Atlanta Darkwave act Now After Nothing is bringing classic Post-Punk/Darkwave influences and modernized electronic instrumentals to the present-day crowd. The latest release from the band is the Sick Fix Remix EP. We’d like to thank founding member, Matt Spatial for the interview today!
Thanks for taking time to speak with us. Can you tell us about any tattoos you might have and their significance? Are there any that you regret? Are there any you’d like to still get?
This is a very timely question because up to this point in my life I have never gotten the one that I have always wanted because I could never find the exact way to symbolize my relationship with music. I’m self-taught and can barely fumble through written music so getting some kind of music notes never seemed to be the right fit for me. Waveforms have become more commonplace and because the general aesthetic of them is so similar, I wouldn’t want it to be mistaken for anything other than my own song. Getting a symbolization from past bands I’ve been a part of never felt right either because as with most bands, there is always a bitter pill swirling in the mix of compromise and personality conflicts. With Now After Nothing, however, I am looking forward to getting the stylized letter “O” from our logo, which kind of serves as an unofficial icon for the band. This band lives and dies by me as the sole songwriter and ringleader so I have nothing but pride (or no one else to blame as the case may be.)
What’s the significance behind the “Now After Nothing” name?
My whole life I used to agonize over the “perfect” band name anytime I had to come up with one. It was quite maddening so eventually I decided to throw out all meaning and just go for something that rolls off the tongue or has a cool ring to it. That’s kind of how Now After Nothing came to be, but what was really exciting was later being able to attach a great amount of significance to the name during one of my earliest interviews for the band. I spoke about how this band was a return to music for me after a painfully long hiatus and exceptionally difficult period of my life. The name really felt serendipitous because beginning the process of writing all of these songs was a reclaiming of my identity and moving forward. Personally speaking, this project is in fact a focus on ‘now after nothing’.
When you do remixes for others, is there anything specific that might “grab” you and perhaps make the task more than “just a job”?
Yeah, I think it always becomes more then “just a job” because, thus far anyway, I have only done remixes for songs that I feel a real spark with. If I feel a connection to a song, then it’s just pure fun and creative exploration for me to get in there, pull apart the components and rebuild it based on whatever element it is that I felt a connection to. That element is usually different for every song though – it could be a drum beat, a vocal line… really anything.
Let’s say you were stranded on some island but you had the capability to put a flash drive with three of your most important songs into a sealed bottle and send it out to the world. These are songs that mean the most to you and best represent your legacy. What are they and why did you choose them?
That’s a real tough one! The old cliché of ‘your songs are like your children’ is mostly true but I do have some that I favor over others. I think the first song I would pick would be a song from my earliest days as a songwriter called, “Adventures In Electricity.” I got my hands on my first keyboard and composed this crazy electronic symphony with big, bombastic drums. The whole song sounded like some crazy Russian apocalyptic march. It’s never seen the light of day but you never know. The next two would have to be Now After Nothing songs. Currently, my favorites are “Criminal Feature” and “Entangled”, both of which will be on the upcoming EP. “Criminal Feature” has a really hooky chorus with vocal harmonies (something I always love) and “Entangled” is a mini-opus of gut-wrenching emotions.
Are your songs created in pretty much the same way in every case? Do you have to be in particular locations or moods to be inspired?
The start of a song varies just based on whatever instrument I have in my hands at the time. Location doesn’t matter much but my biggest necessity is knowing I am not under any time constraint. If I try to start a song, but I have to leave the house in an hour or whatever, it’s just not going to happen. It’s why I almost exclusively write late at night. I’m a complete night owl and get my best results when the world around me is silent.
Some artists often engage in certain rituals when composing in the certain studio or before performing. Ex: They may like to have certain items around, They may do certain pre-show preparation, They may do things like meditation. Are there any particular rituals you do before writing or performing?
I definitely have no rituals before writing. Before performing I’m usually too busy checking every detail up to the very last minute to even stop and think about any particular ritual. I suppose you could say that is my ritual – making sure that everything is ready to go. Now, as a lead vocalist though, I do try and do some quick vocal warmups just to loosen things up before going on. This is a new ritual for me though having only performed backing vocals in past projects.
Do you think that you will continue on your release pattern of doing more singles or remixes or perhaps consider an EP or LP at some point?
What’s next for Now After Nothing?
I can answer these two in tandem…
The next step is to release our first official EP in the Summer/Fall of this year. I initially liked the idea of releasing singles but as a new band I found it was harder to gain traction without an already established back catalog so I changed up my strategy to release the forthcoming EP. After that, I really haven’t decided yet. There will definitely be more music, but in what form remains to be seen. I’m really just so focused on getting the EP completed and continuing to play live. I’m currently working on a string of dates for after the EP is released.
Thanks for your time. These last words are yours.
Thank you so much for your questions and thank you to everyone reading! Your support means a great deal to me. Cheers!
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