Folk duo Nautical Theme gets help from friends on new EP

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

After toiling unsuccessfully with a group of original songs, Tesia Mallory (vocals, keyboards) and Matt Shetler (vocals, guitar) of the Nautical Theme found the answer at the newly opened Trojan City Studios in Troy. The local folk duo recorded the new EP, “Get Somewhere,” with proprietors Seth Canan and Chris Stewart.

The Nautical Theme discussed the digital project in advance of the release party at Yellow Cab Tavern in Dayton on Thursday, June 29. The free show also features Canan, Harold Hensley, Charlie & Amanda, and Anna Marie.

Shetler: “We pretty much started recording as soon as our record came out in 2020. Obviously, that was in the throes of the pandemic, so we were getting together sometimes and sometimes we weren’t. Recording was just weird. Things weren’t clicking. We recorded the whole album at least one-and-a-half times and just scrapped it.”

Mallory: “We’d record in Matt’s basement studio and then trash them the next day. We’d be like, ‘This is crap.’ We were really digging it the night before but not in the morning. Laying down our parts was easy, but I was having trouble hearing those extra things. I don’t know if it was the pandemic and all the stuff going on in the world, because that messed with everybody. I just couldn’t be in a space where my creativity could flow. We’d record and I couldn’t hear anything. I didn’t know what else to do. It felt like hitting this brick wall all the time.”

Watch the Nautical Theme with a live version of “Something That You Needed,” which appears on the folk duo’s new digital EP, “Get Somewhere”:

Shetler: “Seth and Chris opened the new the new studio in Troy and offered to do one song to get their portfolio going. We did that and it was cool so we decided to do everything there. That was new for us. We hadn’t recorded all the songs in a studio before. Going into Trojan kicked started things for us. It got us out of our heads and got things rolling.”

Mallory: “When we went to record with Seth, I felt joy. I was like, ‘Ah, I’m myself again.’ My creative musician self was out again. Being in the studio helped. We had a time limit and had to make certain decisions. Seth gave his opinion too. He really helped us get out of a rut and helped us get somewhere. You need a little help from friends.”

Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or donthrasher100@gmail.com.

HOW TO GO

Who: The Nautical Theme with Seth Canan, Harold Hensley, Charlie & Amanda, and Anna Marie

Where: Yellow Cab Tavern, 700 E. Fourth St., Dayton

When: Thursday, June 29 at 7 p.m.

Cost: Free. Donations are being accepted for the Greater Dayton Brain Health Foundation.

More info: 937-424-3870 or yellowcabtavern.com

Artist info: thenauticaltheme.com

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