Gnarcissists just want to know if you hate their music
interviewed & shot by Christina Morgan
You guys are New York based - what do you think’s so special about the NY music scene? How do you stay relevant within such a saturated market?
Matt Orr: It’s actually not that special, and that’s why we’re booking shows.
Jerome: But there’s a lot of competition here, and that makes it really hard to stand out. So, we just try to come together as a team and stay unique. When people ask us ‘Oh, what’s your music like?’, I can’t even explain it because we cover like 9 genres in one set.
What does the band name mean?
Nazar: It’s a joke.
Matt Orr: I think we live in an age of narcissism.
Jerome: With social media, you get called a narcissist by a narcissistic person. That’s where the idea kinda came from.
Matt Orr: Everyone’s a narcissist, in a certain way.
Back in march, you played a little set a SXSW - what was it like? How did you get the gig?
Jerome: It was really fun!
Matt Orr: I drove our minivan halfway across the country. Matt was touring with his other band, Navy Gangs, and me, Eric, and Jerry rented a minivan, and I had to drive the whole way because the other two both don’t have licenses. We almost died multiple times, in snowstorms and other things. There was a lot of fast food - Nazar had never been to McDonalds!
Your next EP comes out tomorrow on Oct. 9th, what was the recording process like?
Nazar: It took a day. I had a fever. The studio we recorded it in was also used by Florence and the Machine.
Matt: Oh, and it was all tracked live, in one take.
Is there a song you like most to perform live?
Matt: Our favourite song to perform live is Suffocate. Also, Matt gets a concussion every set, and he trades off on each ACL tear.
What would your dream tour look like? Are there any places, or venues you have yet to play that you want to?
Matt Orr: All I know is it would end at Woodstock ’99.
Eric: And I’d have loved to play Chuck E. Cheese, back in Milford, CT. circa 1996.
If your music could be used in any film, which one would you chose and why?
Jerome: Scream. Wait, no - Scary Movie 3.
Is there anything you want people to know about the band?
Jerome: We want people to know that Matt wears tighty-whiteys. That’s it.
Nazar: I don’t wear any underwear.
Matt: Maybe - we’d like people to be honest about our music, instead of just saying ‘it’s good’. Everyone tells everyone they’re good, or ‘that was awesome!’ but I guess we want people to take a more critical approach. Or just to let us know if they hate it.
Any artists you are currently listening to that should be checked out?
Nazar: Flasyd
Matt: Hank Wood and the Hammerheads.
Eric: Poppies.
Can we expect any new things in the future, i.e. music videos, tour, etc.?
Jerome: We wrote a song tonight.
Matt: We’re playing that new song tonight, too. And we just locked a budget for a music video, so we’re gonna do that in the next two months. After that, we’re gonna be playing a show with Blacklips on Dec. 15th. And I think we’ll be touring soon after that.
Huge thanks to the boys of Gnarcissists for taking the time to talk with us before the show. Make sure to check them out, and all their latest releases on Instagram, Facebook, and Spotify.
