WEEK 1: Hundred Waters

In order to celebrate the summer launch of Knorts’ first ever all black denim collection—Knoirts—we are initiating a weekly band series featuring interviews with some of our favorite artists who performed at the one-of-a-kind annual Form festival, which is held in the unusual community of Arcosanti, AZ. 

In addition to photos of these artists killing it in our new noir Knorts in various locations throughout Arcosanti, we ask them about their feelings on fashion, denim, and some other random stuff (cats v. dogs?). We will also be providing links to some of their music for you to check out too. 

To kick off our new series, we get into it with Nicole Miglis and Trayer Tryon of Hundred Waters. (FYI: In addition to being one of the bands performing at Form, Hundred Waters is actually a co-founder of the Form festival itself!) We highly encourage you to press play while you read.

Where’s Hundred Waters from or based?

Nicole: We all met at college in Gainesville, Florida. We've been technically based in Los Angeles for the past 5 or 6 years, but we're spreading our wings. I'm finding a new base, maybe London or New York. I feel very fortunate to be able to do what I love and travel, so I want to move as much as possible while I still can.

What’s your favorite part about performing at Form?

Nicole: It’s rare to be able to play a festival like that and have so many close friends around to bounce ideas off and who are willing to help make things happen. This year especially, since we did all the stage production and a lot of the wardrobe by hand, it was very DIY, and a lot of our friends and people at Arcosanti volunteered to help, that was probably my favorite part. The community. 

Trayer: Seeing nearly everyone I’ve been friends with in the last 10 years. 

Least favorite?

Nicole: It can be quite scary to perform in front of group of people you know or who might know you well. Sometimes it’s much easier to play in front of strangers.

Trayer: Seeing most of them for only a few minutes.

Fill in the blank. You you would never be caught dead wearing _______.

Nicole: A coffin. I don’t believe in coffins.

Trayer: A kimono or feather headdress or anything else that’s likely to create a hostile environment. 

Guilty pleasure? Or vice most difficult to moderate? We want some real talk guilt.

Nicole: Um I probably feel guilty when I smoke cigarettes. But guilt makes the world go round…

Trayer: I struggle with obsessing over things. It happens in waves and I usually can’t tell I’m in it until it’s over. I’m not sure I’d call it a vice as much as a disfunctionality, but there is a sort of pleasure in it when it comes through in productive ways. Sometimes it results in wasted time or severe emotional pain, though, and I’ll feel guilty for getting swept up in it, especially when it affects others. 

How do you decide what to wear for a performance? Is it about comfort or are you ever dressing to communicate as part of your art?

Nicole: I think the more we perform, the more the wardrobe communicates its own story. The songs and wardrobe are partners. It’s like they’re always changing and finding a way to interact with one another. The way the show looks is definitely a way to express how I might be feeling in that particular moment, maybe its different than the songs. Maybe I feel lighter, or darker, and want to perform them differently. The idea of the web and the ropes was definitely a reflection of personal battles. Last tour I made a suit of mirrors and the tour before I wore all red. Wardrobe and stage design are ways to express something I have a harder time with in words.

Trayer: I like for what I’m wearing to have good story behind it, and for it to be made or altered by myself or someone I admire. Also it should work in a mirror but I can avoid them if I’m feeling spicy beyond my means

How comfortable was the Knorts you wore for the shoot? “1” being itchy wool sweater and 5 being “almost like pajamas, I could probably take a satisfying nap in them.”

Nicole: 100, like a dream!

Trayer: A deep 5, even when worn inside out with the furries to the world, as is my preference. 

Why do you think denim continues to be popular from decade to decade? 

Nicole: That’s a really good question. Maybe it’s some subconscious obsession we have with Wrangler/Western era America. Maybe it’s really durable? But not any more than other fabrics... I'm not sure... That’s why what Eleanore’s doing is interesting. She’s deconstructing something we take for granted and presenting it in a new way, with the same threads.

Trayer: It’s a uniform in which we can fulfill our embarrassing need for conformity and tradition without feeling like we’re selling out. It’s also one of the few cultural symbols that the left & right can both romanticize about each other — blue collar labor & cowboys. More boringly, and probably more importantly, it’s a durable, practical, and cheap material.