Interview: New Rock City

1: How did you decide on the name, “New Rock City"?

It came to us the summer we met, back in 2010 when we were roaming around the streets of NYC, surrounded by art and music, it became our island of hope and inspiration, New Rock City.

2: What inspires you to create?

Music, art, life, people, experiences, excitement.. But also moments of crisis and struggle can make a huge difference in our songs. New York can be way too tough sometimes, it can make you stronger or it can destroy you. For us, challenging times just make us stronger as a band, as songwriters, as friends and as individuals. Creativity is so mysterious, you never know when or from where its coming from. It’s a very complex process and it’s also very revealing when you find yourself immerse in it.

3: What advice would you give to someone who wants to be in a creative profession?

Create, create, create! Let the well of creativity pour out, whatever form it takes. And most important, enjoy the process and forget about the results.

4: Do you feel open minded about what you listen to? Do you like going out of your comfort zone?

Yes. You have to be curious. Curiosity will take you out of your comfort zone. Whatever it takes. If you touch safe ground you are dead!

5: What outlets do you find out about music from? (Record stores, magazines, samplers, etc.)

All of the above. Anywhere there's music. Through friends the most important. You've got to surround yourself with music lovers, play and go to concerts. Immerse in your local community of creators and artists and support each other. 

6: What is your favorite format to listen to music on? (CD, Vinyl, etc.)

Any format is good for us. Music is music. We still love to buy CD's and vinyl. Visuals are part of the art form for us. We find a lot of inspiration from movies and music documentaries. We strongly recommend “The Velvet Underground” by Todd Haynes. We saw it recently at the Film Forum, and we fell in love with NY once again, and of course with the Velvet..

7: How do you feel the internet has impacted the music business?

It's evident that it has changed the business side of music. It is what it is now. You create your thing and have immediate and direct contact with your audience. And that’s a huge advantage for an artist and also for the listener, now we all are connected in a different way, a more human and real approach we think. Making money like it used to happen back in the days becomes a 'lucky' side effect. 

8: Who was the first band/artist that became your favorite band?

K: The Cure, I don't even remember how I got the 'Mixed Up' cassette in my hands but I had to buy it again because I destroyed it with so many listens! And of course, John Lennon. There has always been a huge connection to his art and vision for me.

R: Well, I guess The Beatles. My parents used to play their records all the time so I instantly became a fan. David Bowie. Michael Jackson and his revolutionary music videos made a profound impact on me.

9: Do you have any hobbies outside of music? 

We find pleasure in many things, like going to the movies, running, fashion, photography, reading, traveling, meditation, writing poetry, hiking, we love nature and we love going to the beach. Coney Island is probably one of our favorite places in the city. 

10: What was the inspiration for your song “Nice To Meet Ya”?

We were listening to a lot of late 70's, early 80's punk rock, glam rock, so we were feeling like writing an immediate, catchy, rhythmic song that showed the band's new sound and direction.

In an era where confusion has turned into a great tool used to ‘guide’ people’s lives through massive manipulation, we think that’s imperative to follow our instinct and choose our own path in life.

For this song, we wanted to explore themes of alienation, hypocrisy, confusion and interconnect them with brief moments of hope, unity and rebellion. We wrote the song in 2019 and we decided to modify  the lyrics a little bit that we already had written to express and reflect all those feelings together while living the past year’s hard times. It’s clearly a statement. For the video we wanted to represent all that in a very simple way. We didn’t plan in advance. We called our friends Paul Grant and Tommy Krause. Tom managed to get an abandoned and huge warehouse, and we improvised when we got there. We shot it last December, the cold that day was too fierce. We were just 4 people working together with little resources but we had a real blast doing it.