As the festive season approaches, it is time for the most dangerous boy band on the planet to rise from their slumber and let rip. 9 o’clock Nasty unleash Rise Up. A ballad of resistance. A love song to revolution. The world is objectively a worse place. A scarier place. An increasingly threatening and uncomfortable place. Where are all the protest songs? Why are all the handsome and interesting looking rock stars not inciting the masses to resist? No, we don’t know either but we have decided to do something about it. We are now officially a BOY BAND and this is our love-pop-power-ballad of insurrection.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey 9 o'clock Nasty, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
Pete was forced into music by a disreputable uncle who sold him to a touring child band. This is truth. He was paid pennies to play Beatles covers to drunken fools and calmed them with his strumming. Sydd was born a drummer. There was no time in his life when we wasn’t banging anything in time with the merciless beat in his head. Ted has never been into music. He pretends to be, he liked the working hours and the lifestyle, but he’d rather shave goats and write poems.
Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of music?
None. We are obsessives. That is the nicest thing about us. Every day we fight to get through the routine so we can get back to work on the next song. Always the next song.
Your latest song is 'Rise Up'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
We wrote it at our original studio, a place where we are no longer welcome. The accident with the petrol and the spaghetti was the cause of our downfall. We wrote it at the kitchen table surrounded by friends and recorded a demo there and then. That same beautiful afternoon and evening we drank too much and we wrote five songs. Four made it onto the album, with “I’m Bent” turning into a proper little firecracker of a single. “Rise Up” just didn’t fit. It is an angry song, but a kind one. It has a soul and it wants to do good. So we kept it close and let it rest. Once we were ready, in our new studio we listened to the demo and set out to recreate it. Every time we wanted to add something we had a battle, every note, every tap had to earn its place. It is our most naked and honest song.
Can you reveal the recipe for a musical hit?
If we found that recipe we would destroy it. Hits are for people that crave popularity and frankly, we’re too old and too tired for that. We can tell you the recipe for a 9 o’clock Nasty song if you like.
First, don’t bore us. Take us to the chorus. This is music not sex. We need to get to the first climax before the listener is comfortable. Push them. Second keep it short and strip everything that is not serving the purpose of the song. The purpose of the song is the chorus. That is the point of the arrow. Third, keeping it bare does not mean sacrificing quality. Layer and harmonise to emphasise the main thing. The main thing being, the chorus. That and mastering to -11dB LUPS.
What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as an artist?
We poke each other. We laugh. We talk. None of us are entirely happy with anything we have done. That imbalance, that dynamic means that we are like a statue on the back of a duck. A very strong and brave duck that will hold the statue as long as it can, but it will eventually fall and shatter into a thousand pieces and the like will never exist again. We write as fast as we can. We fight to release music because tomorrow it could be over.
What inspires you as an artist? Could it be the sea, the weather or something else?
Each other. We are lenses onto the world and the way we describe it to each other and laugh makes us see it better. We are inspired by greed, lust and stupidity. We are inspired by love, kindness and respect. Writing songs makes the pain go away.
What is one message you would give to your fans?
Start a band. Send us a demo. Let us make you famous. Then when you are famous, tell everyone we were the inspiration for your Art.
Do you have a mentor or coach?
Each other. Aside from that have friends that we admire and love who we draw ideas and strength from. There are other bands who we learn so much from. It is really interesting how you can meet another band online and talk and talk and then when you meet it is like you have known them forever, The three bands we’ve collaborated with this year probably deserve a shout out. The Qwarks persuaded us to play live which took us out of our comfort zone, but was euphoric. There is a joy and a freedom in how they write and play we could learn a lot from. I Am The Unicorn Head who we have already done one single with, and we hope to release another one with soon, have an ear for what makes a sing truly magical. Thirdly our transatlantic associate, Golden Plates who we worked on a song called “Holy War” with whose work we’ve spent altogether too long dissecting and rebuilding. We’ve done a remix of one of his songs we hope will come out soon, which was a fascinating experience.
Do you think it's easy to become established in the music world, or is it difficult?
It’s hard work. But the hours are good and the food is great. We are outsiders. That is the whole point of what we do. We are the idiots that throw stones at your window and knock on your door and run away. If you let us inside we would find that very awkward.
What accomplishments do you see yourself achieving in the next five to 10 years?
We can’t talk in terms of the next 5 to 10 days. Life is short and things happen. Right now our greatest achievement would be to finish recording “The Gastronaut,” an insane 3 minute piano, bass and vocal song about food critic erotica. Tomorrow it will be something else. If we are still enjoying working together and writing things we feel proud of in five years, that would be an accomplishment and a surprise. Playing live and seeing the look of shock on people’s faces when we kicked into gear was good. Hopefully we will keep finding ways to perform without all the time lost in preparation and logistics.
Thank you for the questions.