Interview with Nora Marks

It's been a weird year, to say the least, for bands and fans alike. I know I'm itching to get back to shows. And I recognize that's the least of our problems these days. Yet, in the inimitable words of Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm, "life, uh, finds a way." And so local pop punks Nora Marks have a batch of new songs coming our way, starting with "Friction (But You Still Did)" on Friday. It's the first in a series of self-produced singles called the Soundbox Sessions. I caught up with the band about the new songs and how the year has gone for them.

Phil Collins: How has 2020 treated you?

Matt Galante (Bass/Vocals): I believe most of us have experienced every possible emotion during this fucked up roller coaster to the present. It really started out hot hot hot, and then obviously everything came to a grinding halt. As a band, we're grateful for the extra time we've been given under the circumstance, but holy shit we miss live music. Even though this year has been a "shit show" in every sense of the term, it's been nice to slow down and recalibrate with a lot of different aspects of life. Spending more time outside biking, grilling, and just enjoying home hobbies again has been mentally rewarding. Also been eating mushrooms pretty regularly, so you take the good with the bad, I guess?

PC: How did you go about recording at this time?

Matthew Garrity (Drums/Vocals): This was (and continues to be) our first time self-recording. I don't really have a fancy vocabulary for what we're doing. I went to school for a year for Audio Production & Design, and I'm using my limited knowledge from there and just tinkering around in the past, and learning as we go. What I will say is that we are trying and really doing a good job of capturing the 'fuck yeah' essence we get when we play a show. Self-recording has been great because it's almost like playing another instrument or having a fifth band member for us. We really get picky and have fun with it. It's kinda the collective chord for all of us to strum at once, if that makes any sense.

PC: What can we expect to hear with the Soundbox Sessions?

Michael Garrity (Guitar/Vocals): For starters, a bunch of new songs that we've been working on for over a year now that we're really excited to finally share with people. Many of these we have only played live once (at our last show at the Tonic Room on Leap Day 2020) or not at all. Like with "Friction," we'll also be re-recording a couple of previously released songs that have been overhauled since this current lineup came together.

Sonically, we've changed quite a bit this year, with all of us getting some new gear and toys that have helped us expand our creativity. We're also just a much more confident and competent band now, and all of this has contributed to the evolution of our sound. Better singers, better players, more capable of being fluid and dynamic, which allows us to try things I think we would've been intimidated by even this time last year. We even changed to a different default tuning on our guitars. And recording ourselves has also freed us up to experiment and be looser in the studio.

For the most part, this new batch of songs tend to be heavier and more muscular than what we've put out so far, but I still think the songwriting is totally approachable. I like to believe there is something for everyone in this collection. Most importantly, I just hope everyone hears how much we enjoy making music together.

PC: Why did you choose to release "Friction (But You Still Did)" first?

Robbie Bersano (Guitar/Vocals): It's one of our oldest songs that we still play regularly and it's really a band favorite but it doesn't quite fit the album we're putting together. We thought it'd be a good place to start if we're going to record and mix ourselves for the first time since we were so familiar with every aspect of the song. It's evolved alongside the band and is a nice bridge between who we used to be as a band and who we are now.

PC: Are there plans for a physical release?

Matthew Garrity: Yes. I couldn't give even a rough date at the time, but I know that we are all very interested in doing a physical release. We all collect records and get real geeky over them with each other. I can only assume that this is a road we'd like to go down. We have interest in doing a lot of releases, and I'd love to share them physically with everyone. Stay posted for updates on this one.

PC: If you had your choice, where would you play your first show back?

Matt Galante: Personally, I'm partial to Tonic Room because of how intimate it is there, because I want people jumping around and mixing it up. There's obviously a ton of awesome venues in the city, but honestly, I'm not opposed to playing a house show or outdoor festival. We're working on a very energetic live show with all our new songs and gizmos, so either way, it's going to be a rager no matter where we play.

PC: Do you plan to do any livestream shows?

Michael Garrity: I played a couple of solo/acoustic livestream shows earlier this year when the lockdown first started. I was fortunate enough to be invited to be a part of Blind Adam & The Federal League and Mystery Street Recording's Quarantine Livestream series, and I did a few sets on my own on our Facebook and Instagram Live feeds. I was never super comfortable with it, though, and life was pretty busy around that time. So I didn't really revisit it. We've been talking about doing a short stripped down full-band set as part of a showcase with our friend Ian from the band Cheatin' at Solitaire, and we've discussed doing like a full live set that we'd perform in our practice space, as well. There are a lot of logistics required to pull that off, though (especially DIY), so it's on the back burner for now. Our immediate focus is working on this collection of songs, and when we're further along in that process, I think we'll probably revisit that idea more seriously (which will also depend on the state of live music at that time).

PC: Have you gone down any rabbit holes, musical or otherwise, with more time at home this year?

Michael Garrity: Very early in quarantine, I watched all 23 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies with my son (I'd only seen about 6 before that) thinking it would help the two weeks go by quickly, but then quarantine never stopped. Then my wife and I watched the entirety of The Sopranos, and that's probably become my favorite show ever. Definitely screwed up not watching that sooner, and I can't wait to do it again (probably sooner than later).

Recently I've been really obsessed with The Venture Bros. I also went through some pretty intense phases of listening to the same albums on repeat. Some of the big ones were The Kinks' Muswell Hillbillies and Archers of Loaf's Icky Mettle. Also spent about a month listening to nothing but Thrice for whatever reason (not complaining, of course!). And lots of podcasts and reading books.

Robbie Bersano: This year I went down a massive rabbit hole, and I'm not sure how to describe it other than spacey, country, and emo. Julien Baker and Orville Peck and Phoebe Bridgers, who each released something this year, and I spent all year locked inside getting to know their back catalogues very well. I think you could include Laura Jane Grace's album in that realm. I've been a fan of hers forever. Stay Alive is the sort of album that makes me excited to write music. And I also found out about Dan Reeder who literally BUILDS all the instruments and equipment he uses to record. So, he kinda kinda sets a new bar for DIY which is infuriating cause his lyrics are already enviable. Really each of these artists are so skilled in their craft and yeah, maybe some of this music is very sad, it is music that makes me want to make music. Also (somewhat in the same genre), after extensive research I've concluded that Lou Reed is greater than Bob Dylan.

PC: We're working on our annual album of the year bracket at the moment. Do you have any favorite albums from 2020?

Michael Garrity: Yeah so much great stuff came out this year! Here are some of the albums I loved off the top of my head:

The Lawrence Arms - Skeleton Coast
Jeff Rosenstock - No Dream
Father John Misty - Anthem + 3 / Off-Key in Hamburg
Butchered - Wax Pathetic
Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison
Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
Bloodletter - Funeral Hymns
Bright Eyes - Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
Jeff Tweedy - Love is the King
Brian Fallon - Local Honey
The Casket Lottery - Short Songs for End Times
Bartees Strange - Live Forever

Matt Galante:

IDLES - Ultra Mono
Airstream Futures - Le Feu Et Le Sable
Single Mothers - Through a Wall

Robbie Bersano:

Tie
Jeff Rosenstock - No Dream
Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

PC: Anything else we should keep an eye out for?

Robbie Bersano: As I mentioned we're working on recording our new album, so hopefully that'll be out early next year. We also plan on doing a build up to the release with some cool new art, t-shirts, and coffee, as well as some live streams on Twitch(?). There's also hopes of putting a music video and some comedy sketches, but that'll all depend on when we can get enough people in one place to film. Before the pandemic we were determined to play as many shows as we could in 2020. Now, we're throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks.