Roll of the Dice: 7 questions with Nanoseconds

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Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A Pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.

After just releasing the new EP Mid West Coast earlier this month, Chicago’s Nanoseconds are making waves in the post-punk scene. TGEFM was lucky enough to spend some time with the members of Nanoseconds to discuss the band’s sound, influences and the process of recording with members in Illinois and California.

Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! What should our readers know about the members of Nanoseconds and your sound?

(Bryan): We’re three best buds who just can’t stop playing music with one another.
(Tyler): Diverse love of music with a lot of shared influences, and a hunger to make the best musical choices to accommodate both our musical differences and similarities.
(Ren): Mostly that we love guitar music, and are always shooting to blend early 00’s and late 90’s punk/indie/alternative. I used to joke that if Thrice, The Strokes, Samiam, Interpol, Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, Alkaline Trio, and Queens of the Stone Age had a musical orgy, Nanoseconds would be the offspring! So if you like any of those, give us a go! 
We are just really good friends, that love hanging out as much as playing music. I feel our strengths and weaknesses complement each other perfectly. It is very easy for us to work together due to everyone’s open mindedness, similar tastes, and the experience of being in bands together for over 12 years now. 

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?

(B) Seeing Biffy Clyro live for the first time was pretty significant for me personally.
(T) Foo Fighters (first record – done almost fully by one person, which is the first time I’d heard of anything like that, just “be good at everything”)
(R) So many to mention, but for me when I heard the record “Californication” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I knew I could no longer just be a music fan, and started taking guitar lessons the following week. I feel that’s was the initial spark that started a life long journey in music. 

Ren, your main songwriter, has moved from Chicagoland to California since the last record.  What affect if any has that had on the songwriting process, musically, lyrically or even collaboratively?

(B): I think we have to be a lot more focused due to our main songwriter only being in town for a short period at a time. A lot of the collaboration happened over the internet but having the ability to work the final details out in person before recording was crucial.
(T): Our first time working digitally and over such a long period of time, and it went extremely smoothly, which made the in-person process much more fun than it could have been with relatively little time in-studio together.
(R): It was definitely more challenging for me, since I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to home recording and recording in general. But one thing that I could appreciate from it, is listening more carefully to the parts I have written, and ask for Bryan and Tyler’s help if I was stuck creatively. They always had something super cool to add, and their ideas made every song better, every time in a way that I could never think of. I love that about them. 

Nobody can deny the world has been changing drastically over the last few years.  Where do you see the future of music, both for Nanoseconds and also for the scene at large transitioning in light of these events?

(B) The future for Nanoseconds is to just have fun and keep doing this for as long as we can.
(T) The future of all popular music is still in live performance, both as a necessity for making a living as well as a performative and creative outlet. That said, the recording space is where music lives forever and surrounds us in our lives, so my interest in making recordings that people want to hear forever will never go away.
(R) My goal is to keep this going till we are old and grey, hahaha. For us the joy of creating something together for all these years, is the greatest reward. Also, I feel like each release we put out, we challenge ourselves as musicians more, and the music keeps getting better and better. We are also producers at this point too, so our knowledge about the process, and what works as song dynamics is so much more profound than it was in the past, and so are our abilities at our instruments and singing. I feel we still have so much more to write and release, we are just getting started!

One of our obligatory questions in these interviews also tends to be the one I have found most important on a personal level. Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?

(B) Brady, Bow & Spear, Bosses, Deadly Habits, Highdiver, Lume, Options, Twin Prince
(R) I am currently listening to the new Samiam record Stowaway nonstop, and I can’t recommend it enough. You Folks‘s new EP is also constantly spinning, and I love it. 

What’s next for the members of Nanoseconds?

(B) More music, more instrument changes, more guest appearances, more cowbell? Who knows!
(R) We are planning on recording more music towards the end of 2023, and hopefully do another release in 2024. Our timelines are super flexible, and change to accommodate everyone’s availability, but that’s the plan as for now. 

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

(B) Huge shout out to Adrian @ Ohmstead for recording and engineering!
(R) Be excellent to each other, and listen to our new EP Mid West Coast, available in all platforms April 13th!