February 23 | BuzzMusic
Nautical Term is a progressive rock band from New England that was founded in 2017. The band is known for fusing pop-rock tones with unanticipated riffs and rhythms. Since their beginning, Nautical Term has been working tirelessly to release their debut EP “The Nautical Term EP” in November 2019. The EP consists of 6 songs including “Colors,” “Apartment 39,” “Manija Tamal,” “For Awhile,” “Runaway” and “Not That I Want To.” The tracks within “The Nautical Term EP” have drastic diversity of tone, which is what gives this EP its original personality. “Colors,” “For Awhile” and “Not That I Want To” are the EP’s quick-paced and upbeat songs.
The background instrumentals of these tracks are suspenseful and accompanied by a restless beat. “Colors” consists of a hasty electric guitar melody along with an active and abrupt drum beat. The upbeat instrumentals combined with the immediate vocals certainly makes “Colors” the most high energy song of “The Nautical Term EP.” Although it holds true to the lively tone of Nautical Term’s quick-paced songs, “For Awhile” has more of a mysterious vibe. Nautical Term drags out their vocals by holding notes for longer, and the instrumentals seem to mimic this style throughout the song. “Not That I Want To” is the final higher energy song of the EP; the hasty electric guitar and pounding drums are what put this track into the quicker paced category. Vocally, “Not That I Want To” is unique from the rest of “The Nautical Term EP” tracks.
Nautical Term clearly displays their emotion and feeling in the vocals. A combination of holding notes long and using higher-pitched voices make it seem like the lead singer is yearning for something. When he sings the lyrics “not that I want to” at the end of each chorus it seems he is trying to hide his deeper feelings. These lively and vigorous songs will keep you on your toes with unexpected sounds and seamless transitions between different tones. Nautical Term gives its audience a refreshing diversity by including songs with various dynamics and connotations. The songs “Apartment 39” and “Runaway” really highlight Nautical Term’s drumming, guitar, and vocal abilities. “Apartment 39” focuses more attention on the drumming at the beginning of the song. Nautical Term’s delicate vocals and sophisticated guitar soon take over, giving the audience a taste of their intrinsic musical talent. “Runaway” begins with a relaxed strum of electric guitars, which is soon accompanied by a sparse snare drum. The gentle instrumentals of “Runaway” leave room for the vocals to be emphasized. During the chorus, the electric guitarist takes a solo that creates a youthful vibe for the song.
For both “Apartment 39” and “Runaway” Nautical Term’s rock style takes more of an indie turn, representing the band’s musical versatility. Both of these tracks have a relaxed beat and a breezy guitar melody, making them the chill songs of “The Nautical Term EP.” Finally, “Manija Tamal” is the only song of the EP that is completely instrumental. This song is only a minute and a half long but keeps you engaged the whole time. Nautical Term displays their instrumental talent with this upbeat track. The energy of “Manija Tamal” is comparable to Meat Loaf’s “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights.” With their debut EP “The Nautical Term EP,” Nautical Term is showcasing their creativity and flexibility within the rock genre. Their personal touch to the traditional rock style is what will have their audience yearning for more releases.
Listen to “The Nautical Term EP” here.
Welcome to BuzzMusic Nautical Term! We enjoyed your progressive and versatile spin on rock songs. “The Nautical Term EP” included a diverse array of styles. Can you describe your creative process for this EP?
The four of us met while studying at the University of Connecticut, through a club called UConn Rock Ensemble. Once we formed the band, we were fortunate to be able to practice nearly every week after Rock Ensemble rehearsals had finished. It was during these practices, between 2017 and 2018, that we wrote the songs on The Nautical Term EP. It was a very collaborative process that often began with brainstorming sessions. The main riff in “Colors” was just an idea that our guitarist Ryan had come up with during our first rehearsal. From there, we brainstormed more parts that seemed to fit the mood and style. Similarly, the main riff in “Apartment 39” was written by our drummer Spencer, who sent us a video of himself playing it on piano. A lot of time was spent on structuring the songs so that each part would feel unique and meaningful. Some of the best parts came later when the song was written but still needed to be practiced. This was the case for Jack’s bassline in “Runaway,” which has really become one of the most important elements of that song. We never wanted to feel repetitive or uninspired with our songwriting, so we always had to be willing to abandon concepts or decide that we could do better. When it came to recording, we knew we wanted to keep it faithful to the four-person lineup while making it rewarding for repeat listens. The instrumentation of drums, bass, two electric and two acoustic guitars, with additional synthesizers and strings on a few songs, helped keep that authentic sound while also expanding on it.
Although you bring a unique edge to the rock genre, you displayed traditional rock too. Are there any other artists or groups that have influenced your music?
The collaborative songwriting process meant that all of our individual influences had a part to play in our music. For example, Jack draws influence from Flea to add melody along with harder, funky riffs, which is best exemplified in “Colors” and “Apartment 39.” Spencer’s biggest influences are metal bands like Dance Gavin Dance and Texas In July, and you can hear some of that heaviness in the bridges of “Runaway” and “Not That I Want To,” as well as the double kick at the end of “Colors.” This contrasts with the lighter style that Ryan and singer/guitarist Lucas bring, coming from a shared influence of Dave Matthews and Coldplay. Many of the chord voicings and rhythms, for example, the guitar part in “Not That I Want To,” feel like they could have come from a DMB song, and Lucas’s vocal melodies sometimes sound like a combination of Matthews and Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
Your song “Manija Tamal” is completely instrumental. What inspired your group to include an instrumental track in your debut EP?
We knew that after Spencer and Lucas graduated from UConn in the spring of 2018, our recording opportunities would be limited. So along with the five other songs, “Manija Tamal,” originally known to us as “Latin Jam,” was included on the EP. It had been a two-part snippet that never got expanded into a full song, but when we played it live, we had it transition right into “For Awhile.” We liked that so much that it felt wrong not to have the same live feeling on our EP.
Since your beginning in 2017, your band has come along the way having released its first EP! Can you tell us about any goals you have for the future? What are some things you are planning in order to achieve these goals?
The band has a lot to look forward to at the moment! We just recently played our first shows in New York City as well as in the Boston area and hope to go back soon. Right now, we are focusing on playing high-energy and tight shows while booking new and familiar venues whenever we can. We just added a new drummer, Jordan, who is incredibly talented and going to be playing live shows with us as well as working with us on some upcoming projects. We are spread out all over New England, so song-writing can be a difficult process, but we’re continuing to share new ideas and work with old ideas to complete tracks.
We were happy to have you here on BuzzMusic! We are excited to hear more from you and see where the release of this EP takes you as a band. Can you tell us about any upcoming shows or releases we can expect from you?
We are currently laying the groundwork for a new LP, which is shaping up to be more of a soft-rock influenced release when compared to The Nautical Term EP. We’ve already begun to play some of these songs live and can’t wait to record them. If you can’t wait that long, we’ll be down at Leesta Vall in Brooklyn for a straight-to-vinyl live recording session where you can request a song to put on your vinyl record (we’ll have more details soon). Additionally, we’ll be heading up to Amherst and Easthampton for shows this spring; Western Massachusetts has a really unique music scene and we’re very excited for those shows. Stay tuned for updates on our shows and upcoming releases on our website and Instagram!
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