We hope not to disappoint anyone in releasing the news that Happy Niceweather was not always Happy Niceweather. Christened Josh Huot, this 80s babe was weaned in small town Minnesota on the musical fruits of Paula Abdul, the Police, and Dwight Yoakam an odd trio, but very representative of the Midwestern mystique. As a youngster he snagged a nylon string guitar from his Moms closet and learned to play his favorite Blink 182 and Metallica songs. Before long he was starting his own rock band along with 4 high school friends. They called themselves Sleeper 7 and rocketed their peers eardrums out to large stacks of amplification. In a couple of years Sleeper 7 was picked up by Macray Artist management, and they toured across the country in a decked out mail truck, complete with bunks and a couch and a leaky exhaust.After the tour, three of the band, including Mr. Huot, relocated to San Francisco and became the Triforce Locomotive. Trading accordions, trumpets, keys, and drum machines, they created experimental soundscapes and showcased at college parties and underground community venues in Berkeley, California.Meanwhile, surrounded by seas and forests and gentle souls, goth metal Josh was letting down his guard and emerging as Happy Niceweather. His ears began attuning themselves to the soulful and whimsical sounds of Death Cab for Cutie, Devendra Banhart, The Incredible Moses Leroy, and Bright Eyes. Music became an expression of love, and it was about surrendering to a river of deeper understanding.When the Triforce Locomotive parted ways Josh moved back home to Minnesota where he got a job as a ski lift operator. He began recording music tracks on his laptop while stationed in tiny snow-covered shacks. People would wave to him from chair lifts as he recorded guitar and vocals to drum and key sequencers and mixed them on his headphones.After he completed half an album, he decided to move back to Berkeley, and he found a home there living with the Nascent Project, a group of transient circus folk and other artists. He finished his self-titled Happy Niceweather debut CD and moved his new solo act down to the city of Lost Angels. Happy Niceweather began appearing at venues in L.A., and at the same time became a member of the Fabulous Monsters Performance Group, presenting shadow puppet adaptations of Grimms and Andersens fairy tales. For a spell he took up residence with members of Cirque Berzerk and Lucent Dossier, two acclaimed underground circus acts in Los Angeles, and he was soon to find himself performing as a clown and building an 80 foot tall robotic flower art car.In the summer of 2006 Happy and his dear musician lady friend (and wife), Miki Huber, embarked on a Tree House Music Tour that took them through the Midwest, Canada, and the West Coast. He produced her Tree House Music Tour EP on which you can hear him sing and dance and perform various spontaneously invented instruments. At this point Happy continues to reside in Los Angeles, where he will do his best to polish the streets with his light-hearted voodoo.To sign up for the Happy Niceweather News Group to receive the latest updates, please send an email to
[email protected].
