We’re super excited to host Medium Build at Grimey’s on Saturday, September 5th, to celebrate the release of King of Having Fun! His new album drops Friday, 9/4, and he’ll be heading to the record shop the next day for a special noontime instore performance & record signing. All who preorder Medium Build’s album in advance from Grimey’s will receive a wristband for his post-performance album signing. Wristbands are required to participate in the signing for all 13+ and they guarantee your entrance to the event. (Kids 12 & under don’t need wristbands if attending with wristband-holding adults.) You can read more about the new Medium Build album and place your preorder on our site here.
Nick Carpenter was raised in an evangelical household in Georgia and learned at an early age how to both perform and to be performative. He credits the birth of Medium Build to two significant personal heartbreaks: once as an aspiring Christian at the hands of the Church, and once by the music industry as a member of an indie rock band called, fittingly, Little Moses.
“Most of my upbringing was spent learning how to perform the act of existence,” he says. “Being a good boy at church or school was how you got ahead, so the church was a place for me to perform this sort of existence to earn praise and perks. But when I found out how fucked up its inner workings are, the church dream died. And my experience in Nashville for music was very similar. So, Medium Build was created to be a place where no one could ever take anything from me. It was born from a kill-all-accessibility perspective: Say the darkest, nastiest thought you're otherwise afraid to say; don't filter — all the shit you weren't allowed to say at church, say it here. I just wanted a place where I could be ugly.”
Having tried his hand in a few different Southern music hubs, Carpenter took advantage of an opportunity to restart as far away from home as possible and moved in with his older brother in Anchorage, Alaska, in 2018, where he continued writing stripped-down, angsty, and wry songs under the Medium Build name. Adding guitar and vocals to beats or loops, Carpenter let the raw, emotional texture of his voice shine, and when paired with the evocative, heartrendingly real nature and relatability of his lyrics, a winning formula emerged. Recruiting a production-savvy friend to help him record and engineer, the output retained a strong DIY sensibility while revealing itself clearly capable of reaching a larger audience. Galvanized by that performative religious background, early Medium Build shows were communal, life-affirming affairs, and their spectacle spread via social media and word of mouth.
steady grip of EPs, full-lengths, and singles over the next five years culminated with a slowplay/Island Records deal, bigger tours ,and a move to Nashville in 2023, followed by the 2024 LP Country.
In the time that passed Carpenter struggled with alcohol and sobriety and with success and notoriety. In his search for authenticity he wrote the songs that would become King of Having Fun. Carpenter booked a studio for two weeks, and assembled his collaborative dream team — Paul Rogers, the musical director; Jimmy Mansfield, the engineer; and Jake LiBassi, the atmospheric moodmaker — to lock in and steer the creative process. They often reverse-engineered from the perspective of playing the songs live in bigger rooms and arenas at the objective forefront, and added upbeat tempos, guitar solos, singalongs, and more with those specific, future rock and roll moments in mind. And yet despite the dark subject matter hanging over much of it all, Carpenter’s lyrics also poke and prod at the gloaming, revealing a newfound maturity and rediscovered zest.
We’re really happy to be able to welcome Medium Build back to Grimey’s for an intimate performance of songs from his new record. We hope you’ll come out for the occasion! You can place a preorder for King of Having Fun in the record store or on our webstore here. See you soon, Nashville!
King of Having Fun vinyl with crown insert.