Of House has a new single “Holy, Holy” with b-side “Little Sister”! We’re stoked to premiere the single today, and spoke with the brains behind the project, Nick Van Huis, about these new tracks. Enjoy!
Remove Records: Tell us a bit about Of House.
Nick: Of House was a project I — Nick Van Huis — started while I was still in my old band Young Punk. Young Punk was still actively recording and playing around so the Of House music was just an outlet for me to create more music. In Young Punk I made more ethereal RnB music, and I wanted to use my home studio to create other styles of music I was into. More motorik guitar driven stuff. Aside from my wife's vocals, I played everything on all of the tracks. As more and more demos were piling up, and Young Punk decided to take a break, it became clear to me that Of House was going to be the next musical project I focused on. So in the summer of 2019 I released the first Of House album, "Feelings" and started playing songs with Pat Nolan on guitar and Blake Hart on keys. Gabe Downey didn't join until this winter as our bass player, after we recorded this single.
What's the backstory of these new tracks?
"Holy, Holy" and "Little Sister" were songs I had written and recorded towards the end of the "Feelings" sessions, but they didn't really feel right for that release. When I started playing shows with Pat and Blake these were the first new songs that I taught them. To me they represent the bridge between what Of House was and what it is becoming. The rhythms are a little more hard hitting and trance-like. The shoegaze and dream pop influences are more upfront. And they are the first songs to feature Pat and Blake on them. My process is to write all the parts for the songs, demo them, and then present them to the band to learn. When we're practicing they put their own spins on everything that elevate the songs to the next level. I can't emphasize those two enough. We really clicked as a band right away and they totally understand my vision and help me achieve it. The songs we put out wouldn't be what they are without them. Stephen Stewart, who I've been friends with forever and haved played in multiple bands including Young Punk, mixed and mastered the tracks while I shopped them around to labels. I contacted neo-detritus to see if they would like to release them and they were extremely receptive and have been super supportive of our music.
Who made the artwork for the single?
My wife made the artwork. She has always been a talented artist and the drawing was something she made at a friend's house. I was immediately drawn to it and thought it would make a great album cover. She also painted the cover for "Feelings." She sings on the tracks as well. She is very involved in Of House. I play her all the songs when I demo them, I run the lyrics by her, I ask for her input on everything. She's the fifth member of Of House.
What's next for Of House?
That's a particularly hard question to answer right now hahaha. I'd like to play shows again when it's safe, I do miss playing and going to shows. I'm also expecting my first child in late 2020, so that also complicates things — though I am working on soundproofing my home studio so I can keep recording and the band can keep practicing. Right now I'm towards the end of the demo process for our second record so hopefully the band can get back together to jam and record those songs soon!