Kelsey Westphal Art
The sixth song on My Destiny Awaits, the latest release from Underwear — the project of New Haven-based musician Nick Grunerud — starts with a driving rhythm that also sounds, well, intimate. As the rhythm becomes more distinct, it becomes clear why. The percussion is really Grunerud beatboxing and singing a line that suggests a chord progression. Then there’s another layer, Grunerud in lead singer mode. His voice is clear with just a little grit.
“Don’t try and tell me what I’m doing here inside my body,” he sings. “Don’t try and tell me all the coast is clear again.” He’s emotional, committed, soulful, his performance imbuing the abstract lyrics with meaning.
And if the name of the song, “Inside My Body,” or the name of the music project overall makes you laugh a little, that’s fine by Grunerud.
“I like to have a sense of humor when I do music,” the 29-year-old Grunerud told the Independent. On a previous release, New Years Eve, he pointed out, “I’m half-naked on the cover and there’s a pineapple on my nose,” he said. “And then I’m going to be serious?”
But Grunerud is serious about making music he likes. He began ten years ago, but only in the past three did he start making music “that I would consider good.” Grunerud’s music is essentially collage. “I record hours of stuff,” he said — either his voice, or pieces of music from a Casio keyboard, or samples. Later, he goes through it to see what catches his ear, and builds those fragments into songs. The approach is based in electronic music. “I would call my music techno even though it’s not, tempo-wise,” he said.
Listen to “Hold On,” and you can hear what Grunerud means. It starts with a skittering beat that Grunerud produced by beatboxing. A keyboard holds down a grunting bass line and soft chords. But then, off in the distance — quiet enough that it might make you wonder if it’s on the recording or in the world — there’s a police siren, fading in and out, weaving its way into the sparse musical landscape to become a part of it.
“I need someone that I can hold onto now,” Grunerud sings in the chorus. The verses are full of gentle self-mockery. (“You’re giving me no choice but to throw my cell phone down.”) But Grunerud sings with aching earnestness. It’s all seriously playful, and a lot of fun.
According to Grunerud, My Destiny Awaits might mark his last release for a little while. “I want to work maybe more than six months on something, just to change it up,” he joked. Maybe “not even listen to music for five months”; maybe listen to “nothing but sleigh bells”; maybe “I’m only going to listen to calypso, and then make a record,” or “just listen to Bill Hicks and think ‘okay, what does this do?’”
In the meantime, look for him on the streets of New Haven, where he’s known to occasionally give spontaneous performances — comedy and street shows. “I’ll do a show in the park, or in front of a pizza place. I’ll do a show on Broadway,” he said. He posts on Facebook where and when a couple hours before he does it and just sees who shows up.
“It’s hard when it’s cold. But when the weather gets warm, it’ll be fun to do again,” he said. Then the sirens and cars, all the sounds of the city, won’t need to be sampled. They’ll already be there, his backup band, ready for the ears that perk up when Grunerud raises his voice, and laughs.