Bio
From the surrealistic folk ballad “Song for Alice” to the Stones-esque “Out on the Avenue,” In My Mind is the long-awaited follow-up to Luminous Things’ self-titled album. Touching on themes of social awkwardness and impermanence, In My Mind ponders what it means to be human in modern times.
Luminous Things began as a recording project while John Kwon was on hiatus from his previous band, Durango Park—which released two EPs and opened shows for The Decemberists, The Dandy Warhols and Pink Martini. “After Durango Park broke up, I decided that I just wanted to go solo and make a record with no pressure of shows or timelines, so I holed up in my garage and recorded a bunch of songs using Pro Tools,” said Kwon. He engineered and wrote most of the songs. Once the skeleton of the songs were developed, friends would come over and either track live or record track by track. Self-produced and recorded over two years in his home studio, the ten tracks were brought to life with help from talented players in Kwon’s musical sphere. Katie Griesar (Durango Park) played treated guitar, samples, and sang backing vocals. Ned Folkerth (Pine Top Seven, Five Style, Caleb Klauder, Lewi Longmire) lent drums and percussion. And Dave Depper (Norfolk & Western, Loch Lomond, Death Cab for Cutie) and Nathan Junior (Mike Coykendall, M Ward) also contributed tracks.
Kwon recruited some talented friends and musical cohorts to perform live. Tod Morrisey (Nero’s Rome, Lolly, Man of the Year) was recruited to play guitar and long-time friend Dave Lovato would play bass. Ned Folkerth would round out the lineup on drums. Recorded with Troy Welstad at Stone Bear Studios over a period of two years, Welstad engineered and helped co-produce In My Mind. Brian Lucey did the mastering. Through molding fragments of melodies and ideas into songs, Luminous Things came together once again and matured into a band. Stylistically diverse and sonically lush, In My Mind is a testament to playing live together.