Probably best known as the frontman of Houses, Hamilton's songwriting signature has been his classic-rock sensibility and penchant for beautiful, multi-part harmonies. Since Hamilton already writes all Houses' songs and plays most of the instruments on that band's recordings, our first question about his solo record was, "what for?"
"I just wanted to see if I could do it all on my own," he says, adding that he will, however, collaborate with some other people on it. Those people, he says, will probably not include members of Houses. "I just know so many people in other bands, other musicians, and I'd like to work with those people."In terms of differences from Houses' oeuvre, Hamilton says his solo effort will err more toward '60s psychedelic pop. "I've been listening to a lot of Beach Boys," he confesses.
The record probably won't drop until this fall, but in the meantime, Houses is finishing up Winter, the final album in its four-part seasonal EP series (Winter will be the series' first LP).
Meanwhile, Mike Marchant, who is possibly Denver's most ubiquitous musician (he also plays in Houses, by the way, and about seventeen other projects), is gearing up to release another solo effort of his own -- which is also expected to feature psychedelic pop. Marchant's always had a way with combining catchy hooks, mournful, reverb-drenched vocals and spacey atmosphere, but this one, he tells us, will be "super poppy."
We can't wait -- and we don't have to. Marchant's digital-only release will drop next week.