[Note: This interview was originally published via audio format last February. However, since I can't host the mp3 forever, I'm revisiting the interview in article format, for internet posterity.]
Nomo have a way of burning the house down live every time I see them. They always manage to perform with an audacious amount of energy, and I never cease to have an awesome night.
This was the case at the Pitchfork Music Festival last summer, and it was again the case at the Middle East Upstairs in February (and presumably will be the case when I see them at the Wicker Park Fest in a few weeks). It was before that show in Boston that I talked to frontman Elliot Bergman. At the time, they had just finished recording Ghost Rock, their third album -- which came out a few weeks ago via Ubiquity Records. "We've sort of been awake for the past two weeks non-stop. The day after we played Pitchfork we were in the studio for two days. And then our drummer went to India for a couple months so we took a little bit of time off -- then came back and finished recording in Detroit, and we just finished mixing the album now. It took longer than expected, but we're all really happy with it. It's definitely the next step in the evolution of the band. There's a lot of new sounds and new textures. New instrumentation, more open structures compositionally."
Those new sounds are great, and Ghost Rock is another stellar addition to Nomo's discography, as I expected. Since the inception of Nomo, the band has continually stepped up their creative force. "The first record was done in two nights with fifteen people playing live in the room. One night to mix it, and then the record was done. That was based on our knowledge and our budget -- our budget of $400," he laughs fondly. "The second record we got to take our time with and had a little more funding, so we could try out different things. Most of that is still a very live sounding record, and I don't think we'll ever get away from that fully. But this record has some pre-composed loops that I made on various kalimba-esque instruments. A lot of the stuff was pre-composed and then we would play along with it. We just tried to meld some more electronic elements -- it's not like house music or something -- it's a very organic sound. There's a texture and then the song is composed on top of it."
When Nomo began, Elliot led a collective of sorts, with many different musicians swinging by and playing with them. "It was sort of open call to anybody that could play an instrument that was our friend. We were still trying to find out what our sound was going to be like and who was going to be doing what. We were all switching instruments on every song -- it was a very loose collective. Over the past four years, it's really been a core of eight people. All those people, except for maybe one, have been with the band for about four years." This growth of the band, with all of the members being regular and essential, has definitely allowed Nomo to improve their sound and become as solid as they can. "If you change one person in the band, it really feels different. There's a unique chemistry and balance of personalities and musicians." Ghost Rock is a great album, and I'm looking forward to seeing the continual growth of Nomo. "Things have just been getting better with this band. Everything's grown very organically and step-by-step. We have a label that's really supportive and people that work really hard for us. Maybe it's naive, but I'm hoping that things just get better and better. And they have so far."
Nomo - Brainwave (from Ghost Rock)
Nomo - My Dear (from Ghost Rock) (removed per label's request)
Nomo have a way of burning the house down live every time I see them. They always manage to perform with an audacious amount of energy, and I never cease to have an awesome night.This was the case at the Pitchfork Music Festival last summer, and it was again the case at the Middle East Upstairs in February (and presumably will be the case when I see them at the Wicker Park Fest in a few weeks). It was before that show in Boston that I talked to frontman Elliot Bergman. At the time, they had just finished recording Ghost Rock, their third album -- which came out a few weeks ago via Ubiquity Records. "We've sort of been awake for the past two weeks non-stop. The day after we played Pitchfork we were in the studio for two days. And then our drummer went to India for a couple months so we took a little bit of time off -- then came back and finished recording in Detroit, and we just finished mixing the album now. It took longer than expected, but we're all really happy with it. It's definitely the next step in the evolution of the band. There's a lot of new sounds and new textures. New instrumentation, more open structures compositionally."
Those new sounds are great, and Ghost Rock is another stellar addition to Nomo's discography, as I expected. Since the inception of Nomo, the band has continually stepped up their creative force. "The first record was done in two nights with fifteen people playing live in the room. One night to mix it, and then the record was done. That was based on our knowledge and our budget -- our budget of $400," he laughs fondly. "The second record we got to take our time with and had a little more funding, so we could try out different things. Most of that is still a very live sounding record, and I don't think we'll ever get away from that fully. But this record has some pre-composed loops that I made on various kalimba-esque instruments. A lot of the stuff was pre-composed and then we would play along with it. We just tried to meld some more electronic elements -- it's not like house music or something -- it's a very organic sound. There's a texture and then the song is composed on top of it."
When Nomo began, Elliot led a collective of sorts, with many different musicians swinging by and playing with them. "It was sort of open call to anybody that could play an instrument that was our friend. We were still trying to find out what our sound was going to be like and who was going to be doing what. We were all switching instruments on every song -- it was a very loose collective. Over the past four years, it's really been a core of eight people. All those people, except for maybe one, have been with the band for about four years." This growth of the band, with all of the members being regular and essential, has definitely allowed Nomo to improve their sound and become as solid as they can. "If you change one person in the band, it really feels different. There's a unique chemistry and balance of personalities and musicians." Ghost Rock is a great album, and I'm looking forward to seeing the continual growth of Nomo. "Things have just been getting better with this band. Everything's grown very organically and step-by-step. We have a label that's really supportive and people that work really hard for us. Maybe it's naive, but I'm hoping that things just get better and better. And they have so far."
Nomo - Brainwave (from Ghost Rock)
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