Countdown to TREMOLO Shoegaze Music Festival 2024 // An Interview with BLACK NITE CRASH

• Thanks so much for the interview. Let’s trace the band’s roots and story

It’s a long story, 22 years now, but the short of it: many different members, but really one sound, always trying to write great pop tunes that are a little loud, a little fuzzy and a little reverb-y. Things started as an attempt to get back to basics, musically speaking, (simple chords/simple structures/familiar sounds) but blossomed over the years into much more as we’ve tried different things. We’re a Seattle band, but none of us come from Seattle. We’ve found each other over the years through friends and through ads, sometimes by design and sometimes by happenstance, and now that we’re together, we collaborate in a mutually fulfilling way. At this moment we are, and have been for a couple of years now, Jim Biggs (vox, gtr), Tony Zuniga (drums), Claire Tucker (vox, gtr), John Parker (bass) and James Stone (gtr). Melody, Noise, and The Beat, yeah.

• Who are your main influences and inspirations?
  

The Stooges, Ride, Echo and the Bunnymen, Abstract Art, Post-punk, Psychedelia, Spacemen 3, good Movies, cheap beer, whiskey, the Jesus and Mary Chain, late nights that become early mornings, bad relationships with good partners and good relationships with bad partners, MBV, existentialism, left-wing politics, Joy Division, The Church and just about anything else that ever crossed our minds. We’ve always just wanted to make music that we want to hear.

• How would you describe your sound?

Fuzzy indie psychegaze, except when it’s not.

• What does the word ‘shoegaze’ means to you?”
  

I’m a gazer from the old days, working college radio back in 1988 through the early 90s before anyone was really calling it that. For me it’s loud and swirly, buried in reverb and distortion- think Isn’t Anything-era My Bloody Valentine, Spacemen 3, and early Jesus and Mary Chain, though I definitely understand that most folks tend to associate the term with what I would call dream pop these days. The style definitely grabbed my attention from the moment I started hearing stuff like that. The music, especially when performed live, has always tended to move me in a visceral way.

• Tell us a little about your recording process and how you create your songs.
  

We work on our stuff together, often based on someone’s “seed” idea. Ideas are sometimes very loose, other times fairly well developed before we all start to work out our parts. Everyone has been encouraged over the years to bring their own ideas and develop their own parts once the basics of the songs have been worked out. Recording comes when we’ve gathered enough material (and enough funds). The only rule that exists, in my mind, is doing whatever makes the songs better. I don’t care from where or whom the idea comes; if it makes things better, that’s what we’ll do.

• Which song(s) are you most proud of and best represent the band?
  

As far as pride, all of them, really. Every song we finish writing seems like a tiny miracle to me. “Falling Down” from our first album is probably the most recognizable, and I was definitely proud of that one, but there are so many more that represent different aspects, eras, and moods of the band. Our latest album feels like a singles collection to me. I feel like I could make an argument for anything on that album to be “the” single. “Signals” or “Static” or “Affliction” or “Electric” all sound like album openers, but only one of them is. I’m immensely proud of the album and it very definitely represents what we’ve been up to in the last couple of years. Over the years I would say “Baby It’s You,” “Smile,” ”The Take,” “Perfect Blue,” “Come Easy,” “Heart of Stone,” and “When the Morning Comes” are some of the highlights that pop to mind, but I could easily list several more. I spend a lot of time just listening to our catalog, which is probably an indicator that generally we’ve succeeded in making the music we want to hear.

• What kind of old/new music are you listening to? Any current bands/artists that you are excited about at the moment?
  

I’ve been drowning myself in nostalgia lately with a lot of ’80s music, but I keep pretty eclectic listening habits. I went through a whole Northern Soul thing a few months ago and always have some kind of hip-hop in my playlists. As far as newer artists, I really dig English Teacher. Mo Dotti is pretty great. It seems like there’s a good shoegaze scene happening in LA/SoCal at the moment. I have a friend down there who keeps suggesting bands to me (like Mo Dotti) and they pretty much always turn out to be great. There are also a few artists that have been around for a bit, either in current bands or other projects, that released stuff I dug this year like The Soundcarriers, Beak>, and Rosalie Cunningham that are all getting some play with me these days. The new Ride and Fontaines DC albums are pretty great, too. The whole rebirth of Ride thing has been very satisfying for me. I think they’re every bit as great now as they were the first time around, and, in some ways, maybe even a bit better.

• Who would you most like to collaborate with?
  

I love collaborating with almost anyone. It’s just fun to kind of see what magic happens when you’re in a room with other musicians. There’s a thing they do here in Seattle (and back in Texas where it started, along with New York at some point, if I’m not mistaken) called the Rock Lottery where they gather a bunch of musicians early on a Saturday morning, then pull names out of a hat to form new bands for the day, who then split off and write 3 or 4 new songs to be performed at a show that same night. Might be the most fun I’ve ever had doing music. I got grouped with some great folks that stylistically were nothing like me at all and then we made some really great music together. So rewarding! And that’s really the way I’d prefer to go about it… the prevalence of home recording has made it easy for folks to trade tracks, but I really like, maybe even need, to be in the same room to work with someone. All that being said, if I had to pick one name for a dream collaborator it would have to be Brian Eno.

• What has been your best/worst gig so far (both as a performer and spectator)?
  

Ugh. As a performer, there have been a couple, often alcohol-fuelled, travesties. Best gigs played? There have been several small clubs in the last couple of years where everything just fell together so well… though our KEXP set from a few years back was a pretty great one where the performance sounded good and the whole experience was just overwhelmingly positive and satisfying. That one stands out. As a spectator, I’ve seen a lot of bad shows, none really worth singling out, but as far as best, for me, it was Adorable at JC Dobbs on South Street in Philadelphia back in ‘93 or ’94. Just an electric performance that cemented them as one of my all-time favorite bands.

• What are your expectations for the upcoming Tremolo Festival, and what should the audience expect from your performance?
  

Good crowds, and great music, if the past is any indicator. I’m excited for the deep dip into darkwave with bands like Dead Spells, Fotoform and Dark Chisme that’s set for the first night of the festival. As far as Black Nite Crash goes, we’ll be loud. And fun. It’ll be the last show with us for our guitarist James Stone. He moved out of town recently, which was sad for us, but good for him. He always brings great energy, so we’ll be enjoying our last jams with him. It’ll be a farewell party. We may have a holiday surprise at the end of the set if we can pull it together in time. If not, there’ll probably still be something new and/or unexpected.

• What are your plans for the future?
  

More music-making! We’re working on our next album right now, and hoping to be in the studio early next year. John, Tony, Claire and I will squeeze a little extra work out of James for that. We keep trying to get out on tour, but circumstances and adult responsibilities keep interfering. Does anyone want to do some booking for us? We wanna take this show on the road!

• Any parting words?
  

Support live music! Support local music! And if you’re in the Pacific NW do both by going to Tremolo!