Premiere: Fritz Hutchison’s ‘Doug Died’ is a horn-laden indie pop gem

Fritz Hutchison and band. // photo courtesy the artist

Kansas City musician Fritz Hutchison’s work is always a delight. Whether it’s his past work as part of indie rockers She’s a Keeper, his two amazing solo releases, or what he does as part of True Lions with Alison Hawkins, a new track is a reason to celebrate.

Today, Hutchison drops “Doug Died,” a jangly, horn-laden pop gem “about a man getting hit by a car, the driver, and the dog who outlives him,” as Hutchison explains. Take a listen below as you read along to our interview with the musician.

The Pitch: How has playing in myriad other musical ensembles helped shape your music as of late?

Fritz Hutchison: Playing with other groups keeps me motivated and inspired! I’m lucky enough to take part in bringing many of my friends’ creative visions to life, and that experience validates the worthiness of my own art and keeps me in tune with the joyful parts of the creative process. Gotta keep up with all the badasses around here!

Who did the single artwork and why did you choose to work with them?

Sydney Kindberg is the artist. I’ve been a fan of her drawings via Instagram for a while and admire her style and how prolific she is. She did some awesome work for a Trevor Turla single I played on last year. We live in the same neighborhood and run into each other every now and then and I knew through hanging out that she would be cool to work with. I love how it turned out!

Is this just a single, or are you aiming for another album at some point soon?

Always new music in the future, but this is a standalone single. I started working on this track in 2022 with the intention of it being on the Movie Night album, but I decided it wasn’t fitting in with the rest of the record so I abandoned it for a while.

We actually started recording it when Joel’s studio was on the westside and finished it in his new location across the state line! It feels good to rescue it from hard drive purgatory and give it life now. It brings some closure to that chapter of my writing and arranging, and frees me up to pursue new sounds without looking back.

Personnel:
– Aryana Nemati, saxophone
– Teddy Krulewich, trumpet
– Trevor Turla, trombone
– Zac Jurden, electric guitar
– The rest is Fritz

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Joel Nanos at Element Studios