Local Artist: Rob Hemmick
Hailing from the Mansfield area in Ohio, Rob Hemmick is a one-man act who writes, arranges, and records all of his music. His 2009 album, Sad Flight to the Sun, is the epitome of bedroom lo-fi. Within the first few tracks, it is apparent that much time on this album was spent pondering and perfecting. So, I just lie down on my bed and I just listen to it. I don’t think about the sound, I just listen and its calm washes over me. Everything is right about listening to that album on my bed while I think about things beyond and bigger than me. Rob’s voice is sincere, floating over soft and delicate arrangements and I am on a journey with the music. Transitions between the songs are seamless and I can’t tell where one ends and another begins. It becomes background noise to the buzzing of my head. There is no crescendo — no exploding climax — toward the end of the album; there is only the soft but striking clarity for a lo-fi recording. Ambiance in the background of the tracks makes me sleepy. The other layers of the songs sound cloudy and distant while maintaining that same clarity all the time. I can hear the desperation in Hemmick’s voice and I am still confused as to how he could create such a paradoxical sound. Then the album ends and I can barely remember what it sounded like. I’m digging through my mind, desperately trying to remember the quiet beauty that teased my ears, but it is gone until the next time I listen to it. I mourn the inability to recall a single song when I realize that this is probably what it would sound like if Explosions in the Sky went acoustic. And used vocals. Because this is exactly how I feel when I listen to Explosions in the Sky. I don’t think my journey was to the sun, but it was a sad flight indeed.
