Badresa talks with New Black
Since their self titled debut on Thick (see the review on this very site) dropped early this year, New Black has quickly become one of the most talked about indie bands in Chicago. While that can often be a curse, the personable gals and guys in the band seem up to the challenge. Here, I "talk" to them about the sizable and diverse reaction the band has gotten, old Nintendo games, and finally, Lars Ulrich.
Badresa: I know there's links in this band to South of No North and the Dials, can you give me a more elaborate idea of how you guys got together?
Nick Kraska: The South of No North was the first solid band I played with after moving to Chicago from Madison. I had been kicking around with other people in town, but nothing serious was really coming of it. Liam and basically the entire rest of TSONN had just moved here from ABQ so we were a bunch of people who all moved here because we all thought Chicago had a great music scene and wanted to be part of it. Liam and I met (quite stereotypically) at the Rainbow (I lived in Wicker Park then). They were heavy drinkers and totally raucous. I think after my 4th or 5th practice with Liam, I dropped them off at a bar where they proceeded to get in a brawl with some guys over something totally retarded. Liam can elaborate on that one, he tells the story better. They're from the wild west, something totally alien to my Midwestern sensibilities. Since then he's settled down quite a bit.
That band did its thing and then broke up and New Black started out of that with Liam, Jack (from TSONN, now in Bang! Bang!) & I. We had written and demo'd a handful of songs that I recorded at our practice space. Personally, I was listening to a lot of Six Finger Satellite at the time and was really drawn to that kinda mix of catchiness and dirtiness but trying to strip things down to their bones more. I wanted to hear a lot more space in the songs myself. So anyway, I have this old analog synthesizer that has been in my family since like 1984, a Korg Poly 61 that sounds awesome, but is too temperamental to use live. Anyway, when doing overdubs Liam threw a bunch of noise on top with the keyboard, just freaking out on the joystick. We had our first show lined up, and asked Rachel to learn 2 of the songs for us off the demo to play at the show, which she did. Patti was at that show watching with Jack playing with us.
Rachel and I had been dating already for a while, maybe a year or two by this time? And she was already playing with The Dials independent of all of this. She and Patti lived together at the time in Logan Square. Anyway, after our first show Jack decided he wanted to focus solely on Bang! Bang! and it was just a totally natural decision to ask Patti if she wanted to join up. Luckily she did and the rest is history.
Rachel Shindelman: I guess the only other thing to add is that Patti is still playing with The Dials, and the reason she is not responding to this email is cuz they're on tour this week! Oh, also, I learned three songs for the show. ;)
BM: In the last 12 months there's been a pretty heavy buzz about New Black. Are you guys surprised by the intensity of the reception to your band and do you find it intimidating at all? Did you have an inkling that you might hit this hard when you named the band?
NK: Yeah, the reception was way more than I ever could have hoped for. I never really imagined people would care, so I'm very grateful for the attention we have gotten. I feel very lucky. For the most part it's not intimidating cuz when you boil it down, I'm still sitting down behind the same set of drums I've sat behind since I was 13. When you're actually playing all the surrounding stuff falls by the wayside.
The name New Black certainly was kind of ballsy to take on, but we just went with it. It didn't seem like anyone really liked TSONN and we just wanted to try something as different from that as we could. Rachel came up with it and it was a proposed name for the Dials, which was rejected by them, so we took it instead.
RS: Is this gonna sound egotistical? I hope not. But I am honestly not surprised by the great reception we've gotten. Since we all four started playing together, I could feel a kind of chemistry and energy that I've never had with any other group, and that includes the interaction we have with the audience. It's like falling in love. You just know when it's right.
BM: The album is motivated by a lot of pain and heartbreak. Each lyricist was dealing with some pretty serious heart ache when the album was written, if you don't mind me asking, what was it, and was it hard to put it into a format as public as a rock and roll album?
NK: I dunno if Liam or Patti will get to respond to this, but I think they both struggle a little bit with what they said on the record. I think they both did a great job. I like that it's real and personal and immediate, but I think sometimes it's been a little difficult for them. Personally, I really liked the way the songs came together and the themes they had, it was a real basic human conversation going on which I liked a lot. Patti's a bit self conscious about her lyrics now because some reviews harped on her repetition (which I never minded) and Liam feels uneasy about some lines, but what I think made them work is that they were all very in the moment and candid about what they were singing. At the time we made the record we had still only been a band for a 7 months or so, so there was no overanalyzing really I mean, Angel with Cockroach Wings was written probably 5 days before going in the studio, it was the first song tracked and the 2nd take was the keeper it was pretty instinctual.
BM: On the more positive side, as you stated, the two of you are dating. Does it effect the social dynamic of the band?
NK:I always think it doesn't affect us, but I have a feeling outsiders may think otherwise. I'd defer to the others for a more accurate picture.
RS: Ironically, Nick and I met through Liam's wife the week I moved to Chicago (summer of 2001). So we were dating a while before the band started. I'm sure it affects the social dynamic of the band, especially at first, before we all got to know each other really well. Now I feel like I'm married to everybody. Nick and I try really hard to separate the bf/gf Nick and Rachel from drummer and keyboard player. You'd have to ask Patti and Liam how well we succeed.
BM: One of my favorite quotes about New Black comes from Thick's Zack Einstein: "There's a dance party behind every corner, but there's also a mosh pit." I can certainly see New Black's music resulting in either. Out of the two, which reaction do you prefer out of an audience?
NK: Either, just have some reaction. I really enjoy it when we get heckled from our friends it forces everyone to stay in the moment. Hopefully it's good-natured heckling, but it's great to feel some spontaneity in the room and a reaction from the audience. Moshing and people getting hurt is stupid, but moving around is always a good thing.
RS: Dance party. Like, totally.
BM: Speaking of Thick, how did you guys wind up with
them?
RS: Our friend John Benetti booked us as the openers on a Methadones/Arrivals show, and then a few people told Zak to get there early and check us out. We didn't think anything was going to come out of itand it didn't, except that Zak came to our second show. After he saw us there, he told us he wanted to put out our record. Of course we accepted.
BM: I'm extremely entertained seeing all the different reviews for the album and the wide variety of bands you guys get compared to. Is there a particular group New Black most enjoys being compared to? Also, is there maybe one that you guys find ludicrous?
NK: I'm usually surprised by the reviews good or bad. Often it's like the review is about the reviewers themselves, because the things they pick up on are an indication of their own background. Some people hone in on the "punk rock" angle, and others totally hone in on the "dance-y, hipster-y" angle, and there are elements of both in there, but I don't think I've read one where I thought, "That's it" they totally got it. They touched on all the different ideas we were putting in there. One thing I've figured out is that it just kind of reinforces that you should just keep on doing what you think is best, because different people hear the exact same record and will hear totally different things. One person loves this part, the next person thinks that's the worst part of the record.
Rachel: My keyboards have been compared to a Castlevania soundtrack. It took the band a long time to convince me to take that as a compliment (though it was meant as an insult. Hehe)
BM: Listening to New Black, it's pretty obvious that there are a number of directions in which the sound of the band can evolve. How do you guys see your sound changing as you write new material, or do you see yourselves not really changing much at all?
NK:There's a shape or direction I guess we're headed in, but I think it'll be hard to pin down until the next record is done. We all have a lot of ideas, but just like with the last record, only so many of your ideas can make it on any record in the context of it all so it'd be silly to say much about it. People have said we rock harder than we used to, that's probably just from touring more, I dunno. Who knows?
RS: I think we're getting a little more complex and a lot more intense. We all know each other way better as musicians and as friends after over a year together and being on the road in Europe. It makes songwriting more intimate.
BM: How did you guys come to decide on taking the dual lead approach? How do you decide who sings when? Are the vocalists always singing their own lyrics?
RS: This is really a Liam or Patti question, but in their absence: there was never any question that both would do lead vocalists. When we are writing a new song, one of them will just jump in and sing the lead. So it's decided very spontaneously. And yup, they sing their own lyrics.
NK: Yeah, and just to add to that, that multiple singer thing was a big element of TSONN also it just keeps things varied. That's always been, and always will be a big element to it. Both Patti and Liam are very commanding front people, but in totally different ways. They're a great foil for each other. It just was never a discussion of course that's how it would be. Similarly, it's not like any one person comes in with a completed song all 4tracked out, the songs are a development of everyone's contributions, and to limit what's brought to the table is kind of silly. What would Public Enemy be without Flavor Flav? Or the Pixies without Kim Deal? Or the Beatles without George Harrison?
BM: On to the simple stuff, what is New Black listening to on the road right now?
NK: We have this really bad Jerry Seinfeld tape, and an Eddy Murphy tape.
RS: Actually, I just sold those at our yard sale. We also have two Devo tapes, one Gang of Four greatest hits, G&R (of course), two B52s and a Pixies tape (mostly from yard sales). Luckily, Liam has an iPod. We are big on the Interpol record.
BM: Where's your favorite place in Chicago to play? Why?
NK:Fireside - up until recently with the new finishing of the lanes. It's down the street from where we all live and sound is pretty good and its just got the right ambience about it. And the bartenders are awesome there. Even Hammer. The monitor sound is also really good there.
RS: Fireside. I'm sad it's closing. I like that we can mix our under-21 fans with the regular crowd. And they're good to us there!
BM: What would be the ideal future for New Black?
NK: I wanna make 5 records. That's my goal. I'd like to be around long enough to develop a distinct identity so that when a New Black song comes on, you'll immediately know "That's New Black". I'd like to be able to quit my day job and just do New Black and recording. I just want to make really good records and play shows that people have fun at and remember being a part of. I really honestly think that the rest of it will come as long as you have those two parts in place.
RS: That we would all stay great friends, be happy playing together and continue to grow as musicians. That every album we make is better than the one before. Also, that we would make enough money off our albums and touring to quit our day jobs.
BM: Thanks for taking the time to do this, do you have any closing thoughts?
NK: Probably too many, so I'll shut up before I start acting more like the Lars Ulrich of this band than I probably already am.
RS: Good work, Lars.
New Black's debut is available at all worthwhile stores and on the web at Thickrecords.com. You should buy it, it's really good. Thanks to Nick and Rachel for being so generous with their time and giving such great answers, and Mr. Billy Spunke, as always, for putting us in touch.