Tell us about:

Your latest single you have released:

Hey, this is James from Nightbird Casino. Thanks for talking with me. Sunglasses After Sex was our latest single, it dropped December 17 (check out the video here: https://tinyurl.com/29hrs457). – it’s streaming on every major platform. It’s the first single off of LP3 – we’ve got two more on the way. It’s a song about climate change and the apocalypse pretending to be a song about sex and drugs.

Your first single and how you felt when it was released:

Our first single was Flume, which was back in October 2020 – we actually released it on an EP in 2018, and then again as a single in 2020. We still play that one at every show. It was kind of anticlimactic to be honest. I had no idea what I was doing so it was just kinda like … ok we recorded this song, let’s just release it into the ether and see what happens. 

Your favourite song that you have created that is an album track:

I’m actually a huge fan of Hourglass II. It’s the penultimate song on Russian Carpet and it’s just really beautiful and sad. It’s the first song I wrote that was explicitly about climate change, which is a topic that is unfortunately, pretty important to me. I love the production on that track … we’ve never played it live, given it’s so slow, but hopefully it starts showing up on tour this year. We shall see.

Your favourite song to play live:

Radio Anxiety, which will coincidentally be our next single. That song is incredibly fun to perform. It’s turning out to be a bitch to record but it’s a blast to play.

Your most emotional track:

The Squid is definitely the most emotional and personal so far. It’s a seven minute song about self-loathing and pushing away everyone who cares about you. I have to go to a dark place to perform that one. I think there will be songs that are equally emotional on the next album. 

The best lyric you have ever written:

“I’ve made a wide berth, everyone is maritime sometimes” amuses me. 

Describe the feeling you get when you walk on stage to do a show:

It’s a mixed bag. Generally I feel excitement, it’s pretty rare that I feel any real nervousness anymore but definitely a rush. We all have those shows where there’s just a handful of people and you can’t let those get you down. You have to put on the exact same show for 10 people that you would for 1000. 

The hardest track to play live:

For me, the most difficult is Lynx … the guitar alternates between 9/8, 12/8, and 5/8, I’m looping vocals as I go, and the vocals are essentially in 4/4 so they’re out of sync with what I’m playing on guitar.

Essential items you always take on tour with you?

Phone charger, laptop and an external to capture ideas whenever they come to me, also books! I’m always reading.

Describe your fans in three words:

Human; diverse; sagacious

A song by another artist or band you wish you had written:

I try not to think like that. There’s a lot of songs I enjoy that inspire my writing … still if I have to pick a recent one I’d say Thin Thing by The Smile. That whole album is incredible but Thin Thing is definitely a song that makes me think sh** I wish we’d write something that sounds like this!

What we can look forward to from your band this year:

We’ve got a single and video dropping in March, then another in probably April … I imagine LP3 will be evolving into its final form sometime late this year. I’m not sure what that release will look like but we’re kicking around a lot of ideas including a video for each song, a remix EP, and definitely a tour around the PNW/west coast. We’re also playing a bunch of great venues locally over the next few months so if you’re in southern Oregon, come hang out with us!