually, I began believing in myself again and started making demos for myself, with no real intention of releasing them.  Smotheredis an album of songs that are made in the spirit of expression, and not to pander to any kind of label or marketing strategy. Music is for expression, and the tumult of those six years really hammered that concept home for me. 

Do you find it helpful to be intentional when it comes to writing the lyrics / music? Like “I’m going to sit down and work on a song.” Or is it more ephemeral, like you’ve been kicking something around in your head for days, weeks, months, and then suddenly it comes spilling out? Or is it a mixture of both?

For me, it’s any combination of things.  Sometimes it’s something that’s been floating around for years.  Sometimes I have a little melody with lyrics in my head for a few weeks~ but also, sometimes, I make an instrumental that sits there for a few months until I open it up with the intention of writing new lyrics to it. 

As this was your first Oberhofer album in over six years, what mindset did you have going into the creating / recording process of Smothered? Did you feel any sort of limitations when writing or recording it? Which songs were the easiest / most difficult to create? What song(s) are you most proud of on this record? Why?

My approach with this album was to do whatever I felt like with zero framework whatsoever; to let each song travel wherever it wanted to go without trying to fit it into a formula.  Most of these songs came together really naturally, but some of them sounded different in my head than they did on record~ and we spent a lot of time trying to reach the sound that I was envisioning.  We spent a long time finding the right guitar sound for “Friends in Heaven”, which is also one of the songs I’m most proud of. 

I’m really proud of “Blink of an Eye” ~ which is mostly built from a demo that I made, then sent to Dave Fridmann, who added some new ideas, and brought it to Jonathan Rado, where we flushed it out even more.  

I’m proud of “Miss Yr Face” because it’s so simple and is mostly just my home demo

I also Love how “Dreaming of U” turned out. Rado and I listened through the demo and recreated it in the studio.  He played incredible drums on it.  I love Mikaela Straus’ vocals on it and feel like this recording really turned out exactly how I wanted it to. 

I can’t believe how well Teddy Geiger’s harmonies on “All I Want” came out, and Jonsi’s (Sigur Ros) vocals at the intro and ending are mind-blowing to me.

Not to be overlooked is Andrew Sarlo who poured SO MUCH love into the mix.

When and how did the album title Smothered come about in the album creation process? What is the significance of the title? 

This album title came after I left my former label and parted ways with a manager and went through a breakup in the same week. 

There is a duality to the word “Smothered” One can smother something to violently kill it, or one can smother something with love.  Throughout my life, I’ve felt as though any time a person is too vulnerable or kind or is having too much fun, someone out there tries to smother out that flame of joy.  I felt as though certain figures in my life were trying their best to smother out my spirit, and so, I smothered these songs with love and tried my best to be loving toward everyone and everything around me.

What was your favorite part about the writing / album creation process? 

Aside from the intense therapy of rediscovering my musical voice, I loved collaborating with everyone involved ~ I love working with Rado and Sarlo always.  I just felt like I had been given my voice back and supported in it.  Also thankful for my label, Telefono Records for believing in me so much. 

How hands on are you with the making of / direction of the visuals (music videos, press images, artwork) that accompanies the music? Do you feel like the art that accompanies one’s music is more / less important than it used to be? How do you feel like social media / the internet impacts the intention behind all of this?

I’m extremely hands on.  I like to oversee everything in detail. Artwork and visuals have always and always will be really important, but I think visuals are less important now than they used to be.  Unless your just trying to sell yourself as a brand, good music often finds its ears. 

Does traveling influence you as an artist? Are you inspired by the places you go, or do you think your work would sound about the same no matter where you created it?

Getting to meet people in new places and learn about different cultures and subcultures definitely impacts my understanding of humanity and civilization, which inspires me.  My physical location definitely informs the music I make and the way I feel.  There are different kinds of chaos everywhere you go.