Underground Hottlanta: Nomen Novum
Moorish Idols @ Home Park Fest 2007
Much like how Merriweather Post Pavilion has set the bar very high for 2009 albums on a nationwide level, Nomen Novum‘s debut full-length, November, may very well end up being the best album to come out of Atlanta this year. For those of you who are not in the know, Nomen Novum is currently made up of two thirds of the now defunct Moorish Idols. The only official record that Moorish Idols released during their tenure was a self-titled EP. That album was our favourite EP from 2007, and I really can’t recommend it enough.
The brainchild of both bands, David Norbery, disbanded Moorish Idols and decided to start over fresh to better express his vision. He focused his attention on his solo project called Nomen Novum, which is literally Latin for “New Name”. I was honestly a bit skeptical at first about the change of direction because I loved the old incarnation so much, but I underestimated one of Atlanta’s best sonic artists. November is a matured, less restrained effort than Moorish Idols, and manages to expand on all of the magic and brilliance that made me a fan in the first place.
What is also interesting about the album is that it is actually a bit of a relic in relation to where Nomen Novum is musically right now. Over the course of last year, the project went from being a full band, to a solo act, to finally a duo comprised of Norbery and fellow Moorish Idols veteran Mark Godfrey. For the better part of last year, Nomen Novum abandoned the guitar driven approach found on November and moved in a loop based direction. At the beginning of this year, the two gathered a small group of close friends in an empty room and recorded the performance. The resulting EP is called Room For Rent and was released for free digitally around the same time they released November. The two releases are almost polar opposite sorts of records. As the band travels farther and farther away from their Moorish Idols roots, there is something truly astonishing about an artist that can continue to redefine themselves and the resulting art continue to be consistently excellent.
I hit up David Norbery via email to get the straight dope on the Nomen Novum happenings:
Me: What was the process like in making November? Where was it recorded? Who was involved?
Him: I started Nomen Novum around August 2007, as a sort of open-ended solo project. I had a lot of songs backed up and wanted to get them out fast (that didn’t exactly happen.) It was a very transitional time for me; my band of several years was ending, I had been through a painful breakup but was starting a new relationship, and some of my best friends had moved away. It was very sad but at the same time I felt a new sense of awareness and freedom to try something new. The album opens with an alarm clock, and a lot of the songs involve awakening from, or coming to terms with a stagnant or ending era. There’s plenty of melancholy and nostalgia but also optimism for the future. Alex Martin played drums on three tracks and gockenspiel on one, everything else is me. I recorded it in my small practice space/studio (formerly my parents’ garage,) where Mantis Man and the Moorish Idols EP were also made. Erik Olson and I mixed it at my house, and Carl Saff in Chicago mastered it. I designed the art and made the outer sleeves and Imprint in Florida did the discs and inserts. The album was delayed for a number of reasons, mainly because I chose to put out the Mantis Man 7” first, and try playing the songs live with a band.
Me: I noticed you had many different lineups for live Nomen Novum shows last year. Have you settled into a permanent lineup now, or will this project be one that remains in constant flux?
Him: We played a handful of local shows with rotating members and formed a tighter quartet for a short tour with the Orphins, but the “band” thing never quite gelled. We weren’t all on the same page stylistically, and I was getting more into repetitive, loop based songwriting, which didn’t always require accompaniment. After the tour I did a solo set at WonderRoot, playing drums and guitar to prerecorded loops. I was kind of nervous but it went really well. The material was more conceptual and process-oriented, and wouldn’t have worked in the context of a band. Mark joined and we did another small tour with him on keyboard/laptop and me on guitar, drums and sampler. Since then we’ve gotten more into working with field recordings, and our last few shows haven’t had guitar or drums at all. We’ve discussed working with other musicians but working as a duo hasn’t been a limitation – the standard guitar/bass/drum format, on the other hand, was extremely limiting.
Me: Could you describe what the scene was like when you recorded Room For Rent? Do you have a favourite random moment that showed up on the recording?
Him: Room For Rent was really fun to make. I pitched the idea to Mark as a kind of musical installation. We had an empty bedrom in my house and wanted to take advantage of the acoustics before someone else moved in, so I brought my PA and we threw together a little party. About sixteen of our friends came. The room was tiny and people were constantly entering and leaving, very casual. We got beer and snacks and turned blacklights on. The performance sounds better now than it probably did at the time; I think a lot of our friends thought it was just weird. We tried to keep it loose and interactive, and I think people got a kick out of hearing their conversations looped. There’s a pause at the beginning of “Ready 4 Kidz” where my friend Sean asks if we want some pizza while we play, and that cracked me up so much I actually turned it up during mixing.
Me: What do you and Nomen Novum have planned for 2009?
Him: Mark and I have been collecting samples and live recordings, and figuring out how we want to use them on the new record. I just got a laptop and we’re going to start swapping tracks back and forth via FTP. We also have about an EP’s worth of slightly older tracks that I’m eager to finish and release somehow. A lot of stuff will probably end up on our website, which is a project in itself. I really need to get on the ball about promoting November – I still don’t even have that many copies assembled, which is stupid considering the time and money I’ve spent on the project. I’m supposed to get together with my friend Joey soon to finish editing a video he shot for “Permanent Makeup,” and I’m also trying to plan a tour before my vacation days expire. So I guess that’s a lot. Oh, and shirts! I’m making new tie-dyed shirts.
Me: How do you feel about the Atlanta music scene?
Him: Our scene has a lot of potential – places like WonderRoot, Vacation and 529 are all great examples of people taking initiative and making something cool happen. That said, I am still pretty ambivalent about most of the music that’s coming out of Atlanta – I wish local bands would take more risks instead of staying in comfort zones. I used to go to tons of shows but now I mainly just go to Kirkwood Ballers Club. That’s where the most interesting music is coming from these days and that’s where whatever’s “next” will probably start.
Ok, so here’s some media to get you hooked:
Download Room For Rent for free
- Posted by Davy Minor on February 13, 2009 at 6:04 am
One Response to “Underground Hottlanta: Nomen Novum”
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Anonymous Says:
February 13th, 2009 at 11:05 am
He has a left handed Jazzmaster…bastard!
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Anonymous Says:
February 13th, 2009 at 11:05 am
He has a left handed Jazzmaster…bastard!
