We recently connected with Mike Hewlett and have shared our conversation below.

Mike, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump into the story of starting your own band – what should we know?

As a band, we have just been grinding it out for the last few years playing in Memphis and surrounding areas and trying to make music that we feel is good and needs to be made and say things that need to be said regarding what is going on in the world right now. For us, it doesn’t really make sense to make music that doesn’t reflect the times that art was created in. So we try and hold ourselves to a certain standard when we write and record these songs and play them for people, and that standard is really just to tell the truth and try and reach people and not do it with gimmicks or chase trends but by being who we are and being an honest part of the conversation about what’s going on in the world and what people are dealing with and going through individually and as a community. And that ranges from emotionally, politically, psychology, spiritually and more in regards to our ideas and responses and thoughts on the state of things and how we may relate to others. This is ultimately the most rewarding thing, to connect with people.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I met our drummer Ryan Bush when we were kids in middle school and we hit it off because we liked similar music, and music that was like grunge music and punk music and heavy stuff. And we kind of stayed friends and were in other bands through high school but eventually found ourselves wanting to create music together so we got in a room and just jammed on some songs I had written. He was actually another guitar player originally at that point, and we recruited a drummer and bass player, and the bass player moved to Nashville shortly after and the drummer was in a car wreck and couldn’t play for a long time. We had already started booking shows and recording and we had a drum kit, so Bush hopped on the kit and just kind of learned to play as we went along so we could keep the wheels turning. Then we met Mitchell Jones, our bass player, and the rest is as you see it today! We have an EP “Unreasonable Things” released last October, as well as a new batch of recordings engineered by Matt Qualls at Easley McCain Studio that we just finished and are working to release. Our new single “Memphis Was A Revolutionary” drops October 21st everywhere! And the EP will follow as well as some more singles early next year.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I would say that during COVID it was necessary for us to show some perseverance and resilience, as I had recorded a split EP called “God and Country” that was a split vinyl project with Memphis singer songwriter Chris Hamlett. And the copies of this EP arrived on our doorsteps March of 2020. As you can imagine, this was not a great time to be trying to get out and play and travel and sell a record. We also host the Memphis Songwriter Night together at the Hi Tone here in town each month and that was put on hold in person, as all shows were at that time, but we were able to livestream some of those events and sell the record online and still find other songwriters to work with, and it really made us thankful for the community that we have found here in Memphis of artists that stuck together and supported one another through that period, as well as the venues and groups that have done so since then and allowed us back to play shows since that time.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I would say that a misconception about being in a traveling band is that there is a lot of fun and partying and shows, and there is some of that, and we have made a lot of great friends along the way, but a lot of it is doing our own booking and promo behind the scenes and a lot of driving from one place to another and loading in and loading out gear and rehearsing. So it isn’t so much maybe something to unlearn, as it is just the reality of being in a working band is different from the perception.

Contact Info:

• Website: mikehewlett.bandcamp.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/mikehewlettandtheracket
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/mikehewlettmusic

Image Credits
Amurica Photobooth Ashley Benham Photography