*Photo by Louis Schalk.*

Heather Trost is 1/2 of the band A Hawk and a Hacksaw and the record label, Living Music Duplication along with her partner, Jeremy Barnes. They’ve been making beautiful, mostly instrumental music inspired by the Balkans and Eastern Europe together since 2004. They’ve also played with Neutral Milk Hotel, Beirut, among many other bands.

Heather and I talk about the realities of being an artist and label owner today, how she became influenced by Eastern European music, how they sustain their careers, and more. Listen above or on iTunes or Spotify.

Show notes

In this episode, we talk about:

• Where her interest in Klezmer music came from
• How Hungarian music tickled her music sensibilities and inspired their sound
• Where the band name came from
• How Jeremy inspired her to go all-in on a music career
• The impact New Mexico has had on her life and music
• The influence of nature on her work
• How they create their compositions + work with collaborators remotely
• How they sustain their living by doing a lot of things and collaborating with people
• How streaming has impacted their income and how film scoring has filled that gap
• The value of Bandcamp for musicians
• Why they started a label of their own + what that looks like
• What keeps them going through the challenges
• How she balances self-care with touring and day-to-day work through meditation and yoga
• Finding their grove working and living together as a couple
• The pros and cons of social media for them

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Heather’s solo music 
• A Hawk and a Hacksaw
• Living Music Duplication
• Peter Strickland (director)
• Berberian Sound Studio

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