We recently connected with Kyle Hammer and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kyle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

A majority of what I know how to do musically was learned through trial and error and watching YouTube tutorials. I did take guitar lessons at my town’s local music store for a few months during my first year of playing, but eventually stopped due to financial reasons. After that, I started playing in bands with people who were way better at their instruments than me, so I ended up learning lots just from playing in the same room as them. I never thought I’d be a vocalist, but eventually we hit a roadblock with finding a singer who had the same drive for the project that we did, so I thought I’d give it a shot… and I was terrible at it. Soon after, the pandemic hit, and I saw that a lot of members from some of my favorite bands were offering online lessons to supplement for the lack of touring. After getting over some self-doubt and receiving lots of encouragement from friends and family, I decided to take singing lessons from Nathan Feinstein of the reggae-rock band Iya Terra. I learned a lot about the fundamentals of singing as well as some warm-ups and even some good production tips that are essential for writing reggae music. On top of that, I got to become friends with the singer of my absolute favorite band.
As for producing music, everything I’ve learned has been from watching tutorials and getting some tips from other friends who had experience making albums. I always make the joke that I graduated top of my class from YouTube University just because I’ve learned so much just from that alone. I feel very lucky to live in a time where free information is so readily available all the time.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I sing, play guitar, and produce albums for my band, Higher Vibration. We’re a reggae-rock band based in Erie, PA. Me and the other guys in the band started out playing death metal in a previous version of the band that went under a different name. As time went on, we grew closer and closer through our love for reggae music, and eventually decided that this kind of music is what we truly wanted to be creating, thus, Higher Vibration was born. These days, I don’t really listen to metal unless I’m really in the mood for it, but you can definitely still hear those heavy influences making their way into our sound. I think something that sets us apart from other bands in the scene is that we aren’t afraid to push the boundaries of how heavy you can get while still playing in the reggae-rock genre.
We released our debut album “From Rivers to Oceans” back in October of 2022 and you can find that album on pretty much every music streaming platform out there. This was my second time self-producing an album and I’m super happy with how it came out! I did all the recording and playing (minus the bass and drums, that credit goes to my talented band mates, Jake Van Hooser, and Derek Sloppy) as well as mixing, Once all the mixing was done, I sent the tracks to our drummers’ brother, Aidan Sloppy, to put the final mastering touches on the tunes.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect I’ve experienced as an artist is getting to positively impact other people while also helping myself through this music. I’ve struggled with my mental health since I was a teenager and music is the one thing that I’ve always felt was there for me in those dark times. It’s truly saved my life multiple times, and to be able to return that favor to other people in this world is an opportunity I’m so grateful for. It blows my mind when people come up to me after shows and tell me what my music means to them. For me, writing is a very personal and cathartic experience where I get to be introspective and express things I may not feel comfortable expressing in normal everyday life, it helps me to know myself and a lot of the time I feel like I’m really writing messages to myself. So to have people hear those messages and resonate with them is truly a blessing..

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I think at the end of the day, love and happiness is what’s driving this journey. I’ve tried quitting music but when it comes down to it, I can’t, it’s just what I do. In the same way an apple tree grows apples, I make music. I love the process of creating music, the feeling of listening back once a song is finished, planning out our live shows with my best friends, the feeling of letting loose and playing the music live, getting to travel to places I’ve never been, meeting so many new faces and getting to connect with other great artists, and getting to help people get through tough times along the way. It’s just what makes me happy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/highervibrationsound
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/highervibration.sound/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/highervibesound
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HigherVibration3

Image Credits
Michael Nesgoda Photography JLS Photography David Desin Photography