Editor’s note: Hear Nebraska’s annual Take Cover fundraiser asks Nebraska songwriters to play two songs — one original and one cover of a song by another Nebraska artist. Take Cover is at The Waiting Room on Jan. 23 (RSVP) and at The Bourbon on Jan. 30 (RSVP).  Each year, we ask a handful of songwriters to discuss the songs they’ve chosen. 

Andrew Gustafson (Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship) on his Take Cover choice

This is my first year being asked to participate in the Take Cover benefit. When Jacob Zlomke reached out to me earlier this month, I knew exactly which song I’d choose.

Bryce Hotz is a local musician and recording engineer, and has been a close friend to both myself and the rest of Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship for over 10 years now. I can say with both biased and unbiased opinion that he’s one of the most talented members in our creative community, and it gives the three of us in NAWAS great pleasure now having him on board full-time.

He mans a small recording studio out of his home, called Archetype Recordings and spent three weeks this summer in southern France studying analog recording techniques with Steve Albini, legendary engineer for Nirvana and The Pixies. You can find a link to Bryce’s work, as well as studio booking inquiries here.

With that being said, I’ve always loved Bryce’s songwriting. The song I’ll be covering is called “Man of the Hour.”

To me, this is a quintessential example of his affinity for the melancholy, his uncanny ability of tapping into the morose, and the occasional loathing headspace that we can all empathize with.

Lyrically, the subject matter touches on the dismal self-analysis of oneself in a battle for inner peace. There are these subtle Freudian-psychosexual references that add weight to this song, and I really like that. Earlier in 2014, Bryce threw together a temporary band to record some of his songs under the moniker Lodgings. You can hear “Man of the Hour” and other Lodgings material here.