The Hawk In Paris wants to know if you will go to the dance with them.
Check “yes” or “no.”

What do you remember about those fateful evenings when the silver strands of the mirror ball dotted the no-man’s land between a wall of timid boys and a bleacher of hopeful girls? The air so thick with hormones no fog was necessary to keep the beams of light hanging visibly and dreamlike across the Gymnatorium?

What those events lacked in youthful bravado, they made up for in the inventive sounds and risky textures that made up their pop music soundtrack. For every ten-minute block of eternity while a boy stood frozen against a wall, there were three songs filled with drastic musical risks. It was the era of big drums and huge synthesizers layered by stratospheric guitars….or was it?

Much in the same way any of us, “non-historians,” might find it hard to distinguish a true artifact of history from the overgrown mythologies the world adopts, (think Thanksgiving feast), the sound of The Hawk In Paris is made up of equal parts fact and fiction.

“When we thought about the music of the 80’s and early 90’s, we remembered massive drum sounds and expansive synthesizer textures. When we actually went back to the songs we thought we were referencing, they seemed to wither under the weight of our embellishments. We were being influenced by textures and sounds from songs we listened to and loved. Yet, those textures and sounds never actually existed. We thought we were leaning heavily on the music of our upbringing, and instead we found ourselves creating something new,” described producer/writer Jeremy Bose, one third of the trio that also includes producer/writer Matt Bronleewe and writer/lyricist Dan Haseltine.

The Hawk In Paris began in 2009 when the three musical friends reunited after nearly a decade.

“It was a grand experiment. We had no agenda, and no plan other than to get in a room and write some pop songs. We needed a break from the confines that we created under on most given days. This collaboration represented a chance to have creative freedom. We didn’t know what we were going to write about. We just wanted it to be inspiring to us,” said Bronleewe.

“His + Hers”, the first 7-song EP from The Hawk In Paris, offers listeners a chance to dive deep into the melancholy of relationships. “Dinner conversations after years of getting cold, things that made us fall in love in houses that we sold,” sings Haseltine in the song “Simple Machine.” “Rolling windows up in neighborhoods we drive through in our cars, most days we can avoid them so things will stay the way they are,” he sings in “Put Your Arms Around Me,” as part social commentary, part lovers lament in the song. And although the music is layered with synthetic noises and oscillating saw tooth waves, there is no lack of emotion. When Haseltine asks, “Have you ever stood out in the rain, watched love grow cold and roll away?” We believe he is speaking from experience.

“I grew up listening to Depeche Mode, New Order and The Cure. They always found a way to weave darker ideas about love and relationships together with pop melodies. It was a balance that I was hoping to strike with The Hawk In Paris. There is enough to ask about the human heart, and enough to lament about how love makes a fool of us all. I want people to wade in, not drown,” says Haseltine.

The coming-of-age feeling from the “Hers” version of the song “The New Hello” is like watching a boy saddled with braces and cloaked in a stonewashed jean jacket stand with his arms straight out and his hands draped on the shoulders of some aqua-net entombed girl as they both awkwardly navigate a moment that may bury them under an avalanche of clumsy fear and disappointment.

“Between the World and You” opens with the lyric, “Lover, tell me what you really fear. Is it near?” We are drawn into a dark and cinematic atmosphere where it would not be a far leap to find ourselves holding back the darkest evil with the promise of love.

The Hawk In Paris draws from a wide palette of musical influences. They give credit to the pioneers of electronic music like Thomas Dolby and Kraftwerk, as well as 80’s synth-giants like Eurythmics, NIN, and Depeche Mode. Older influences are balanced by the new breed of electronic artists such as M83, Trentemoller, The Friendly Fires, and Gotye.

The, “His + Hers” EP is just the beginning. A full length LP will release in the Spring of 2012. There are plans for some guest artist collaborations as well as various remixes and fan driven musical experimentations.

But first, they would like you to check “yes.”

Genre: Alternative/Electronic
Members: Dan Haseltine, Jeremy Bose, Matt Bronleewe
Hometown: Nashville, TN