HOW???

Los Angeles-based Americana-Electronica band How?? is excited to announce their self-titled debut album out April 26 on Misra. The band has shared their lead single "How???" and its accompanying music video which was directed by the band and Gwen Morier. "How???" is on all digital platforms for any playlist shares. 

On the song, the band's Alex Tebeleff says: 

'"How???' is a song about the meaning of home and change. Starting its life in my old house in D.C., but finished in my new studio in LA, it kickstarted the whole process behind the How??? Album. We used the studio as an instrument to transform a Townes Van Zandt-influenced raw song on acoustic guitar into something different from anything we had done before. Filtered through lots of other influences including Bjork, 90’s Warp Records, and Roxy Music, it set the groundwork for the Americana Electronica sound that defines the project."

How???’ is also announcing West Coast tour dates in support of their upcoming release. The tour will kick off on April 17 in Oakland at The Stork Club and will include shows in Reno, Portland, Eugene and more. The tour will include a Los Angeles Record Release show on April 27 at On Joy. All upcoming shows are listed below.

The band is inspired by the art-rock approaches of David Bowie and REM, the American songcraft of Townes Van Zandt and Bob Dylan, and the electronic explorations of Kraftwerk and Boards of Canada, the band uses the studio as an instrument to create the unexpected. Their sound feels familiar, while looking toward the future.

HOW???, a co-creation of musicians Alex Tebeleff and Matthew Dowling, picks up the pieces of a longstanding East Coast project, deeply rooted in DIY culture. That project, Paperhaus, was both a shape-shifting musical collective that toured extensively AND a beloved DIY space that feverishly hosted touring acts from around the globe.

There was a period in the early 2010's where many self-booked touring musicians, upon hearing of "Paperhaus," were often confused whether Paperhaus was a band or a venue. The answer was not necessarily clear, but it was profound: "kinda both." Shows at the space in D.C.’s Petworth neighborhood eventually evolved into the DCDIT collective, putting on shows from basements to larger spaces like the Kennedy Center. Here We Go Magic, Weyes Blood, Suzanne Ciani, Emile Mosseri’s The Dig, and a Flaming Lips after-party were among the hundreds of projects that came through D.C. courtesy of Paperhaus and DCDIT. Tebeleff, the figurehead of Paperhaus, was the key creative force behind the band’s psychedelic, krautrock leanings, and the wider collective’s open community building through live music.

Eventually, the original house space ceased to exist in a rapidly gentrifying environment (yes, there was a D.C. Flippers episode that featured the space as a “dirty band house” ripe for renovated D.C. real estate glory), and an already difficult touring environment got a knockout punch from COVID. Tebeleff, like many musicians during COVID, was forced to reinvent himself.

The first change right before the pandemic was a move to Los Angeles; the second was a transition from "DIY band guy" to a producer. How??? is his first self-produced album; all songs were co-written between Tebeleff and longtime collaborator/bassist Matthew Dowling (Paperhaus, Deleted Scenes, SWOLL, The Effects). While by no means devoid of Paperhaus 60s and 70s psychedelic and glam rock inspired fingerprints, this debut album draws inspiration from unexpected places - from Texas Americana to electronic soundscapes and experimental artists like Bjork, and even 80’s pop from the likes of Depeche Mode and Tears for Fears.

The self-titled track “How???” introduces the overall vibe of the album. Americana song-craft roots, English glam art-rock energy, and electronic instruments and techniques that radically warp and grow the sound. The song is a reflection on the meaning of home, what it feels like to leave home, and how to make a new one. “Long The Way” is the song that started it all for HOW???. Originally more of a country-blues track, it evolved with the use of synthesizers and drum machines into something much more psychedelic and expansive.

Throughout the record, Tebeleff and Dowling trade lead vocal duties, and there are a couple instrumental features sprinkled into the fold. "Evening Dawn (from an elevated point in Eagle Rock)," for example, is a vocal-free homage to the natural surroundings near Tebeleff's first studio in LA’s Eagle Rock neighborhood. The record is difficult to place in time, largely due to the context of movement and change going on within the COVID time warp we all experienced. But, despite the period of struggle it was born in, maybe HOW??? pulled something beautiful out of a confusing and dark period with its first album.