A Conversation with Night Hawk

On Friday April 19, 2024, the band Night Hawk, led by its founders Peyton Semjen ’24 and Colter Adams ’24, performed “Edward Hopper Recomposed” in two performances at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. The band included the contributions of Layla Rafimeyeri ’24 (cello), Tara O’Malley ’24 (violin), and Courtney Burnett ’26 (cajon). The music was interpreted by dancers Dylan Richmond ’24 and Juliana Vandermark ’24.

In the following conversation with Semjen, Adams, and Vandermark, conducted on May 10, 2024, I take advantage of the opportunity to learn more from these graduating seniors about the source of their inspiration, the nature of collaboration, and the larger role of the arts in their lives. The transcript has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Anne Collins Goodyear:
I’d like to start by asking why “Night Hawk?” How did you both encounter Edward Hopper, and what is it about a work of art, a painting from the first half of the 20th century, that speaks to you today in the beginning of the 21st?

Peyton Semjen:
“Night Hawk” is an allusion to Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks (1942). I think one of the most palpable themes that we were drawn to in Edward Hopper’s work was the urban isolation that’s a constant in so many of his paintings. He painted those in such a different time period, but we met during COVID, at a moment when we were both searching for a creative outlet and also searching for connection. I was an art history minor, and I found a lot of connection through art. And I think Colter shared that passion with me. Through Hopper’s paintings, we found a bridge built a hundred years ago. You could relate to those feelings, you could see those characters; they still have that humanity that’s so present. We looked at those characters, and we looked at ourselves, and we kind of wanted to build upon that. 

Colter Adams:
Yeah, I agree with everything that Peyton said. There is an interesting connection between the present and the world that Edward Hopper was focused on. I also think that Hopper paintings tend to provide a very visceral window into a scene. His work is almost cinematic in that sense. And in that way, it inspires further storytelling. You feel like it’s a shot from a reel, and I felt compelled to try to tell the rest of the story of what’s happening in those paintings.

There’s also a lot of ambiguity in terms of what’s happening. You have a lot of emotional resonance, you have postures and lighting that convey a certain sensation, but you don’t necessarily have the characters’ faces. There’s always a fair amount of mystery, like what has driven these characters to this point? There’s just always that lingering question.
 
ACG
I love that you emphasize your connection to Hopper by calling out one particular painting by him, Nighthawks (1942), with the title of your band. But that prompts a question. Why is it “Night Hawk” versus “Nighthawks,” although there are two of you? Why did you make that slight change?
 
CA
Yeah. Sometimes we look back and we’re like, “What were we thinking? Why did we do it? Why did we plant ourselves in this?” But now I feel attached to the name, in a funny way.
 
The idea was to have it feel connected to Hopper’s work in a really obvious way, but also, in and of itself, separate somehow. So, we thought that a kind of adjustment of it... And yeah, it is kind of funny that we de-pluralized it, even though there’s two of us. But I think that kind of speaks to the project, in the sense that it is our two musical approaches coming together, this singular concept and musical style that we wouldn’t have without each other. So, I think that’s part of it, too.
 
ACG
Could you elaborate a little bit on how collaboration works for Night Hawk?
 
PS
Yeah, I think we were the perfect pair to do this project. It was really lucky that we met each other when we did.
 
ACG
When did you meet?
 
PS
We were just first years …
 
ACG
Here?
 
PS
Here at Bowdoin, yes, on campus.
 
ACG
The infamous fall of 2020?
 
CA
Yep.
 
PS
I think we met just playing around the piano in Quinby House. Colter knew how to play piano, and I had always written songs.
 
We come at music, and we come at that process, really differently. Colter, I think you could talk more about this, but, from my perspective, he sees music and art as a puzzle, and he puts these pieces together, and builds this world through instrumentals and different melodies. I look at things more as a storyteller. And I think our two strengths came together in the sense that I had this poetic line that I wanted to build a city around, and he had the scaffolding to do that.
 
Building off of that, our energy was just both ambitious and contagious. And I think that the collaborative energy that we fostered and cultivated really drew other people in—not just Juliana and Dylan as dancers, but also Layla, Tara, Courtney, and the other musicians who regularly work with us. You realize at the end of the day that everyone has something to add to the project.
 
CA
Yeah, Peyton and I were able to adapt to each other’s creative approaches. And so it was easier to share this intimate storytelling process with other people. There is something really cool about inviting more people to inhabit that storytelling process.
 
PS
Yeah, sometimes we’re really excited and want to flesh out an entire piece. But a lot of the times, like Colter said, we want to construct an aesthetic that’s buildable. We’ll write songs together on acoustic guitar or piano, and it’ll have a totally different vibe, and we’ll bring it into a practice room. We’ll ask Layla to play over it, or Alex, our guitarist, to write some riffs. And then... it kind of transforms.
 
PS
It’s my favorite thing in the world, is writing songs, and specifically with Colter. I’ll send him a voice memo at 2:00 AM with static in the background, and I’m barely humming a song. Thirty minutes later he’ll come back with a Logic file, perfectly pristine... with harmonies and guitar parts. And it’s something so amazing, to just be able to communicate with so little, and be able to create something so cool. Yeah, it’s just one of my favorite things in the world.
 
ACG
I love hearing about the creative process. And one aspect of that from my standpoint as a spectator, when you all performed here recently, was the dimension of space, and the way in which not just music but also dance that filled the space. Juliana, could you say a little bit about the role of dance in this collaboration?
 
Juliana Vandermark
Yeah, I think that dance is really unique in that I don’t think that there’s anything more important than movement in getting the attention of people around you. And I think that that’s why when you see a band typically performing on stage, they are engaging you with some sort of movement in addition to their music. It was exciting for Dylan and me to offer an entry point into the music.
 
Every time we rehearsed up until the week before, we would just improvise together. We’d give each other certain parameters, like, “This reminds me of...” Or, “In this song, I can’t stop looking up at the ceiling because the ceiling is so beautiful, and the song is this wistful quality that makes me want to go somewhere else.” Or, “This song really makes me feel like there’re really rigid lines imposed on me.” Or, “This song really makes me want to reach out and touch you, and it feels like we’re very connected. It’s a story between two people and a conversation, more than just a story.”
 
And then slowly, as the paintings became more involved, we asked, “How can we use the paintings as the backdrop for our dance, and have a feeling of spilling out of them?” In the circular space of the Museum’s rotunda it was challenging, but also really exciting, for both the paintings and the musicians to serve as a sort of backdrop and for us to be replicating those sounds and those moments in our dance form.
 
But I think the improvisational aspect of it all is the most exciting, because we got to feed off of the audience’s involvement in the space too, as people who are also sharing and taking up space. And, depending on their reactions and who they were, we got to spend more time looking at one person and pulling them in, or to spend slightly more time gesturing to the painting, really making sure that they saw it, before we got going with our choreography.
 
CA
One of the things that is really cool about your choreography, and also just this project in general, is that it would’ve been really easy to just say, “Here’s the painting, we’re going to reenact the scene.” But the dances weren’t reenactments, in the same way that the songs weren’t exact presentations. It’s fractions and ideas from the paintings, and then we’re try to turn it into something different.
 
ACG
Peyton, coming back to that comment you made earlier about being responsive to what some of your collaborators took away from your work, whether it be something that felt right to emphasize with the cello or expand upon with the guitar, I’m interested, did you learn something from the dance performances that may alter the way in which you continue to develop these songs, or the ways in which you think about the work you’re doing?
 
PS
Yeah. We’ve talked about this. After the show, we immediately said to one another, “All of our performances should have dance.” It added an incredible layer to what we were doing. And I think something amazing about this performance was the accessibility of art.
The dimension of dance added a level of accessibility to our performance. I think it helped bring the audience into something that might otherwise cause them to bristle against it, such as the belief that “Maybe I wouldn’t understand a painting that’s nearly a hundred years old.” Dylan and Julianna brought it to life in a way that made it so current, and so tangible and palpable in a way that lyrics or music alone can’t always touch people.
 
And after watching them dance, I also became a lot more conscious that it’s not just my voice that’s telling a story, it’s also my body, it’s my facial expression. I think that’s something that I want to continue to build into every performance we do, because it’s inspiring to watch.
 
CA
Yeah, totally. I second all of that. I think it’s also like with all forms of stagecraft, there’s a question of where is the fourth wall? Is it something that we should be breaking? Is it something that we shouldn’t? With theater that’s not generally how it works. But with music, live performance, oftentimes, is about audience interaction and engagement. There’s this kind of conversation that’s happening back and forth.
 
I think it’s cool to work across mediums that have different relationships to the audience, because it challenges you to think about the conventions of your art form.
 
JV
Yeah, I agree with that. I think that the reason that dance is so fun for me is that I think it’s really lucky and special when people come to see you dance. It can be really vulnerable, because often people assume they don’t have a level of understanding to make sense of it. I think that’s what’s so nice about having three different mediums, all translating the same idea. Because, as an audience member, you’ll get part of it. And even if you don’t, it’ll still be fun. You’ll just get to be immersed by the art and then you’ll leave when it’s finished.
 
ACG
Thanks, Julianna. Peyton and Colter, would you like to expand on those thoughts, or is anything else you’d like to add?
 
PS
Yeah, I want to first just plug live performance in general, not just ours, but also events at the museum, and just going to museums in person and experiencing art firsthand. Personally, I’m kind of an introverted type of person. Music has allowed me to experience life outside of myself, and be constantly inundated with beautiful things around me, and other people to experience life with.
CA
Yeah, I really like the way you put that.
 
PS
If you want to hear more about our project, or if you’re an artist looking for someone to talk to you about art, please reach out to us on Instagram: @nighthawk.band. We post a lot about the shows and the lyrics, to give you a little bit of background into our world; more information is available through our website: https://nighthawksings.com/. We’re graduating, and we’re going on our first ever tour. It starts on May 24th, and it’s going until June 8th. The schedule is available here: https://nighthawksings.com/tour. We’re going to travel to Washington D.C., playing at a bunch of shows on the way. If you’re interested in coming, please do! We’ve even got some free tickets for Bowdoin alumni. Every show is going to be different, and we’re going to bring in different collaborators and creators. So if you’re a collaborator or a creator and want to collaborate or create with us, please reach out!