City to Stage: an Interview with Nautics
Now I’m in a shitty/ teen rock band,” Kenzo Repola sings on the 2017 song “Cosmonaut.” However, a listen to their years of “space-rock” suggests Nautics is far more than that. Formed in 2014, the New York four piece is comprised of Kenzo Repola (vocals and guitar), Van (bass), Levitt Yaffe (drums), and Amir “The Hands” Brivanlou (keys).
The band’s first album, IV: The Misadventures of an Indestructibly Melancholy City, was released in 2015 on Bandcamp. A mature debut, the album contained “I’ll Be Waiting,” a nostalgia-inducing song which continues to be one of the band’s most played.
A natural successor to 2000s New York rock, the band has played in local landmark venues like Sidewalk Cafe and Webster Hall. However, their music is being heard well past the NYC limits as their loyal fanbase, who choose to continue their voyage in the band’s universe with every new album, continues to grow.
Nautics’ latest single, “Post Madonna,” features a bouncy bass-line coupled with a dreamy keyboard sound. The lyrics speak to the idea of feeling lost but then finding oneself, whether you’re an alien taking in your new surroundings or a listener who’s coming to terms with self-awareness. The song appeared on Spotify’s indie “Fresh Finds” playlist, attesting to the fact that Nautics is indeed a band to keep an eye on.
[Unpublished:] Tell us about yourselves. Where are you guys from? How did you guys form and come to be?
[Nautics:] It started initially with Van and Levitt.
I [Levitt] met Van in preschool in New York, we're all from New York City, that's where we all grew up.
I [Kenzo] met Van high school, then we were talking for a while because I wanted to do music and Van had more experience. I remember talking to him and being like, “Hey, can we do a band situation” and Van was like, “Well, I have a band situation” and I was like, “Let me be in that band situation.”
So then, the band included me [Van], Levitt and Kenzo, and basically all three of us were in a band and then eventually with Amir.
[Unpublished:] What are your biggest musical inspirations and do they affect the way you guys write and perform music?
[Nautics:] Ultimately we're influenced by a lot of the basics like The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys and a lot of indie rock, pop bands that we grew up with or got influenced by later. I would say that we take into account a lot of more alternative music or different genres like hip hop and jazz. We also take influences from a lot of pop music because I think ultimately it’s not our goal to make the most obscure Alt Indie music. I think we do show a lot of appreciation for bands that are just in the mainstream. I would say that we do listen to a lot of mainstream music as a band and that does influence us.
[Unpublished:] How would you guys describe your music? How has living in New York City and having like a childhood there influenced your music?
[Nautics:] We were playing shows at these venues when we were 15 or 16 without our parents just running into some weird people, listening to a lot of different music, and making connections. I think none of us would have ever met if we were somewhere else or doing something else. I think the scene that we were in when we were in high school definitely influenced us a lot. There were some great bands that we got to play with a lot and that we got to know. Watching what they're doing now, some of them have gotten really successful and they're doing great things so I think being part of that scene was really helpful. Growing up in New York afforded us that. We were influenced by a lot of who we were playing with. That's what gave us a drive, as well, to be on someone else's level while being at our own level because we were playing with great acts, too. It was more competitive. Granted, I'm sure there were some people who were assholes along the way, but ultimately that competition was positive for everybody in this situation.
[Unpublished:] Where do you guys find inspiration for your work and how has it changed since you guys have been quarantined?
[Nautics:] Just having a discussion and a discourse about music in general. What's new often ignites further discussion of “What can we do to make our stuff new or interesting or challenge what we're used to.” Even if it doesn't always seem like that to the general audience who's listening to our stuff, I would say that with each song we try to add something that we've been inspired by from someone else. We always try to throw a little something into the pot, even if it's not very noticeable to anyone else, just for us to challenge ourselves musically, because ultimately trying to grow as musicians and artists is the biggest source of inspiration. We send demos and ideas like a top 10 hit that's cool or that somebody likes or some really obscure song from the 80s. It's a lot of really good collaboration that happens over the group chat now because we can't get together and hang out. We love making music together but we're all really good friends and that makes it really enjoyable.
We went to other colleges and we were already far apart from each other so it’s not a new concept, we usually only practice once a month. We don't practice that much but when we do, like before a show or just wanting to hang out and practice, we really get a lot done. Whether it's creatively or just hanging out as friends coming up with new ideas, adding to other songs and showing our ideas, it's a nice little process we have.
I think that the new song is an example of what we've done a little bit more separately. A lot of that was recorded and mixed before this whole quarantine situation happened but it still was recorded in a space where none of us were really in the same city at the same time or even the same room. I think whatever success the song has is secondary to the fact that we were able to achieve making something, even with the four of us apart.
[Unpublished:] Congratulations on your new EP, The Glorious Escapades of a Great Escape. Where did that title come from? How did the songs come to be and make the cut for the EP?
[Nautics:] Our main goal is to make the most illiterate sentence just to make it as much of a mouthful as possible. Then we found that over time we had to do almost like an Iambic Pentameter kind of thing where it had to rhyme and it had to meet these criteria. We just try to make the most strange sentence and usually the one that has the feeling of the album or the message, whatever vague message it may be, gets picked by all four of us, the democracy. We also wanted to embody the journey of the spaceman on the cover.
[Unpublished:] We loved your idea about giving funding to the New York Food Bank. Can you guys tell me a little bit more about that?
[Nautics:] When we decided that we wanted to release a song during this time period I was talking with Van about, “I feel like it would be a good idea to donate the proceeds to a charity. I feel like we should be thinking about helping out the community that we grew up in, and that has given us so much.” So I started looking into different charities I really connected with and I found them, contacted them, and I gave them my idea. They were like, “That's that would actually really help us out thank you so much,” and I was like, “It's my pleasure because I want to do anything I can to help.”
[Unpublished:] If you could collaborate with any artist, ever, living or dead, who would it be and why?
[Nautics:] I [Amir] like David Byrne, Talking Heads.
I really like a lot of what Bowie did initially, because any artists that would be able to transcend a binary in which they’re able become like an alien, which is kind of why I like David Byrne too. I really appreciate being able to become a sort of new entity through art, because that's where I feel the most comfortable personally and I actually feel more comfortable on stage just experimenting and expressing myself in that way than I do just being a person walking on the street or in a room or just sitting.
I feel like either Quincy Jones or Kevin Shields. I mean Quincy Jones just has a perfect idea of what tone sounds like on those albums, especially some of those early Michael Jackson albums. It's just a beautiful production and it sounds like some of the best albums I've ever heard. Kevin shields because Loveless is just a perfect sounding album in terms of the guitar tone and just how giant it got and like the of opposite Quincy Jones almost. It was ugly but that's really cool.
I like the Bowie idea because I'm inspired by both his drumming and ideas. Definitely Arctic Monkeys, I love them. I love Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino, a lot of people like it, but I love it.
[Unpublished:] If you guys could give any advice to indie bands starting out, what would you tell them?
[Nautics:] In terms of making music with people I would say, find people who can vaguely play and you get along with. I think some great things will come out of it, it's really about being friends with the people that you work with, it's about forming a family through that. And I would not say that I was in anyway, or continue to be a good musician at all. But I think that is the thing that I've gained over the course of this, because you have to suck at some point. But I would say the one thing that I had pretty much off the bat was a close enough relationship with these three people.
I think just enjoy it, you have to make sure you enjoy it. We'll write some stuff or throw some chords down and get some ideas and they're terrible, like really bad. Just the process of getting that stuff out is cathartic and lovely. I think if you enjoy that process and you're willing to do it a lot, then you'll naturally get better.
The one thing I say to people a lot is try not to compare your success to the person next to you because everyone's always more successful than you, and everyone's always less successful than you. I think it's important to reach for goals, but not to let those goals define you and make that the part that's enjoyable because that's not what's important. What's important is the family, it's the art, and it's the music.
[Unpublished:] Who are your favorite artists?
[Nautics:] It's so eclectic, it's such a wide range. I would say that there's probably the basics like The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, The Vaccines, The Killers. A lot of different things but I think we've definitely all branched out. Since then, I know that Amir listens to a lot of Kanye. Honestly, anything, if it's classical music, if it's 80s dance disco, if it's some indie stuff. Anything that these guys recommend, I'll listen to. My favorites are made up of Van’s a lot of the time, Van has the most diverse taste.
Yeah, I feel like an essential for me is probably Vampire Weekend. Then I'd have to go once again My Bloody Valentine, Loveless. I really like The Growlers, so good.
I tend to like King Princess a lot. Charlie XCX is pretty good. Also Dua Lipa, her new album is my favorite thing in the entire world.
[Unpublished:] Where do you guys see yourself in five years, as a band and individually?
[Nautics:] At the very least, I hope we're still making music in whatever capacity that is. I still want to make music and I still want to play shows. I know that playing shows isn't as much of a real-life situation right now but I think ideally, I'd like to be able to play for people and create new things and hopefully as a whole group together. We seem to have a knack for sticking together. We'll definitely still be friends in five years, unless somebody does something terrible.
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