Have you yet to witness a musical take on politics? I was in the same boat until I got news of Republican Hair; a faceless, musical project that seeks to point out the underlining theatrics in all things political. Inspired by the current election cycle, conservative quaff’s and the practice of songwriting, the lead representative of Republican Hair sought to record each track of their latest release, High And Tight in 6-8 hours, making way for a follow-up coming sooner than you may think.

High and Tight is unique and quirky and Elmore Magazine premiered it’s first single, “I Don’t Care” with a stellar review encompassing the funk vibes and catchy hook the song exudes.

I had the opportunity to talk to Nashville-local, Luke Dick, who was the brains behind the project. Luke is no stranger to songwriting as he’s written for the likes of Eric Church, Kip Moore and Dierks Bentley (to name a few).

“My buddy used to be a cop before he turned lawyer. For oddity’s sake, he keeps this framed picture of himself in uniform, which is now 20 years old. His hair is so perfect — looks like a brand new 60’s Pontiac,” Luke began telling me the story of the project’s history. “We always called it his ‘Republican Hair’ and vowed to start a band. Some 20 years after this perfect hair was immortalized, I decided it’s time,” he laughed. “Serendipitously (or not), American politics decided to go straight up pro-wrestling and tarnish my band’s good name.” As far as driving inspiration he said, 

“Two years ago, I became sick of lush productions and spending days on end getting one song ‘right.’ I was listening to the Cars and Devo and The Clash, blown away about how much can happen sonically with just a couple guitars. I went visceral, and just started writing and recording things quickly, like a Twitter version of writing and recording.” 

In 140 characters – the project can be summarized as…

Garage Rock, Post-Punk Rock, Summer Rock, Algae Rock-basically all things rock with a funky & satirical twist that makes you think & dance

While band memberships are “classified” I was able to get some insight on the driving force behind that decision as well as the impact Luke thinks that decision will have after the first live show.

“I guess the driving force was initially to keep Google out of my life for 30 seconds,” he started, “But that’s pretty futile. By the time this interview airs, they’ll know that I ordered yet a third wifi router and that I eat fried chicken from Hattie B’s every 11.2 days. Hard to believe that reality isn’t some kind of hard determinism once you see their data. So, I’m pretty much deciphered.” 

Quaff’s Cat’s out of the bag, I guess.

The band will be playing select shows in select cities starting sometime soon and Luke hinted a bit to where that might be as well:

“I’m fairly reclusive. I will most likely play cities with good museums. There’s a house in Nashville with hats all over the wall and psychedelic lights called ‘The Glass Menagé.’ I think I may show up there first — in a month or so, with guitars and drums — and knock a hat or two down.” 

Wondering if the secondary project mentioned earlier will follow in High And Tight’s footsteps, I got the answer I was actually expecting from Luke:

“At it’s heart, Republican Hair comes from a really particular place in my brain-spirit-soup. The sonics will always change a bit, but my brain won’t change much. Which leads me to the next answer…” 

He followed with,

“One word [that] would sum up the band? Absurd. I don’t mean that I’m not serious about the music. And I definitely don’t see Republican Hair as a novelty, any more than music or life itself is a novelty. But, there’s a part of me that sees a real futility with existence — I mean, the sun is currently exploding. It will take it awhile, but it’s coming to wipe out any idea of legacy that we as humans ever had  (if we don’t kill each other beforehand). That kinda makes life a little weird. I mean, why even make the bed, given the hard truth of it all? That said, I FUCKING LOVE LIFE,” he declared. “I want life to be fun. I love Pringles and records and conversations, and especially my kids, my dogs and my wife. Republican Hair to me is simply a wide-eyed, energetic response to being faced with the weird, beautiful, terrible world. It’s about taking all that and turning it into music that is an inside joke that deserves to be a summer jam.” 

Normally, I would end by summarizing my thoughts on the project, but I think it’s better if I leave that up to you. This project is so unique and “absurd” that I think every listener will take something different from it – just like life in general. Isn’t that what it’s all about?