When The One AM Radio formed eight years ago, it was primarily a solo effort. Hrishikesh Hirway recorded his first tape while at Yale, using just his voice, acoustic strumming and raw emotion.
"I was a computer science major at Yale, with a minor in art, actually," Hirway said. "I'd always been interested in music and there was always a lot of it in my family. My sister played the violin, and my mom would always sing to me, and I played the piano."
At Yale, Hirway met fellow student and violinist Jane Yakowitz, and The One AM Radio recorded and released its first album, "The Hum of the Electric Air," in 2002. Since then, Yakowitz has left and several other musicians have joined Hirway's band. After another album ("A Name Writ in Water") and a remix ("On the Shore of the Wide World") released through Level Plane, Hirway recently released his third EP, "This Too Will Pass," earlier this year.
The album continues to showcase Hirway's airy indie-pop melodies in the vein of a lighter Bright Eyes, or less ironic, even less sardonic Belle and Sebastian.
"I could see how that comparison would be relevant, but I think the electronic sound would make the difference between the two," Hirway said in response. "It's so hard to categorize my own music, because when you list a genre people automatically start thinking certain things. I guess I would describe my music as a mix of folk and singer/songwriter, with electronic beats."
"This Too Will Pass" sounds much like other indie-pop endeavors. One is bound to hear just about everything in Hirway's song constructions, from Death Cab's bouncing beats to Grizzly Bear's more muted, caressing vocals.
"It's hard to say who your influences are because, really, everything you hear winds up in your music," Hirway said. "I just realized, after going back and listening to one of the tracks on this record, that I stole some chords from Joao Gilberto. He plays Brazilian bossa nova, from the '50s and '60s."
Hirway has managed to briefly emerge from indie obscurity when he worked with Ted Leo on a split album released on Garbage Czar Records in 1999. The album is out of print. While Hirway credits the endeavor as helpful in exposure, he remains modest about its influence.
"That album has been sold out for a while now," Hirway said of the Ted Leo split. "But of course we've gotten a lot bigger since then, but I don't think it was that concrete a difference."
Hirway's latest effort is sure to bring him more success. He has just launched a tour to support the record this February. Last Sunday he played at the Warehouse Nextdoor here in the District.
"It's been pretty good," Hirway said of touring. "We played the first four shows in New Hampshire and around Boston. People have been responding pretty well to the music. I got a lot of comments from people who said they like it; people have been really receptive to it."
The sound of this album is very similar to the band's other efforts, but the lyrics suggest the heartfelt, self-discovering trek of a world-weary traveler. In fact, inspiration for "This Too Will Pass" came from Hirway's own travels.
"Part of my inspiration comes from my trip to India," Hirway said. "I went to India in late 2005 and I spent a lot of time living in my parents' old house by myself. Most of the songs were written there."
Hirway has also experimented with adding saxophones on this album, which adds to the soulful and at times sorrowful melodies of "This Too Will Pass."
"There's a band, The Abraham Lincoln Brigade, here in Boston," Hirway said. "They're the best I've seen in a very long time. They play free jazz, mostly. The two guys who play saxophone now on the tour are in it and they're great. I hope we work with them again on other albums."
After eight years of recording and touring small stages from both coasts and back, Hirway has made his minor in art the main focus of his life.
"I also do a lot of photography, but music has been my main deal," Hirway said. "Being able to just travel around and play music has been my dream and it's great"
