A lot has changed for Henry Kohen a.k.a. Mylets since we last spoke in December. He’s moved to Los Angeles, is now officially signed to Sargent House, and is living with Sragent house founder Cathy Pellow. Now Mylets days are filled with non-stop practice, playing, writing, and recording for his new full length which should be out next year. In the mean time Sargent House has released a compilation of Mylets previous works called Retcon, that combines the three E.P.’s that were released prior to his signing to the label. The tracks contained on Retcon are nothing short of spectacular and since I already owned the E.P.’s before the re-release, I can hear a vast improvement on the sound quality due to the re-master and mix from Chris Common (former drummer of These Arms Are Snakes and in house Sargent House studio guru). Hearing these re-mastered songs contained on Retcon just makes me want some new tunes from Mylets. Since the wait is killing me, I figured I would get back in touch with Kohen to find out what progress has been made on the new album. Also, I wanted to know how his new life is treating him, what he thinks about being a part of Sargent House, and see what he thought about his new status as an Internet Celebrity.
So during our last interview, you were just about to leave Indiana and head out to L.A. and Sargent House. How cool is it now to be officially in the fold?
Things out here are great! Good weather, good hikes, and I can be as involved or uninvolved in it all as I want. A big change from Indiana, that’s for sure.
Anything you miss about Indiana? Are you homesick at all?
I miss my dogs and cats a little and the general family/home feeling, but it’s pretty exhilarating to be out on my own. No plans to return to Indiana anytime soon if I can help it, not that there aren’t some great people there.
What’s life like living with Cathy and getting to meet / hang out with Sargent Houses’ roster on a regular basis? Any awesome stories yet?
Cathy’s great, of course. She’s very helpful, but lets me do my own thing. We have some fun times. It’s been pretty surreal meeting some of the artists, but they’re all so down to earth. Everyone has been so polite and understanding even though I’m a bit of a weirdo introvert.
Has spending time with so many great musicians changed your approach to your music, singing, or guitar playing?
There is definitely pressure to be better and to do honor to these other musicians that are on the label in the sense that I may be some kids introduction to Sargent House and if he likes me, he’s more likely to check out the other bands. I haven’t really played music with anyone out here yet so my approach is still the same, just more vast and improved.
You’ve been hard at work practicing and writing the new album, how is that process going?
Pretty well. I’m just about wrapping up the writing process. I’ve been putting a lot more discipline into writing now that I’ve had some recording experiences and understand it a bit more. I really like the direction it’s all heading in. These songs are much, much, much different than anything from the Retcon era, at least to me.
Have you started recording the new full length yet?
Not quite yet. I’m still adding some finishing touches and making sure every note is ready. The album won’t be coming out until 2014 so I’m going to have a lot of time to tailor these songs. I won’t have any excuse to put out a half –assed album.
Retcon was just released. Did you add any additional tracking to the songs? Was it weird hearing your EP’s re-mixed and re-mastered?
It was weird hearing those songs at all. Other than playing a few of them live, I’ve sort of disassociated myself with them. It’s not that they’re necessarily bad songs, I just don’t personally relate to them anymore. They’re all over a year old, some of them two years old. I did go in and add bass tracks to the songs that were originally featured on Colossal Grin. I think it came out well as a complete project.
Thinking back on the songs on Retcon, is there anything you would change about the compositions?
By all means! When those songs are performed live, you can definitely hear things I changed or added or took away. That’s one of the things I’m trying now on the full-length, working out the kinks now so I don’t have to later. I can’t stand a lot of the singing either. It’s not the sound so much as the style that aggravates me.
How have your shows in LA gone? How have the crowds responded?
I had two shows that were smaller and essentially rehearsals for my voice, but even then, the reception was great. I got to open for Maps & Atlases, which was cool. I had gotten 4 wisdom teeth out 3 days before the show so my voice wasn’t at an optimal level, but there was still a lot of good feedback from the crowd and the guys in the band.
With all this time spent practicing are there any significant changes you’ve made to your live performance?
I actually noticed I was a lot more static these last few shows, which I’ll fix. I play the same songs everyday in the Glassroom so I guess I just sort of forgot to translate that over to a live performance setting. I’ve gotten a lot tighter pedal-wise, thanks to some changes in my pedal board, but also the hours of practice everyday.
You will be playing your first European show in a couple months. Have you ever been overseas?
Yeah, I actually spent three years growing up in Daventry, England and was lucky enough to travel around Europe a lot. I was barely 4 years old at the time though, so this will essentially be a new experience for me. I cannot verbally express how excited I am though.
What other shows / tour plans do you have in the works?
There are some things that are getting potentially set up that I can’t talk about quite yet, but am very excited about…But I am going to be doing a full US/Canada tour with And So I Watch You From Afar later this year. I’m a big fan of their music and they’re the nicest guys. I couldn’t ask for a better first tour.
You’re like an internet celebrity now. How cool was it to have the “Ampersand” Glassroom video blow up the way it did?
I wouldn’t go quite that far…It was bizarre to watch it all unfold, for sure. Lots of people saying lots of good and bad things about something I was featured in. I guess it’s a good way to prepare for the rest of my music career.
Seems like you spend a lot time with the dogs of @SargentDogHouse, which dog is your favorite?
I love them all a lot, but lately Jimi has been getting on my last nerve. He’s seriously got the biggest ego ever and he’s turning into a bit of a brat. Syd is the most unique dog I’ve ever met, but she sort of does her own thing. I got to take care of Cornelia for the first few days we owned her, so she and I have a bit of a bond. She’s a fun one.
Any new music you’ve been really into?
I really like ASIWYFA’s new release, but honestly I’ve just been on a massive U2 kick for the past month. Everything from Boy to Pop, they’re all great. I think they’re one of the most important bands to date, despite everything since 2001 onward. I’ll never stop listening to King Crimson, but that’s pretty far from new.