Richardine Bartee
Last night, I called Ian Kenny (vocalist of NGHBRS) to get insight on their latest single. During our call, Ian shared the inspiration behind the single, the songwriting process, linking up with the legendary Rock producer Mike Sapone and their headlining show on Friday at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. Read what he had to say about the second single, “Golden Age” and what you can expect from their live show.
Golden Age inspiration
‘Golden Age’ was an old little demo that I had recorded on my cell phone, just me and an acoustic guitar. A couple of months before we wound up actually writing it with the band and I remember sending it to the guys via text message and it kind of stuck with everyone. Everyone was really trying to work on it but we waited a little while and we let our ideas for the song flourish. Musically, we wanted to have a very fun, feel-good, summery vibe. Lyrically, in the same vain. It’s just kind of about my early 20s: Not having a full-time job, being out of school, working on music, experiencing things and going out with my friends, meeting new people and enjoying life at your golden age. It’s about the beauty of life.
Linking up with Mike Sapone
We linked up just through Long Island. He’s a very very well known Long Island producer. He’s done every Brand New record and most of the Taking Back Sunday records, and according to Ian, Sapone is a “big [and] praised Long Island guy.”
We’ve made a name for ourselves, around here, on Long Island. He reached out and was interested in hearing what new music we were writing and actually when we sent Golden Age, he instantly said he wanted to work on that song. He had ideas.
Mike Sapone was really excited and that made them really excited. Ultimately, Mr. Sapone wanted to work with the band because of this song.
Headlining Bowery Ballroom
The guys will headline the Bowery Ballroom this Friday, August 22 with Brick + Mortar (as openers) and they want you to come down to experience an “awesome time.” When asked what can a new fan expect when going to see the band, Ian disclosed “A lot of jam. Just a lot of cool things that link songs together. Alot of theatrics. We’re entertainers. We don’t really want you to kind of just stand on your cell phones, watching us.”
I laughed.
“You know, get involved and feel something. I think that’s the whole point of our show. We wanna evoke a feeling out of you. We wanna pull something from you so that we can use it to kind of fuel our fire. So just expect for the unexpected.”
They’ll be playing a lot of old and new songs.
“It’s one of my favourite New York City venues. I’ve seen tons of my favourite bands play there so it was really exciting to get that opportunity,” says Ian. “All of the bands are new and awesome and up and coming.”
“Golden Age” is the second song off their highly anticipated upcoming EP. Stream the awesome single below:
