‘Tough Luck’: Live and Local with Quietknot!

0:00Welcome back to you live in local air and kick here with you in the studio. Join tonight by Ian Ferguson, who's project is Quiet Not. Got a new album out called Tough Look, which is fantastic. Quiet Not.com is the website at Quiet Not underscore. If you want to follow them on Instagram, we'll have that linked up on our website, ChapelBurger.com as well. Yeah, thank you so much for being with us tonight. Yeah, thanks for having me. So let's hear a song before we chat. What do you want to hear first? Let's hear Haley. This is my favorite track off the album too. This is Haley on 97 on the Hill.

1:57You don't you think you can't see what I am on. You do you think you can't hear the whole station for a car. Have 15 minutes and skip the class and jump the fence. Sit around and watch the train. Let your friends fade away. Are you safe in your face? Do you think I can stay? Are you having fun? Isn't it all right to die? Can't you find my blanket down? Can't you think you passed on?

2:59Do you wash your sheep off some dirt? Do you think you passed on to wash your sheep off some dirt? Do you think you can't hear the whole station for a car? Do you think you can't hear the whole station for a car? Can't you hear the whole station for a car?

3:59Are you safe in your face? Do you think I can stay? Are you having fun? Isn't it all right to die? Can't you find my blanket down? Can't you think you passed on? Do you wash your sheep off some dirt? Do you think you can't hear the whole station for a car? Do you think I passed on to wash your sheep off some dirt? Do you think I passed on to wash your sheep off some dirt? That was Haley off the new album Tough Luck by Quiet Not Ian Ferguson from Quiet Not is here in the studio with us. Well chat with him and we'll hear a couple more songs when we come back on Lavin Local. After this.

5:00You are listening to Lavin Local. I'm Aaron Kik here in 979. The Kill Studios joined tonight by Ian Ferguson. His project is Quiet Not. The new album is Tough Luck and it is out now. Ian, thank you so much for being with us tonight. Of course. So tell us about the album. It's fantastic. We just played Haley, which is my favorite track off of it. It's been one of my favorites of the year so far. So love that song. But the whole album is fantastic. Thank you so much. Come together. Yeah. So it's sort of just a collection of rock songs and DIY songs that I've been working on. Mainly in 2025. All just recorded in my bedroom studio. Sort of just trying to create like a collection of songs. Sort of have a story. It's kind of the goals of now, you know, like make them somewhat cohesive. But I think the main goal of the project was just sort of push my music creation to the next level and always just get better. A big thing on this project was the drums because I just recently started recording my own drums playing them live and that has been like unlocked a whole new world for me of music creation

6:01and just creating new textures and new sounds and explore in different genres. So that was sort of the exploration of this project. I don't know if it comes through when you're losing to it because the drums aren't particularly advanced. But that was sort of my like my focus. I think it sounds really cool. So what is the what is the home like studio look like when like we walk in? What's what's in there? This all this was recorded in my old house here in Chapel Hill. And so I had a drum kit like right when you walk in the room. There's some old like vintage mic that I had like taped to the ceiling that was sang down for an overhead mic and a couple of their mics for recording the drums and then just desk and just like guitars kind of just everywhere. Did you buy a drum kit like just for for this project like just to or did you have one already? So I bought it for my previous album. So you see, okay. And that was my first time recording drums. So those are a little bit a little bit rougher but they did the job. So yeah, I did just buy it basically to record and practice and teach myself or play drums. That's awesome. So you taught yourself. It sounds fantastic. Thank you. Yeah, I taught myself I probably could have done more.

7:02I didn't really like read a book on anything or even watch a YouTube video. It's sort of like it's drums. You know, you can hit them out of the supposed sound. How have you heard them in every other song? This someone listening to this has been like diligently studying drums for 10 years and still has an advanced like, ah, Ferguson. Yeah. I've been aided by modern technology because my timing isn't the best. But I can be fixed in post pretty easily. That is fair. That is fair. So what's the story behind the album? Like you said, there's kind of a rough narrative. Yeah, I think the overarching stories, like sort of just like growing pains. And we're sort of trying to make songs that felt a bit more like meaningful versus just sort of sang stuff. So trying to like bring up stuff for my youth and just make stuff I connected with. Cool. Speaking with Ian Ferguson, Quiet Not is the name of the project and the new album is Tough Luck. Where does Quiet Not come from as a name? Uh, just random band name generator. I didn't realize I was going to be doing it for this long. Is that like an online thing?

8:02Or just like you just came up with one? No, I just went to band name generator and just took one that I thought sounded reasonable because I didn't realize that I didn't use it for so long. Was there like a one that came close but got rejected at the last second? Uh, I can't remember. There's definitely a few. Nice. What inspires your songwriting other than other than your past? Yeah, just definitely personal experiences and my observations of the world just, you know, maybe not being happy with certain things and dealing with whatever's happening as well as just like love for writing music. I think a lot of times it's just like I want to write a song more than I like want to express something and like progressing my skills is really fun. So a lot of that in there too. Is songwriting conscious like do you sit down and like I'm going to write a song now or does do lyrics or melodies just pop into your head? Uh, sometimes they do but most of the time like I found that it's sort of like a conscious thing like every day I'll try to record something. Okay. And most days it's not something good. It's like something bad. Right, right. That's sort of the fun of it. You just every day try to record something and then something good happens and you're

9:05you're really happy with it. Nice. Speaking with uh in Ferguson, quiet not the project, tough luck, the album. It's out now and quiet not.com is the website. We'll link to that up on our website. ChapelBurrow.com as well. Uh let's hear another song. What do you want to play next? Uh let's hear hogs. Hogs. This is off the new album on 97 Now in the Hill.

10:11This is off the new album on 97 This is off the new album on 97 Now in the Hill. This is off the new album on 97 This is off the new album on 97 Now in the Hill. This is off the new album on 97 This is off the new album on 97 This is off the new album on 97 Now in the Hill.

11:21This is off the new album on 97 This is off the new album on 97 Now in the Hill. This is off the new album on 97 Now in the Hill. This is off the new album on 97 That was hogs off the new album on 97 Now in the Hill.

12:32That was hogs off the new album tough luck by quiet not Ian Ferguson from quiet not here in the studio with us. And we will have more from him in another song when we come back on live and local after this. And welcome back to live and local air and kick you're within the studio. Join tonight by Ian Ferguson who is quiet not quiet not.com the website the new album is tough luck. It's out now and we'll link to that website up on our website chapelboard.com as well. Thanks again for for being with us. Thanks for having me. What do you have coming up in in 2026 now that this is out? Definitely new music coming. I like to try to release something every year. So definitely now try to have an album with you in the year. We'll see what it looks like though and when it comes out. Same kind of style genre are you branching out or what are you thinking? I haven't really decided yet. Are songs written or are you still like is that in the works? I'm always writing this stuff so yeah. There's songs written in there. Some similar, some different. I think I guess it sort of changes like by the weeks or whatever genre I want to be making.

13:36So some days I'm like oh I want this project to be totally different. But then I'm like writing the same songs again. I guess that's just what happens. But yeah I want to just see if I can take it to the next level. I don't know what that really looks like because I might have hit like a sort of soft ceiling on my abilities and recording and producing. But what is he's just going to try to improve? Who are you listening to now? I've been listening to a lot of like sort of 2000s indie rock. Okay. That's sort of the vibe by like really like like stuff like I don't know if you know the but rocket ship and it's been called lunch box. And I've been listening to a lot of like Japanese rock of that era too. A couple bands are really like supercar. It's a really big one. Some different ones like Ginny O1. Just they make like noisy rock music. Okay. And I'm just like obsessed with it. Nice. Anyone around here that you like? The only one I think of that's North Carolina that I've been listening to is MJ Linderman. Oh yeah. He's pretty big now but I do appreciate that like that twangy style. But every time I get in there to record a song I just want to add like 10 million layers and never never never turns out that soft or good.

14:38MJ Linderman like like it's not an overnight success but for me like observing it, it feels like all of a sudden like I woke up one day and everyone was obsessed with him to like like Geese basically. Yeah exactly. All of a sudden we work up and it's like oh no you haven't heard this band. It's been listening to him for years. What are you talking about? Yeah exactly. Yeah. Again quietknot.com is the website. The new album is tough luck. Not the olding album. You had third album fourth. So that's the fifth one. Fifth one. Okay. So more to come in the coming years. We're excited about that. Let's hear one more song. What do you want to play last? Let's hear radiation. Radiation off the new album tough luck by Quiet Knot and I'm just seven on the hill. I got the radiation off the hill.

15:46I got the radiation, I think I'm seeing a greener again Can it close up now that I will turn my skin? Like all the evil monsters that are on the bed of night Can't see the sorrow of all our souls that are needed to rise

16:52Can't see the sorrow of all our souls that are needed to rise Can't see the sorrow of all our souls that are needed to rise The song is radiation, the album is tough luck, the project is quiet not solo project of Ian Ferguson

17:54QuietNot.com is the website go there and find out more and follow them on Instagram at QuietNot underscore not with a K there