Mechanical River, the artist moniker of Charleston-based multi-instrumentalist and producer Joel Hamilton, released new single, “OK OK,” earlier this year.
The song made its debut on EmbassyFreqs.com, a platform Hamilton created with local multimedia artist and musician Kevin Hanley that enables musicians to “cut out the middleman” that comes with other streaming services and allows fans to support the artists directly. The track was also recently featured on the 2021 SceneSC playlist.
Hamilton, who has shared stages with musicians like Rufus Wainwright and Counting Crows, crafted “OK OK” as an act of release during a time of personal darkness.
“In the sense that I ‘created’ this song, I guess it feels like it just came out of some raw energy that got trapped — or maybe I was holding on to — and escaped through some ventilation in the form of words and a melody that allowed some very helpful catharsis. I’ve been going through some difficult and at times quite sad bits for a while and this song was some unconscious thing that happened one day that allowed me to dance around and yell about something that hurts,” Hamilton said.
For its heavy roots, “OK OK” is an indie-folk track that feels, auditorily at least, upbeat, due to the rhythmic drum and bass lines and bright vocals. Hamilton wrote and produced the song.
“Sometimes it feels like you ‘catch’ a song so maybe that’s a better word. Like it’s floating around out there and if you’ve got a net out you might bring it in,” he said of his creative process.
When asked for an explanation as to the track’s buoyant sound, Hamilton replied “I’m not sure, you know I’m never really thinking about what kind of music I’m making when it’s happening. But I guess in this instance my subconscious knew that I didn’t need to mope around and spew this, I needed to move. I probably needed exercise.”
Writing “OK OK” was a therapeutic endeavour for Hamilton, and he hopes it might hold the same curative properties for anyone who listens and dances along.
“I do think that when we are being as honest as we can in our reflection and expression, then there’s great possibility for someone else to get some healing or have some therapeutic experience and maybe feel understood or connected in a way that we all need as much as possible. So I guess right now I’m attempting to say something like that — that it’s important to be real, honest, dig deep within fearlessly and shine a light on the dark spots and create something from that as much as possible.”
This release, as well as Mechanical River’s full discography, can be also be found on Bandcamp. Fans can also catch him at The Royal American Sat., Sept. 11, with Faline and Secret Guest.
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