Harpswell Sound formed in the fall of 2002 when guitarists Ron Harrity and Trey Hughes met and began swapping material they'd been recording. Mike Dank joined on drums soon after, followed by Jonathan Takami on bass. While everyone's musical tastes varied widely, common influences included The Band, Neil Young, The Velvet Underground, Richard Buckner and Fairport Convention. Garage and indie rock, motown, reggae, and punk were broader genres we also drew upon in those formative months.
Our first release was an ep titled "Port", which was basically recorded while the songs were being arranged. It's clean, stark sound represented exactly where we were at the end of that winter—getting started as a band, arranging songs and finding common ground without the benefit of years spent hanging out, drinking beer and playing music twice a week in a basement.
The next album, Skylight, was recorded in March 2004 and contained a bunch of new songs we'd been playing for a while. There were some faster, more rocking songs, some poppy ones and some that were slow and stretched out. We were comfortable with the material, with each other and with what we were trying to say, which might have been equally, "do not forsake me, oh my darling", and "kick out the jams, motherfucker".
In 2005 Jonathan left the band, and longtime fan Kris Day became our new bass player. We had lots of new songs to record, and we eventually holed up in a nearby school's orchestral room for a long weekend. We figured we'd be happy if the drums came out alright, and we could get four or five songs out of the session.
Much to our surprise, we were able to record the entire album that weekend; drums, vocals, guitars, and bass—all live. These were songs that were still somewhat new and fresh to us, and we were excited to be able to record them in such a direct and unlabored manner.
In March 2006 we were approached by Kramer, of Shimmy Disc Records, who offered to mix and master our last record, "Let's go anyway", which was released May 30th, 2006
