Where are you from?
Broadly, the rural midwest of the United States, but I live in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
What is your earliest memory of music?
I remember singing Christmas carols with my family when I was very young, perhaps around four or five. They used to host a Christmas party every year for my dad’s work and everyone would eat cookies and sing carols. I don’t know which was earlier, but another early memory was when I was five or six, my babysitter gave me a mixtape and it had “I saw the sign” by Ace of Base on it. I remember I would just play that song over and over and over.
When did you start being an artist?
My short answer to this question is that we are all artists—we are artists when we are born but we just haven’t realized our preferred medium yet – I do think everyone does something with artistry in their life. However, when I was four or five I would record fictional stories on my tape player. This was the first time I ever recorded anything. I don’t remember if they were any good, but I would just make stuff up for about twenty minutes straight and that was very fun. However, maybe technically, I first tried to write a song on the guitar when I was in high school and that was the first time I started pursuing the art of composition.
How would you describe your style?
There is always something lacking when we use words to describe music but avant-pop or indie art/pop seems to make sense. I love pop music, but I also like very strange off-centered music as well. Much of the music I make has an indie-rock element but some releases are more chamber pop than indie rock.
Are there any particular themes or messages that you often explore in your music?
A lot of music that I’ve made is introspective and also questions societal norms and expectations around social media. Since I became a Christian, I’ve also started exploring theological themes in the music I make.
What is the meaning behind your stage name?
I don’t have a stage name. I go by the name my parents gave me, Andrew Thoreen. I have a project with my wife called Alaylon that comes from the Greek word Alellon meaning one to another, which is found over 100 times in the New Testament.
What is the story behind your most famous song?
I might say that the most well known song is “We Scare Each Other” by Har-di-Har. That song is about an argument my wife Julie and I had in which I was being such a jerk she asked me to get out of the car and walk home. Ultimately, I did end up walking home but can’t remember how far or what happened after that… but a song came out of that experience as a reflection of what happens when we argue or fight with each other as partners, but also broadly as a society.
What is the hardest thing about being an artist?
Making art is time consuming and it’s really hard to find the time to do it. It’s often a sacrifice taking time away from relationships, jobs, family, etc. Also artists now are expected to do more than just make art. We are expected to maintain and develop a brand. It seems that all artists are expected to be very good at messaging, promoting, and interacting with their following, as well as being very clear on things they are for and against outside of music. These things of course can be important, but I look at them as additive to the process of being an artist and ultimately distracting. I guess this isn’t a part of being an artist, but more broadly a comment on the cultural norms of being an artist.
What’s the best thing about being an artist?
The joy that comes from the practice of creating new things. There is a beauty in getting lost in the process of art making. Time seems to stop and in a way you are outside of yourself and outside of the world communicating with one’s Maker. Like many people, I see art making as a very spiritual experience.
What are your goals for your music career?
To continue to find ways to sustainably create music that helps heal people. My ultimate goal is that I make music until I die and that it impacts people in a way that brings fruit to their lives. In many ways I have reached this goal, but I still have a lot of time and life to live. I do want to start writing more about Christian theology and philosophy because that has had a profound impact in my life over the last few years.
What do you like to do in your free time (outside of music)?
I’m a new father, so I don’t have much free time anymore, and the free time I do have I try to use to make art, but in my free time I really love making videos. Granted that is a part of making music but I also see it as a hobby since I have yet to make a dollar off of a video I’ve made lol. A couple hobbies I do have include running and making abstract color pencil drawings.
Do you get involved with charities or causes that are important to you?
Yes – we support Grow Therefore, a Christian mission and humanitarian effort to teach one of the indigenous people groups in Panamá overcome poverty through learning sustainable farming, sewing for profit and solar power installation.
What is something that people would be surprised to know about you?
I became a Christian in 2020 after years of being either agnostic or notionally Christian since 2003. This is something I didn’t write about or mention much online until relatively recently.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I usually wake up at 5am and study the Bible and pray. Then I’ll usually go to the gym and then by 8am I get home and have breakfast with my family and take care of my son while my wife works. After lunch I’ll either have some time while he is napping to write and record a creative project, or I’ll get administrative work done like this interview. Then I usually teach music lessons from 3p-8p, after which I get home and hang out with my wife and go to bed and do it all over again. It’s a very domestic routine these days. Every day is different though and that schedule is changing to allow more time to write, record, and teach during the day.
Do you have any upcoming projects we can be excited about?
I do have something else coming out on Nov 22nd — my wife Julie and I have started an art-song project called Alaylon, and we will be releasing a modern cover of one of those old and perhaps forgotten Christmas carols on Wednesday, Nov 22nd. Also I do have another cover of The Shaggs’ songs coming out here sometime in December.
What are some of the standout tracks on your latest project?
All of the tracks off of The Shaggs cover project stand out to me. They are all very different and challenging for different reasons. This track “What Should I Do?” is a stand out track on the Shaggs cover project for a number of different reasons. It’s the first one that has some major tempo shifts that I was really happy with how they turned out.
What are your favorite topics to write about?
I really enjoy writing songs that contemplate things in our culture that have become commonplace. I like thinking about philosophical things like metaphysics, ethics, and theology and have hopes to perhaps write more songs that go over these topics in the future.
How do you deal with creative block or artist block?
There are lots of beautiful things to write about in this world, I’ve never suffered from a lack of things to write or think about, rather mainly from focus and time to execute concepts. When I’m trying to make progress on something, I find that carving out at least ninety minutes to experiment with only one idea or sometimes even start an idea from scratch– this often gets me out of ruts when it’s been slow going on a creative project.
What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?
When you don’t need to make money from the music you make, it really frees you up in many ways. Making music is a privilege, so don’t take it for granted. I’m happy to live in a world where I have the luxury of time to work on music that doesn’t make money. It’s more than just something I do to get people’s attention. It’s deeper than that. It’s demonstrating a beauty whose source is outside of myself. That’s why I make music.
What was the best show or tour you have ever been on?
There are a lot of shows that come to mind. I went on tour with J.E. Sunde in France in 2021 and that was an incredible experience playing over 30 cities in France and eating incredible food. That said, one of Har-di-Hars first tours we did in 2013 was down the west coast to Florida and back. We had never been on a tour quite as long as that one and even though there were lots of bizarre venues on that tour and strange scenarios, it was a tour that I think fondly about.
What’s been your favorite moment of your career so far? Where can people find your music online?
Making Har-di-Har’s last EP, DONE DONE ALL DONE in our home studio, while my wife Julie was pregnant with our first child. You only get to do that once I think.
You can find my music online at andrewthoreen.com and any streaming service (Andrew Thoreen, Har-di-Har and/or Alaylon).
