Started in 2013 as a three-piece group consisting of Laith Abdel, Nathan Corder, and Leo Suarez, and then supported by 2 additional memebrs Joshua Paul and Danny Piechocki, Florida experimental math rockers NUDE TAYNE were already featured a couple of time here on IDIOTEQ (go here, here and here), but we’ve never had a chance to break down their angular indie rock punk sound and dig deeper into their idea of making art. Currently on the road in the US, these groovy, jazzy noise makers deliver an interesting sonic adventure that could be seen as a jam session, yet holding natural fluidity and marrying relentlessness and relaxation in a way that should attract a lot demanding listeners. taste their weirdness below and scroll down to see my interview with NUDE TAYNE!
Hey guys! Thanks so much for taking some time with IDIOTEQ. As you already know, I’m really stoked for each and every single of your wicked recordings, so I really appreciate your stepping in and your will to reveal some of your darkest secrets :) What’s up? How’s Tampa this fine October? How are you?
Hey, thanks!
Tampa is finally getting cooler out. we’ve been great, just playing a few shows locally and getting ready for our December tour.
12/1- Tallahassee, FL @ The Shark Tank
12/2- New Orleans, LA @ Sisters in Christ Records12/4- Nashville,TN @ Nostromo
12/5- St.Louis, MO @ Lemp Arts12/7- Akron, OH @ Hive Mind
12/8- Pittsburgh, PA @ The People’s Warehouse
12/9- Flemington, NJ @ TBA12/11- Charlotte,NC @ The Milestone
12/12- Rock Hill, SC @ Cowabungalow
12/13- Atlanta, GA @ Eyedrum
12/14- Savannah, GA @ The Erasery
Cool. Can you offer some introduction concerning this weird experimental punkish math rock music project and your path of self-fulfillment through it? How did you start this band and how has it changed over the years?
Nathan, Laith and I started playing together around summer/fall of 2013. From the beginning, the question of “what to play” was never really an issue. We never decided on a stylistic path which I think is one reason I love it so much. We all grew up playing in punk bands and attending those shows, and that energy always comes through.
A lot of the trio material at times is loop-based to fill the roll of a bass player or second guitar. At a certain point in writing “Nude Beach”, the decision to bring on two more people was made so that not only can more musical ideas be carried out easily, but each of those ideas could be built upon throughout the song in a way that made it different every time.
This is where Josh Paul and Danny Piechocki enter the fun!
What exactly do you wish to achieve with your work for this band?
I think we would all agree that we wish to achieve something that changes shape and form with each release/lineup/writing process but still lives within the same sound world that is Tayne.
Whether it’s two-piece improv, an electronic track, the three-piece group, or Five-piece, the overall personality still lives. We just released a Halloween spook track, that isn’t even music, and to me is still VERY much Tayne.
Haha, fair enough.
Are there more active bands that NUDE TAYNE members are involved in?
We’re all very busy with music outside of NUDE TAYNE – Nathan composes for several new music ensembles and has a band with Danny on drums called JITTERS. Tayne and Jitters have done some touring together in the past; they’re very worth checking out!
Danny also plays in several different groups around the St.Pete area on drums and bass guitar. Josh is the drummer for a western swing group called SIX-VOLT RODEO, and also plays with many different people around town on drums and guitar.
I’ve been playing in the band MEATWOUND for sometime and also have a band called CAREER as well as various improv/jazz projects in the works. Somehow, scheduling isn’t a nightmare!
Wow, sounds busy and it’s somehow obvious that you embrace several sub-styles and directions in your work. What can you tell us about your favorite music direction, how you come up with this specific blend of genres and the various methods you embrace in your creative process?
I don’t think this blend of genres is something that’s really cooked up or thought to hard about in any way. There’s a lot of piecing together work in the writing process, but I don’t feel like there’s too much concern with genre.
I think it’s just our natural way of playing together with each person coming from a different area of influences and musical skill sets at the time of writing/improvising.
The “plan out” approach to me, seems to be what shoots a lot of bands in the foot when it comes to putting out new material without redundancy.
With “Nude Beach”, Nathan and I both showed each other different ideas we were working on, knowing that the other person’s interpretation of that idea would probably be something far different than expected. From here, we found ways of putting these ideas together and structuring a form out of it. Parts that were originally written on the loop pedal were distributed to bass and guitar with certain drum cues snapping us into the next section of the song.
Live, all instruments and vocals take improvisational liberties, while still being aware of these cues and changes in the song. We’ve become big fans of finding ways to incorporate structured improvisation within the writing, but in a way that moves the music to its next stop and doesn’t stew to hard and long ;)
Haha, cool!
Ok, so what’s your biggest motivator and something that keeps you going as a band?
I think something that keeps us going is finding new and interesting ways to change up sounds, group dynamics, or even WHAT we release (the Halloween track, for example).
It’s also a good time touring and discovering the pockets of people who really enjoy the music and the overall live party. December tour is almost set to go, and it’s a ton of places we haven’t gone through yet. Stoked!
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What’s something you know that you wish you could’ve told yourself when you started NUDE TAYNE?
There’s not much I think I would have told myself- I dig all the surprises! Except I probably would have told myself to stay the fuck away from state roads in southern Georgia. : /
Hmmm, what happened on a state road in Georgia?
It’s a lot to get into, but we got to spend a few hours in a holding cell, lost all of our money, and rolled up to our last show of tour right as the band before us finished playing. No top-off for Tayne.
Wow, that sucks. How has been the experience of living, composing and playing live shows in Florida? Can you tell us more about your local music scene?
The music scene where we live is interesting because we more or less have two cities to work with- Tampa, and St.Petersburg just over the bridge.
It’s cool to get time in with both places, usually to different crowds of people in different sort of environments.
To me, St.Pete in general has always been more geared towards the arts, and shows there were always pretty mixed and more welcoming of different music.
However, I think Tampa has definitely come a long way with that. Laith and I were in a band a few years ago that would almost always play St.Pete shows because people booking in Tampa just didn’t know where to fit us and didn’t care to try.
Now a lot of that has changed, and I’m not sure if its due to desperation to fill a bill or genuine open-mindedness (I would hope the latter), but just about every show is completely mixed and everyone seems to enjoy the variety.
I’m playing duo improv with a sax player this weekend and its on a bill with an experimental rock band and a stoner metal group and i actually have no worries about response or stylistic clashing.
The Tayne likes to lay pretty low in our town as far as how many shows we play. A lot of bands in the area seem to over do the whole local show thing, which is never good.
Tayne places more value on writing, recording, and touring. It’s good to make new friends away from home and when you DO finally play a show in town, its a more special ordeal.The town is great for having a band though, no shortage of DIY shows, people are respectful, lots of different venues/houses coming and going constantly.
Sounds great! And what other local scenes are exceptional for their vitality and diversity? Do you have some favorite music related areas and spots far from home?
Other than Tampa, I think we’d all agree that Tallahassee has a really open-minded scene with some really hardworking people/bands. Always a really good time on tour I feel like.
I also enjoy what’s going on in Flemington, NJ. Our friends in the band CASUAL (Tayne’s first show was with CASUAL) converted a PNC bank into a really great DIY space and are doing quite a bit for that community.
Ok guys, in closing, is there anything else you would like to say about your future plans?
Not really much else as far as the future except what we’ve been doing- just writing a ton, experimenting with new lineups, sounds, structures and taking it back on the road! ; )
Thanks for doing this with us Karol.
