Interview With:: NGHBRS

First off, please introduce yourself and tell us what you do in the band!

My name is Jordan and I play drums in the band.

Your latest music video, Hold Up Girl, was shot by using Instagram and has gone viral! How did you guys come up with the concept for this video?

J: We knew we wanted to do something that was really out of the box and shareworthy. A lot of our favorite music videos are the ones that are extremely difficult to create. We brainstormed some ideas for a couple weeks and then one day Ian called me and was like, “dude, I got it!”

On top of releasing a viral music video, you guys also released your debut full-length just a few months ago and were also listed as one of the “Top 100 Bands to Watch Out for in 2013” by both Alternative Press and Absolute Punk. How does it feel to earn so much exposure over the past year as a DIY band?

J: It feels good to know that even without a lot of resources and outside help people are still taking notice to what we’re doing. It’s really tough to be a DIY band and it requires a ton of sacrifice. It’s definitely rewarding that it hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Twenty One Rooms is a great album that shows how diverse you guys can be with your sound while still staying true to yourselves. What do you hope your fans walk away with after listening to this album?

J: With this album we wanted to show how much our band has grown over the years. We’re constantly fighting an uphill battle, but we always stay persistent and keep fighting to reach our goals. This attitude of triumph against adversity is one of the biggest themes on the record. The fact that fans have reached out saying how much the record meant to them is such a humbling thing, and it’s exactly what we’ve set out to do.

You guys actually stayed in an abandoned estate of journalist and poet, William Cullen Bryant, to write and record Twenty One Rooms. Do you think this made a difference in what direction the album went?

J: The house we recorded in definitely played a huge role in the album. We went into the house with a lot of the material already written, but we were inspired to get in there and just write. We ended up writing some songs in the house that made the record over songs we had been working on for months. Ian pretty much scratched all his pre-written lyrics once we got into the house as well. I know the pictures and poetry on the walls really affected him. We also recorded the entire album live in the ballroom of the house, so the tones on the album are very roomy and alive.

What can we expect next from NGHBRS?

J: We’re really excited to be a part of this year’s CMJ Festival, and we’re hoping to really capitalize on the buzz our video created. Expect to see us on the road in 2014 for sure!

Thanks for your time! Anything else you’d like to add?

J: Thank you!!! Here are our links for you to have…

www.facebook.com/nghbrs
www.nghbrs.com
www.twitter.com/nghbrs
www.nghbrs.tumblr.com
www.youtube.com/nghbrs
www.instagram.com/nghbrsband

Review: Twenty One Rooms | NGHBRS

Now, I don’t want to “toot our own horn” or whatever, but when we released our second compilation last month (PS, go download that bad boy), I like to think that we made some pretty great choices regarding the bands we chose to include. Of those included, we have NGHBRS – one of Alternative Press’ 100 Bands You Need to Know and an AbsolutePunk.net Band to Watch.

And rightfully so.

On their debut full-length Twenty One Rooms, NGHBRS produce a sound that can draw countless comparisons, but in the end, is something that is only theirs. For a very new band, the nearly-automatic discernability of their sound is impressive.

Lead single and album intro “Hold Up Girl” premiered a little while back, and it makes sense to use the track in both of those aspects – it’s just as catchy as it is accessible.

Whether they’re slowly, achingly swooning (“1990,” “Wake Me in the Morning”) or raising the tempo with full-band energy and shredded guitar solos (“Twenty One Rooms,” “Dead Man’s Reprise,” “Beneath the Raging Sun”), the band shows a diverse skill set in what they can do with their sound.

Near the end of 2012, the band chose to lock themselves away in the abandoned estate of William Cullen Bryant, an esteemed journalist and poet. For two months, they reclused themselves within the rumoured-to-be-haunted mansion without television or internet. This lingering eeriness, accompanied with a bundled sense of isolation, timeliness, vacancy, and history can be heard throughout Twenty One Rooms, most obviously on “Everything Was Beautiful…,” which opens with Vonnegut’s famous quote from Slaughterhouse Five.

Twenty One Rooms is a special record. Upon a first listen, it’s good. Hell, it’s very good. But the more you listen to it, the more the intricacies stand out, the more you hear the little things that make it a special record. NGHBRS deliver an album that has something for any occasion and have a sound that is for everyone.

Word of advice: watch this band closely.

Release Date: July 16th, 2013
Rating: 4.25/5
Runtime: 35:16

Tracklist:
1. Hold Up Girl
2. 1990
3. We Were Wolves
4. Twenty One Rooms
5. Wake Me in the Morning
6. Beneath the Raging Sun
7. “Everything Was Beautiful…”
8. Dead Man’s Bluse
9. Dead Man’s Reprise
10. Screwtape
11. Green River

NGHBRS is:
Jordan Schneider
Ian Kenny
Tommy Fleischmann
Eric Vivelo


Written By: Eric Riley