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Noba was reared on energetic and emotional live performances. "For me, keyboards aren't a scalpel, they're a sword. Broad strokes. I want emotion to come out of my keyboards, not details," states keyboardist and songwriter, Mick Riad. "When I go onstage," adds guitarist and singer David Bassiri, "I want my hands to explode. It's the reason I play the instrument I do, the reason I use the gear I use." "Its not very subtle," interrupts bass player, Jeremy Gelade. "Subtle is for...I don't know...'other' people."
Two years ago the members of Noba decided to record what would be their second full length album. They wrote seventeen songs and began pre-production in their New York space, Ashmoon Studios. Armed with producer, Nic Hard (The Church, The Bravery), they decided to head up to the Catskills to cut basic tracks at the famed Allaire Studios, returning to Ashmoon for the finishing touches.
"Have you ever listened to the album, 'Thriller?'," asks Mick. "I mean, really listened to what was going on? The drums are the same throughout every song. They are even pretty similar between songs. They used other means to elevate those songs. That's what we wanted to do. We wanted to lay super simple, but incredibly cool and hooky drum beats and let texture and music do the heavy lifting."
Joined on a few tunes by old friends on brass and reeds, Stuart Bogie (Antibalas, Sway Machinery) and Colin Stetson (Arcade Fire, Tom Waits), and with additional production help from Jason Cupp (The Elected, Maps & Atlases), Noba began to carve out the sound that defines these new songs. "When Cupp came in he just cut out all the fat and it was all there like we'd planned. How often does that EVER happen?"
Noba has now moved out of the recording studio and back into the rehearsal studio. "Well, it's the same space, really," says bassist Jeremy. "But this is the exciting part. Performing is such a different rush from recording. It's why we started playing music in the first place."
With drummer Brian Delaney (The New York Dolls) added to the mix Noba is rising to the challenge of bringing these songs to the stage. How are they interpreting these new songs? "We just go for it. Subtle is for 'other' people, right?"
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