Forestlike Sounds like Fall
Forestlike sounds like fall. The easy going lyrics and the invitation to “Fall into the day … and enjoy the journey,” feel like kicking through the woods on a sunny day. A day that is like holding happy and melancholy in your hands at the same time.
Jared Myers (Daytime Volume) and Joshua Wayne Hensley (The Rutabega) have reunited after a decade lost in the limbo of northern Indiana. Forestlike's self-titled debut embodies a lifelong friendship rendered in sibling harmonies, nylon strings, and splintered beats.
“Jared and I met as scrappy young writers in the late 90’s and learned much of what we know about music by playing together on porches, in basements, dive bars, and DIY spaces in various bands and configurations. We remained close friends but went several years without making music together while I focused on The Rutabega and Jared became a bit of a hermit.
“A few years back, Jared mysteriously acquired a couple of nylon-stringed instruments and some recording gear and started sending me rough demos of songs he was working on. I was delighted and, in turn, sent him a couple of voice memos of some quieter tunes I had been sitting on. We officially started working on the songs that would become forestlike in Jared’s home studio in late 2019.
Unsure where the songs would end up but not wanting to lose the spark, we agreed to keep chipping away — tracking parts separately and sending them back and forth until they took shape. Working on these recordings was a lifeline during a very heavy time, and at some point, we realized we had the makings of an album that felt special and important to both of us. We eventually settled on the name forestlike (after several embarrassing emails), and I completed the final mixes before sending everything off to Carl Saff, who mastered the album at his Chicago studio.”
tell me i'm okay and alive in the waking world
died in the final thrill
tell me what to think, my mind is a mobile phone
i am a sinking stone
time just gets away
Those lines from ‘sinking stone’ and the way the song came together encapsulate a lot about the album. It started as a short piece that Jared had written while going through a mini health crisis. Even though it was a false alarm, he said the experience left him feeling fragile and paranoid about wasted time.
“I think ‘Sinking Stone’ was the second song we wrote for the album, and as such, it was one that we could record together under the same roof. Jared had worked out some mellotron and orchestration parts before I got there, thinking they may fit the middle 8. Even though he wasn’t planning on keeping those takes, the demo tracks worked perfectly to meld the two different parts of the song and ended up staying in the final mix.
The video for ‘sinking stone’ — shot and edited by Nathanael Trimboli (Videographica) at some of our favorite local parks and nature preserves — documents the first day that Jared and I were able to come back together and play some of the album’s songs in person. It really was a perfect day, and Nate couldn’t have captured it more beautifully.
It’s always a little awkward to write about your own music, but for me, forestlike is about finding joy in small, quiet moments, slowing the scrolling screen of this modern life, and learning to be okay even when you’re sinking. Two old friends working out melodies and chords to keep the fire bright and stay connected.
Joshua Wayne Hensley
November 2023