Brooklyn group The Eighty Six Seas are an amazing new indie folk project – they’ve recently released an EP titled, This Is Just A Simple Song, which I loved! If you liked it as much as I did, then check out the interview with Nick below!
By Jane Howkins
You released an EP recently that we reviewed, titled This Is Just A Simple Song. What can you tell us about the EP?
The EP contains all the songs that I had written back between 2012 and 2015. I’d tried to record them a few times, but for whatever reason they never felt quite right and I stepped away from them. When the pandemic came around, I found myself with lots of spare time and kept playing these songs over and over again and just found something in them that I hadn’t heard before. I sent an email to my friend Drew Bligh who I’d played with in a band called The Condescending Foxes, and he agreed to produce it.
I think the reason I’d been so hesitant to release the original recordings is that the songs themselves were so simple and I was afraid they wouldn’t stand on their own. Drew and I found a way to arrange them so that we could find little nuances and hidden moments that completely transformed them and made each one its own little picture.
Where can the EP be purchased?
It can be purchased from Bandcamp at https://theeightysixseas.bandcamp.com/. It’s out on digital now, and it’ll be released on vinyl next month!
Did you release any singles from the EP and do you have anymore planned?
I released Guy and Girl and The Insomniac’s Lament as singles before the EP was released in July. Nothing else from the EP will be released as a single, but I’m headed back to the studio shortly to record a song called Writing on the Wall that’s been a crowd favourite at my live shows.
Are there any plans to release another album or EP anytime soon or is it too early?
There have been some ideas bandied about for an EP featuring some piano and a string quartet arrangements of some songs, but it’s on the back burner at the moment. I’ve been working on a full album about art heists (particularly the robbery of the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum in Boston) that’s slowly coming along. I’ve played some of the songs during my live shows, and the hope is to write the rest of the album by the end of the year and record early next year.
Did the pandemic hinder your work much?
If anything, it actually made it easier. Most of the songs from This is Just a Simple Song had been kicking around in a rough form for years and were just waiting to be recorded. Without any other creative outlets during the pandemic, (I frequently perform on stage), I found myself playing through these songs on guitar and finally just said “it’s time” and started piecing the record together bit by bit. Most of the work was done in home studios, and we recorded drums in a proper studio once things eased up a bit last summer.
Your music is very folky. What/who are you influenced by and what have you been listening to recently?
My influences are all over the place. Belle and Sebastian, The Magnetic Fields, David Gray, Nick Drake, The Mountain Goats, The National and Peter Gabriel are the ones I can easily point to as being ‘heard’ in my work. I’ve been listening to The Divine Comedy on repeat a lot lately, particularly his live album from the Foreverland tour.
You’re based in Brooklyn. What is the local music scene like there at the moment?
It’s alive and kicking! It’s been incredible going out to shows and hearing the sheer amount of amazing music and talent that’s out there right now. Now that the pandemic has eased a bit, there’s been this release of pent up creative energy and longing for connection that the music scene has really benefitted from.
Do you have any UK tour dates planned?
Nothing planned, but I’m hopeful to get to the UK next year to do a small tour. If nothing else, I’ll need to hop across the pond to finally see The Divine Comedy live in person.
What can people expect from one of your shows and why do you think people should come and see you perform?
Most of the shows I’ve been doing lately have been solo with guitar, piano and a ton of looping pedals. I call my solo shows Simple Songs Live, because its all about taking songs that are in their essence very simple and turning them into these lush soundscapes that build on one another. I hope people come to see me perform because they want to connect and see how a simple song can be transformed. That, and because the drama of seeing me try to get the right instrument and hit the right button at the right time is quite the thrill.
Any last words for the fans?
The support means the world to me, and I hope to see you out on the road!