MidWest Friends Fest: The One With Nowhere Fast

Pick up some Skyline Chili, make a few friendship bracelets and grab your buds as Midwest Friends Fest is returning to the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area for its sophomore year. Midwest Friends Fest is once again taking over the Southgate House Revival in Newport, KY. 

The 2-day festival with multiple stages and amazing national and local acts like Signals Midwest, Cinema Stare, The 1984 Draft and Tooth Lures A Fang will take place from 30 & 31 May with tickets available here. 

Today Seth Robinson (vox/guitars) of Nowhere Fast has joined TGEFM to discuss this year’s festival for this installment of our MWFF interview series. Check it out below and we’ll see you at the bonfire in the woods!

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Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! What should our readers know about Nowhere Fast; your history, your mission, your sound?

Thank you for having us! It’s our pleasure. So, for Nowhere, we’ve been at it for some time. We’ve had small stakes in a few places over the years, but Louisville, Kentucky has always been home base. Our mission is to continue our construct of rock and roll to whomever needs it and for ourselves. Making music, playing shows, and the catharsis that comes with it is still one of the best things we’re lucky enough to know. 

You are gearing up for Midwest Friends Fest in the coming months, what does the festival circuit mean to artists like yourselves?

The festival circuit for artists like ourselves is everything to us. This is true on any level of course, but it helps us get in front of people we may not have had the chance to. New friends are made and most of the time it feels like the best camp hang of your life. Also, Midwest Friends Fest is one of the best I have ever been a part of. Jared and his team are so proficient and welcoming all at the same time. It really feels like a family hang. 

What does Nowhere Fast have planned for us beyond MWFF?

Shows, shows, and more shows. We’re trying to put some miles in where available right into next year, but we have some things coming down the line for sure. We’ve also been demoing songs. 

What have been some of the most memorable moments or experiences with the band so far? What’s been the most unexpected? The weirdest?

Good question haha. There’s a laundry list for all three. I guess one is a recurring one. When we hit that autopilot on stage we’re just locked. That’s the chase as they say. Another would be the first time someone yelled out a song request and you were able to deliver. To see that person loving life for those few minutes is moving in a way on both ends. Most unexpected can fall under some of the people we have been very fortunate to work and play with. Also, jamming with some death metal guys in Vegas who were just going hard all night until sun up in the venue we played the night before. The weirdest, hmmm. One time we were searched with a wand in Johnson City, Tennessee to use the restroom in broad daylight. Another time in Provo, Utah the promoter handed me the entire door and said hold this and left for quite an extended amount of time. No reason at all. I didn’t know this person. The show was packed and he just said “here, I’ll be right back.” It was so strange. We eventually settled with the other bands. 

Regarding live sets, what are you most excited to bring to the Midwest Friends Fest audience? What do you want the attendees to say about your set when they tell their friends about you?

We’ll be bringing a lot of the new album with us, but definitely sprinkle some other goodies in there too. We want people to always hopefully connect with us. We hope they would say give these nerds a chance. 

We’ve all got a few, what is your biggest regret? A gig you turned down, advice you didn’t take, what one thing do you wish you handled differently as a musician?

The “what if I would have known then what I know now” for me personally would have been patience. It’s a loaded question, but for me that’s one of them. Be patient and take chances. Even if the chance is tough, find a way to make it happen. I’m sure all of us in this would have wanted to have been more aware of a lot of things back when. Growth is work though. To have gone through some of the regrets humbled me at least, which I think is needed by anyone in life. You can’t change some things, but can improve on them and be patient with what you’re piecing back together. Then, the things you can’t change do. Okay, sorry for my rant. 

The punk, ska and indie scenes have almost always been at the forefront of inclusion and diversity within the music scenes.   The flipside of course is that the gatekeeping in the scene is also very prevalent?  Why do you think the genre brings in such a welcoming community and is so happy to let everyone in and also seems to shut the doors so quickly behind themselves?

Great question. I don’t really know, but it is a topic discussed often. When I was getting into all three of these scenes you mentioned, it was the inclusion 
for anyone that drew me in. Anyone not racist, homophobic, chauvinistic, or just hateful was included by the time I was dipping my feet in these scenes. Then you start to look around and see the cracks. Those cracks are guarded well these days and that is a positive in all this. The gatekeeping I am not a fan of and can’t see the purpose. It pigeon holes you. You need growth to stay innovative. I also wish the gatekeepers would remember that what’s moving said person you’re targeting is the same thing moving you. Even if it’s from a slightly or more different path, it’s the community and the music. Those chords and lyrics are what drive all this. A message that says “I am here with you.” I could do a whole write up on this. We just need to keep the discussion open peacefully without judgement. These communities through work, travel, and passion are what helps culture us. That’s a very important thing.

This festival is all about friendships and music. What do you value most in friendships amongst yourself and your stagemates?

Nowhere is a family hands down. The good times, growing pains, the nature of life. We have a small circle that we are very fortunate enough to have. I value our love for one another. I value the fact we make the music we make, but most importantly our love for one another. Even through the smoke.

Last year, you were also part of the Midwest Friends Fest. What made you want to come back and perform with MWFF again? How has it felt being able to watch this thing grow from the inside?

Jared and his crew are genuine people and support each and every band. He’s not just booking this band because oh they are this band. Jared truly loves music and community. That’s the other thing, the work they do in their community alone is amazing. We were sold right away. You don’t find that all the time. We feel very lucky to watch this grow into what it deserves to be. 

I’ve got to be honest, I wasn’t very familiar with Nowhere Fast before you joined the MWFF roster.  Now that I’ve listened, I’m fairly obsessed the Modern Archaic record. Tell me a little bit about the record?  What was going on at the time that helped kickstart the songwriting process?

Thank you so much for listening! Coming out of the pandemic we had a slow start getting our footing back. We had some people contact us about doing some comps, hit the studio and got the gears turning again thankfully. I started diving into the songs I was writing and once we got Rafa in the fold, we hit the ground running and I do mean running. We wrote, took songs on the road, recorded them, wrote some more, took the songs on the road, and recorded them. It was longer for this record than we wanted, but I believe this record had to go this way. The songs put their foot down and we listened even if grumbling haha. Growth had to happen. We are all proud of this record. We worked hard on making the record sound cohesive, but keeping a landscape with quite a bit of space in it. Dave Chale at Dead Bird Studios in Louisville was a champion in the pushing he gave us. We were also so lucky to have Matt Poirier put his beautiful mix and master on this record. Finding the right person for “Modern Archaic” was not easy. I love Matt’s work and he knocked it out of the park for us. 
Thank you again for listening.

What album or band or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do”  Not just an influence but who or what was the catalyst?  On the flipside to that one… Who are some non-MWFF bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?

REM and Replacements videos had me sucked in as a kid. Like, “The One I Love,” “Fall On Me,” “It’s The End Of The World,” “Bastards of Young,” and “Can’t Hardly Wait” would stop me in my tracks. Before that it was Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly. I also got to see Falling Forward a few times when I was a young teen and it changed me. Thanks to a Transworld Skate video I fell in love with Face to Face and Superchunk instantly. Like, slowing the credits down to find out who they are. The Superchunk song was “Driveway to Driveway” and the Face To Face song was “Can’t Change The Word.”
I am excited for the new Kali Masi record. Louisville’s own Deady just released a new single that rips! I can’t wait for their new album. Mirrorless is another band from Lou that I haven’t seen yet, but hope to. I also hope we can share a stage with them soon. The new Jason Isbell record is great. Oh, I am absolutely obsessed with the Deep Sea Diver and their new album is one of my records of the year hands down. 

I don’t know if you’ve heard about this newcomer by the name of Taylor Swift. Her growing fanbase trades friendship bracelets. If you made a bracelet for MWFF, what word or phrase word you put on it?

Hugs and Community. 

Post show jam session in a large, empty field. What song are you singing around the bonfire? (Pardon my playful biases, but everything I know about the Midwest comes from shitty movies and songs by the Kinsella Bros. so I assume everyone playing here has spent some time at bonfire parties in the fields off some lonely county road)?

Hmmm haha! Any song off Nebraska and “Campfire Kansas.”

Midwest Friends Fest is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see?

Signals Midwest, Old Pictures/New Pictures, Bandages, Boy Clothes, Ghost Town Remedy, and our friends in Half Nelson to name a few, but excited for all I catch. I love this festival. 

Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?

Thanks for having us. Thanks to Jared for always championing our band and thanks to anyone who has ever given us a chance.