I had the pleasure of talking to Nautics, a four piece independent band from New York City consisting of Kenzo, Amir, Van and Levitt. We discussed donating the proceeds of their new song to charity, forming the band in a Chipotle, collaborating with Dua Lipa and more.
Read the full interview below:
Q. First off, tell me a bit about Nautics for those who don't know you
L: So Nautics is composed of four lovely souls. Those being Kenzo, Amir, Van, and Levitt. We are based in the cosmos but more specifically on a planet known as Earth in a city known as the Big Apple.
Q. What kind of music do you create?
L: If I had to put a genre to it, I would say we are in the phase of indie pop, but our old stuff was mostly space rock.
Q. Is there a meaning behind your band name, if so what is it?
A: We had a group chat where we listed hundreds of names. Eventually we landed on the name Nautics. It was supposed to echo some old fashioned names of classic rock, while creating a sort of timeless feeling.
Q. How did you all meet?
L: We formed the Nautics you listen to today back in 2015 at Chipotle on Varick Street.
Q. Your new song is amazing, what was your inspiration behind it?
K: It sorta came about organically. The line “thoughts on the ceiling” came about as Van and I were riffing, coming up with different hook ideas. The phrase was supposed to encompass the moment in an argument when the person you are trying to reach has mentally checked out and is staring up at the ceiling. Anything else is open to interpretation.
Q. Did you find it difficult producing music during quarantine?
A: Obviously there’s some general quarantine malaise but we all go to different schools and have gotten used to collaborating remotely so we’ve still been musically active.
Q. Donating the proceeds of the new song to the Food Bank for New York City is really
cool, was there a reason for choosing that organisation over others?
L: The song was made well before we had known about COVID-19. When we released it, I came up with the idea to donate the proceeds to a charity. I was looking through a bunch of local charities since I felt that we should help out the city that gave us a home in the music industry. I stumbled upon the Food Bank for New York City and really liked their mission. I ended up emailing them thus creating a partnership.
Q. If you guys could collaborate with anyone who would it be?
K: Honestly, the answer is probably different for each of us, but a big one is Dua Lipa. We really admire pop music and she is sort of the queen right now. Also, we just like her music a lot and think it would be fun to write a single with her.
Q. And finally, any plans for the near future?
L: We kinda just go with the flow, so if that includes making some new tracks which I hope it does. Then those are our future plans.
So that's all. I would highly highly recommend that you go and check out Nautics' brand new song titled Thoughts on the ceiling. All proceeds will be donated to Food Bank for New York City. Their music is available on all major streaming platforms.
Photo one: taken by Evariste (@evaristegindrey)
Photo two: taken by Ori (@oOorii)
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