Musician Zach Hurd is back in Maine, by way of Brooklyn, L. A., and a hit on Spotify (“Safe”) with 18 million plays.

BY COLIN W. SARGENT

Your music is so breezy. I’ve just listened to “Changing,” “I Wonder,” and “Like a Bird.”It could be the best pop music ever created by a Mainer.

Thank you!  

What part of Maine do you come from?  

I was born in Brunswick and raised in Bath, on Hyde Street. My parents taught at the Hyde School, and I went there. I played soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. I didn’t have a band yet, but the whole school does performing arts. I did a senior thesis project with two classmates where we wrote some songs, recorded in a local studio, and did a show at the end of the year.   

Your background on fan sites for Bay Ledges appears as “Maine/NYC/LA.” How do you reconcile these divergent cultural forces in your music?  

I kind of tried not to move to New York. I played in New England cafes and other venues up here. Then in the mid-2000s I decided, “I need to do this.” My best friend from Bath’s older brother was living in Brooklyn. He wasn’t into music. He had a corporate job. But he said, “I have this spare room with a mattress on the floor.” So I made the leap and  went to open mikes every night. You try to just get experience performing so you can book a club on the Lower East Side or in Brooklyn.  

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