Matt Rouch and Greta Propp from Matt Rouch and the Noise Upstairs visited the WYSO studio for a live session on Kaleidoscope. They talked with music director Juliet Fromholt about their musical collaboration.
When Matt Rouch's Denver-based band broke up during the pandemic, he wasn't sure he'd make music again, "For like two years, I don't think I touched my guitar, didn't write a song. I was like, 'Alright, I guess I'm done."
Rouch relocated to Cincinnati, and after about a year, he began going to open mics, first as an audience member. "You sit and watch people at shows and you watch people at open mic, and you just get that itch again. You're like, 'I want to get up there and do that.' You get into the spirit and everyone's creative and making music."
As Rouch began reconnecting with music in his new city, he connected with violin player Greta Propp, another newcomer to Cincinnati. Propp had spent the majority of her musical life playing classical music, but was starting to find an affinity with folk music. As the two began working together Propp also began singing, and now she and Rouch regularly harmonize.
"Once you hear it, you hear it," Propp says of singing harmony. "We recently have been trying a song where I usually sing the harmony, Matt usually sings the melody, and we're trying to switch parts where I sing the melody, Matt's doing the harmony. We do shift back and forth well. It's something like once it clicks, it clicks."
For more information on Matt Rouch and the Noise Upstairs, visit https://mattrouchandthenoiseupstairs.com/home
