The Nude Party’s second album Midnight Manor, (dropped today) is different from what the six friends have done before. 2020 has forced the band off the road and into this weird collective limbo where tomorrow’s uncertainties force us to be present. Without incessantly performing and what would have been a live introduction to the album, the experience of Midnight Manor changes. Both musicians and listeners become a little more reflective, a little more internal. Yes, most songs will make you involuntarily dance, but the album brings us into a “conceptual space where the music lies,” an “aestheticism of creation.”
We know the band is comfortable with physical vulnerability – “nude” isn’t meant to be cheeky. With songs like “Time Moves on” and “Things Fall Apart,” we hear Patton Magee’s descents into lyrical vulnerability. His writing ventures into the raw and visceral: “It really numbed my mind / to watch you breathing / all fast and rough / you’re so out of time” (“Time Moves On.) Recording the album near home in the Catskills at Outlier Inn also allowed the band to explore possibilities within sound. With a baritone guitar, symphony drums, and a ton of gear at their disposal, they could experiment and play around to find the sounds they chase like “a little ELO nod” in “Shine Your Light.”
Even without the physical and temporal experience of live music, the album transports us with its imagery, sense of place, and range of sound. We’re at a slow dance (which I imagine as the concerts in Twin Peaks The Return) a dive bar, a highway car. Accompanied by two artistically crafted music videos (“Shine Your Light” covered by AP here and “Lonely Heather,”) the album captures the intimacy of performance.
When I called to talk about the new album, Austin Brose (vox, percussion) and Shaun Couture (vox, guitar) picked up the phone on the road heading to The White Mountains. I wasn’t surprised they were off somewhere. For The Nude Party, the normal is nomadic. Their 7-year stretch of pretty consistent touring has created a lifestyle of transience.
The band members have had space to reflect on their role as musicians during these times, what they want to share, and what this album means. Stream Midnight Manor here and read our interview with Sean and Austin below.
Allston Pudding: What does it mean to put out your second album in the context of 2020, the here and now? What has it been like to sit with Midnight Manor during this chaotic year?
Shaun Couture: It’s been a hard and heavy year. We didn’t want to promote ourselves when there was so much happening with all the social issues going on in the world. We didn’t want to make anything about us. At the same time, we’ve come to the conclusion that our music is our contribution to the world. However people take it, whether it makes them feel better or if they don’t like it, is the weight of being a musician and putting music out.
We’ve done what we can to morally contribute to what’s going on. At the same time at the end of the day, we are musicians and putting out records is what we do. The only way for us to feel sane and the only way to continue being who we are is to do what we do. And that’s putting out a record.
AP: As a listener I was thinking about how lyrics might have new connotations and meanings in the context of 2020. Since this album was written pre-covid, has it taken on a new meaning? Have you changed your personal views on it?
Austin Brose: I don’t know if personal views have changed but there’s a funny congruence between what otherwise would be romantic or relationship derived lyrics and which are now attributed to the greater humanity of what is happening. “The Cure Is You” was kind of a romantic idea. Of a person being a puzzle piece that helps another person out. It suits the situation now. In “Things Fall Apart” …shit is falling apart. It’s an absolute dumpster fire of a year. There are definitely lyrical themes that could be relatable to the human conditions we’re all facing without them ever meaning to.
AP: In the Consequence of Sound piece, Patton mentions specific influences—a fuzz sound and a couple bands that were influential. Can you tell me a little more about sound influences and what you were going for?
SC: We used fuzz before but used it way more on this record. One texture on this record that was more prevalent than the last one was all the percussion that we did. Especially with “Time Moves On.” There are a lot of layers to that song.
AB: In that one, I used an orchestra bass drum, orchestra symphony drum, and there’s a marimba part. To me, it’s indicative of our maturity in songwriting. If there’s a lot more going on, it opens up a lot of opportunities for me to experiment. And also the studio had that stuff. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to play symphony. Shaun borrowed a baritone guitar for that song too. We got to do a lot on this album that we didn’t get to do in the last one. Also, because we had 3 times as much time to record this, instead of pumping out everything in mayhem we got to sit with ideas and expound on what would sound good. Connor and Don put synths on a bunch of stuff.
SC: Yeah, people still think of us as a party band and think of how we were when we started. We’ve been doing this now for years and we’ve grown a lot. Lyrically, Patton really opened up and expresses himself in this album.
AP: Do you incorporate gear / tech into your set up?
SC: Not so much. None of us are huge gear heads. Everything we have with us is there for a reason. We don’t take anything we don’t use. When we’re in the studio we’ll try out sounds. Although I will say we have expanded. Especially by adding Catfish (Jon ‘Catfish’ Delorme) to the live band, he’s added another element with the pedal steel. We’ve also been using acoustic guitar more often.
Yeah, like the last track “Nashville Record Company” is acoustic.
SC: “Pardon Me Satan” also has an acoustic on it; “Easier Said Than Done” has an acoustic behind it too. That’s another texture that I really love. I love the old Dion and Bob Dylan Columbia Recordings where it’s high energy high power but always with an acoustic in the background and a tambourine that’s really high in the mix. It adds a jangle that I really like.
We appreciate quality sound, whatever it takes to get to that sound is what matters. Whether it be some pedal or an amp or a guitar. Personally, I love hearing the sounds and the production on records. It’s a really important part for me to have those aspects of the record right. I usually have a sound in mind and whatever it takes to get to it is all I care about. The baritone sound that I wanted to capture is influenced by this George Jones song called “The Race is On.” We appreciate good quality gear which for us has been dig[ital] gear since it works better with our sound and influence.
AP: You mentioned the influence of The Shine Brothers song “Manic Swing.” What are other influences or just things you’ve been into lately?
AB: This drive we listened to the new Fleet Foxes album so we could compare it to their new album. We just had some Cut Worms going, he just released an album that’s fucking impeccable.
SP: Lately a lot of Dion, I’m also really into early 2000s r&b. T-Pain.
AP: Shaun and I spoke about how the “Shine Your Light” video is a series of striking vignettes that stand on their own without needing to rely on context. In this album do the songs stand alone or play into each other?
AB: I think that falls under the aestheticism of Midnight Manor. We were just hashing through this and talking about what the title “Midnight Manor” means. We arrived at the idea of an aestheticism of creation. It’s not geographical but a place you go to in your head when you create something. It’s definitely exemplary of a series of vignettes and the video, it’s definitely exemplary of that. It can be seen as various related or unrelated things, could be taken on their own or on as a whole.
Lastly, how has the concept of home changed for you now that you’re off the road? Manor means house which directly contrasts with living on the road in that “Chevrolet Van.” What has that been like and to live together?
SC: We toured for the better part of six or seven years. We were on the road more than we were at home and now we’ve been able to have a home life and time to ourselves. Before when we were on tour we weren’t able to go out and camp and do stuff like this.
It’s been good creatively and psychologically for everyone. We’ve been able to explore other things and to get into our personal interests. Having that time gives us a chance to sit back and reflect on what’s happening in the world and what you personally can do as a band. When you’re on tour you don’t have that room in your headspace to think things through clearly.
We’re hard wired to living together, we’re used to being in a van together all the time. We all do our own thing and go on our own trips but we’re still hanging out on the porch at the end of the night jamming.
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Midnight Manor gives us the mental escape that we need through a 12-track illusory midnight dream-state. Maybe we’ll all meet there, in this conceptual manor, and in that timeline we’re dancing, drinking, listening, and feeling. One day, it’ll be in person, but for now, in our minds, hearts, and ears. Available on all streaming platforms. Order on Bandcamp!