King Baby by Night of Joy is an EP for the time we’re in. It’s a little noisy, a little angry, glimmers of lighter distraction and a lot of passion. But it’s not unbridled passion, the band is very much in control of every note. Definitely worth a listen or two!
Please tell us about Night of Joy. You’ve been together since 2015 but have had some significant changes in the last few years.
Night Of Joy started out as a very noise oriented band. We just wanted to be very loud and crass and even chase people out of the room. We all had massive pedal boards, including the vocals. But as we’ve progressed we’ve become so much more song oriented. We’ve become more palatable and traditionally hard rock in our sound. It was great being younger and scrappier and pissier, but maturing as songwriters, composers and performers has been very rewarding and it’s just been very natural. We were not intentional in our creative evolution. This last record is a time stamp of that natural evolution.
Your latest EP, King Baby, has an edge to the sound and vibe. The lyrics in Just a Number are bleak but the sound is cathartic. Can you tell us more about the song?
Just a number I think falls in line with the tradition of punk adjacent songwriters and bands, much like the stooges or even the hedonism of 90s LA. It’s about wanting to just feel something and be something visceral and alive in a world that is more and more dulled by the pacifying entrapments of life in late capitalism and consumerism.
Plasticine, by comparison, feels lighter more hopeful. Listening to the songs in order, I thought maybe this was going to be a shift in the album but it (and to a lesser degree Out of It) seem to be a blip. I’d like to know more about the song but also about the song order of the album.
The song order of the album is intentional in the aspect of pure sonic quality, not lyrically. Those songs sonically are meant to give the listener a little reprieve from the hard and fast quality of most of the rest of the record. You’ll notice, sonically, there is a valley or lull in the energy and wrath from numbers to plasticine to out of it. Regarding the lyrics, my lyrics are typically bleak, sardonic, existential rage and anti capitalist and anti conformist. Plasticine however has something of a more ‘hopeful’ tinge to it because it’s something of a utopian song. Which is also a part of our outlook as a band and as artists and human beings; we know the world is bleak and going to shit, but, as long as there is a tomorrow there is hope for better things, no matter how unlikely. And it’s not because I am, as a lyricist, naturally hopeful, I just believe that to discount hope all together is missing the fullness and truth of reality.
I love the start of Magazines. It’s like a false start that makes the song come into focus as you play. It captures my attention. How did you decide to start that way?
Wow. I love this question. But I don’t know. But I agree that the song is almost like two very different songs smashed together and forced to work. We’ve done songs like this in the past and as a band we just really like them— the type of song that starts out one way and ends in a totally different place. We all get a thrill out of those types of compositions and we typically have at least one on every record. The dynamic in magazines is kind of our Night Of Joy stamp of authenticity. Like if there wasn’t a song like that on the record, could you really consider it a real noj record? 🙂
Can you tell us about the EP release?
Partnering with Brady was one of the best things we’ve done. This is the first record in our ten years that we had a prolonged relationship and process with a producer. Typically we would woodshed our songs just amongst the band and go into the studio and knock it all out in a day or two. With Brady we were able to take our time and workshop the songs with him and get his input. This release is the most professional and detailed in terms of production that we’ve ever put out. We’re excited for people to hear it and, personally, I am excited to hear what people think of our sonic evolution— the people who’ve listened to us for years.
Mostly Minnesota 