Five Questions With Nick Leet from High on Stress - By Jeremy Porter
A Spotify Playlist by Nick Leet - Listen While You Read!
High on Stress is a rock and roll band from Minneapolis. They’ve been around since 2003, have five records out, and have shared the stage with some big names, including Jackson Browne, Tommy Keene, and ex-Replacements Tommy Stinson and Slim Dunlap, even serving as the latter’s backing band on occasion before his debilitating stroke in 2012.
Their most recent album Hold Me In was released early in the Coronavirus pandemic about one year ago. It’s a masterfully-recorded, beautiful-sounding collection of great songs. The guitar tones are exceptional and the lyrics spin tales of late nights, failed relationships, and pleas to forgive the regrettable decisions made while those situations & scenes repeatedly unfolded. They wash in and out, picking up tempo and volume, then pulling back to accentuate a part – always together, tight, and just ahead of the beat. Fans of The Replacements, Wilco, Lemonheads and other 90s alt-power-pop bands will surely get sucked in quick. There’s some jangle-twang in there for the Americana crowd, and some angrier tones and tempos for fans on the more punk side of alt-rock.
We had the chance to check in with front-man Nick Leet one year after the release of Hold Me In to see what he’s been up to, how the pandemic has affected him, and what it’s like being a “Minneapolis Band.”
Five Questions With Nick Leet from High on Stress
Hey Nick –Hold Me In, is fantastic. We’ll get to the songs in a second, but first I want to talk about the sound. The recording is nice and crisp, great separation and clarity, but overall warm and organic, especially on vinyl. Can you talk a little about the recording of the album – where/when/with-who, and if you got what you were after, sonically?
Thanks, man! Our first three records were recorded at OBT Studio here in Minnesota and Leaving MPLS was recorded at the Sound Gallery in MPLS. Hold Me In was the first record that we've recorded at Chad Wheeling's (guitarist) studio. He absolutely killed it. The whole thing was produced and recorded by the band. We are a self-contained unit which is something I'm super proud of. With that said, I'd be open to a million bucks and an unlimited touring budget if someone wants to throw that our way.
My favorite moment (of many) on the record, is the outro to “Stop Right There” where it refrains “You keep callin’, callin’ me out!” over and over. I am a sucker for a big outro - I’m constantly trying to emulate the spirit of songs like “Second Hand News” and “Don’t Stop” from Rumours that have those gigantic, sing-along outros. You spend the time I think a lot of bands and songwriters don’t in finishing a song – adding an extra turnaround, taking that extra effort to tie it all up, make it more than a 4 chord/3-part arrangement. Talk about your songwriting process a bit, and what you’re going after when you write.
I have to credit the other fellas with that sort of thing. I typically come in with the skeleton of the song plus the lyrics and the guys will suggest arrangement ideas. "Stop Right There" was one of those songs where they really pushed it over the cliff. We were consciously going for a Superstar Car Wash vibe.
What effect has the pandemic had on the band? The record came out in April – about a month in I guess. What’s it’s been like for you and the band and the new release in the last crazy year – and what are the pans coming out of it?
It had a weird effect on the band. We had our most successful year as far as album sales with a complete inability to play ANY shows. We all believed it was our best record, but we didn't anticipate the reaction to it. After a while you get a bit jaded and don't come with any expectations. It was a bright spot in a horrible year. Hopefully we can get out and play these songs in a meaningful way when the world gets right again.
On a more personal level – what have you been up to the last year? What’s on the turntable? The grill? The TV? What’s it been like for you outside of the band?
Listening to the Lees of Memory, Kevin Salem, Tommy Keene, Emma Swift among many other things. Also started a podcast which has been a lot of fun and has been keeping me going creatively. I need to get back to writing songs soon though!
When I was a kid growing up in northern Michigan in the mid-80s, looking to the music coming out of Minneapolis was something very new and relatable – these guys looked like us, they sang about things we were feeling – getting through puberty, chasing girls (in a more innocent, teenage sense), and trying to find your next buzz. Now, many years later, driving into Minneapolis and playing there isn’t just another show for me – it’s more of a pilgrimage, because of those connections and what that scene meant to me as an upper-Midwesterner. How does that compare to actually coming up the shadow of that scene, in those bars, and on those streets? Talk a bit about being a “Minneapolis band.”
I love MPLS. What's not to love? Prince and the Revolution, The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, Jayhawks, Soul Asylum, Zuzu's Petals, Gear Daddies, and on and on. We've been lucky enough to play shows with members of all of those bands. It's pretty great from that aspect. With that said, we tend to sell more records and get way more radio support in other states. What do you do? Love me some MPLS though. Always will. It's home.
Jeremy Porter lives near Detroit and fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos. Follow them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit.
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