Josh Hinton and Erin Morgan (formerly of Maryland; dating; obsessively making music together in semi-seclusion) are Nire. My Father's Record Player (Ought Implies Can Records; slow and whispery folk) is their new EP. Let's catch up.

MERCURY: I've been running into more and more music makers that surf. How often do you get out to the coast?

JOSH HINTON: Not all that often to be honest, which is a shame because the Oregon Coast is so amazingly wild and beautiful. Back in Maryland we'd surf twice a day in the summer, but out here it's been pretty infrequent. Our car doesn't do well on the hills, so it ends up being a long trip for us. 

Does surfing affect your music at all?

HINTON: Spending time in the water, whether it be the Pacific Ocean, the Sandy River, or a Motel 6 pool, is both calming and energizing for both of us. Surfing is Erin's favorite thing in the world, and it definitely helps me get out of my head for a while and gain some perspective. I think anything that breaks our obsessive cycles of music creation actually helps the songwriting process in the end.

My Father's Record Player is out, how has the reaction been so far?

HINTON: There are definitely folks out there that appreciate what we've done with this record, which is nice of course. Like anything else, I'm sure some will get it and some won't. We're at a place right now where we're trying not to worry too much about people's reactions. I don't think anyone ever really wins the external validation game, so we're just trying to stay focused on creating music that excites us personally.

What's next?

HINTON: We plan to start recording a new album in the fall. We had toyed with the idea of doing a short "albumette," but have decided that there are too many songs that we like and want to record at this point. So I think this one will be a pretty decent length and we'll be experimenting a bit more with different arrangements and instrumentation. It would be nice to have that out in the spring accompanied by more of a national tour, but nothing is nailed down at this point.

Nire plays Thurs July 27 at Doug Fir. See more of this interview at portlandmercury.com/blogtown.