By
Ashley Simpson
Photography by
Alexander Wagner

Styling by Javon Drake. Grooming by Nate Rosenkranz at Honey Artists. Stylist’s assistant: Rebekka Ayres.

PALM SPRINGSTEEN


Musician Nick Hinman took a somewhat winding path to where he is today. He grew up in Marin County, California, skateboarding and listening to proto-punk and New Wave. He had a band in high school—a “really cool Led Zeppelin cover band”—and after graduating, he lived in New York for several years, DJing, and. in his own words, “finding this weird niche of really synth-heavy [music] that still has that raw guitar sound.” But it wasn’t until Hinman moved to Los Angeles in 2014 that music became something serious for him.

“This project started probably closer to two years ago. I started working on some tracks that I was just kind of putting together and it didn’t really start to become realized until I had moved from New York to LA in November of 2014,” relates Hinman over the phone. “I started really working on this project and I started playing some stuff for some of my friends and they were like, ‘Whoa you have to put this out.’”

From left: Jacket by Calvin Klein Collection. T-shirt by Calvin Klein Underwear.Jacket by Saint Laurent. T-shirt by Vince. Jeans and belt, worn throughout, artist's own.Sweater by A.P.C. T-shirt by T by Alexander Wang.Jacket by Saint Laurent. T-shirt, jeans, and belt, worn throughout, artist's own.
From left: Sweater by A.P.C. T-shirt by T by Alexander Wang.Jacket by Saint Laurent. T-shirt by Vince.Jacket by Saint Laurent. T-shirt, artist's own.Jacket by Calvin Klein Collection. T-shirt by Calvin Klein Underwear.

And thus, Palm Springsteen was born. The band, which is now made up of Hinman on vocals and guitar, Hayden Tobin on guitar, Kyle Sirell on drums, and Luca Buccellati on synth, is a mesh of bicoastal influences—there are hints of Strokes-era downtown New York garage, raw proto-punk moments à la Suicide, post-punk references, and plenty of New Wave-style synths. “I like to say that it’s interchangeable with the word grease from the song “Grease” from the movie Grease,” teases Hinman.

“This project is definitely a compilation of a lot of masters that I used to like,” he further explains. “I was listening to a lot of Gary Numan and I really love Book of Love, which is a really cool Eighties New York band that has that Eighties synth-pop vibe, but it’s still got that rawness to it. And then like lots of Suicide influence, like Alan Vega and Martin Rev. I love New Order and so it was kind of just a culmination of all of my favorite aspects of a lot of these different projects.”

The key release is “She’s Got Claws,” a gritty, synth-heavy beach rock track about dating a woman who has you by the teeth. It’s dark, twisting, rough around the edges, and, more than anything, fun.

From left: Sweater by Vince.Jacket by Calvin Klein Collection. T-shirt, stylist's own.Jacket by Saint Laurent. T-shirt, stylist's own.Sweater by Saint Laurent.

“A lot of it deals with the different stages of a relationship and how it’s constantly shifting around and how you deal with it,” says Hinman of the music he’s written since beginning the project. “But a lot of the lyrics are fun. I really love Jonathan Richman, how his lyrics are a lot of wordplay, but the way that he sings it makes it seem like he’s singing it to you. There’s a lot of warmth to it, so I try and keep it fun for the most part and just relatable, but also sometimes goofy, sometimes a little darker. It depends on the song too, and how I’m feeling.”

These days, Hinman is busy working on a full-length and talking to various labels, taking an organic approach to the band’s trajectory. “We haven’t released much, but we have a lot of material that we’re working with,” he relates. “It’s been cool. Everything has happened really fast. The band only played our first show on the Fourth of July. We’re just taking it as it goes. I think people will vibe with it when they start to hear more.”

Palm Springsteen performs December 12 at Berlin, 25 Avenue A, New York.

From left: Jacket by Saint Laurent. T-shirt by Vince. Boots, artist's own.Jacket by Calvin Klein Collection. T-shirt by Calvin Klein Underwear. Jeans, belt, and sneakers, artist's own.Jacket by Saint Laurent. T-shirt and sneakers, artist's own.Sweater by A.P.C. T-shirt by T by Alexander Wang. Jeans and boots, artist's own.
By
Ashley Simpson
Photography by
Alexander Wagner

Styling by Javon Drake. Grooming by Nate Rosenkranz at Honey Artists. Stylist’s assistant: Rebekka Ayres.

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