The NY based band SKATERS, known for their high energy performances and activity in the NYC creative community just released their debut album Manhattan yesterday. Drummer Noah took some time to chat to us about their music. You can also take a listen of their album below and watch their music video of for “Miss teen Massachusetts”!
Your hometown is New York, New York. Why Miss Teen Massachusetts?
Sounds prettier then miss teen new york. Also, the thought was more about the girl with that history behind her. She’s got that thing.
Your music video takes place in a mental institution. Was that simply a creative decision or was there some real life inspiration behind that?
No real-life implications! Although we did laugh about how accurate our diagnoses were. Danilo, our director swears he gave it no thought. The lyrics of the song are obviously about an obsessive and potentially dangerous crush, so Danilo wanted to shoot at a mental institution and play off all the psychological defects the lyrics imply through each of our characters. (I don’t know if that makes any sense)
Your band is active in the art world as well as the musical world. Are there different sets of inspiration for these two worlds or do you find inspiration in the same places and simply use it differently for your two mediums?
They can inspire each other, or they can be inspired by the same thing. Our record and our latest zine are both titled Manhattan. We gave the artists our take on the borough before we received their contributions. I think our visual art is more playful than the music we make. Hopefully they balance each other out.
Favorite skate trick?
Darkslide. No one will fuck with you if you land that.
What message are you hoping to get across through your video?
Play the video backwards and it will all make sense… nah, no message. Just meant to be fun and creative, and look pretty. Like all things.
What are you most excited for in London?
We hit up a burger joint in brixton market last time we were there. blew. our. minds! so that, some pie, some old pubs.
Story behind your nicknames?
MIC, his initials, his instrument. Nono B. kind of a condescending nickname, earned ‘barback’ as a young kid. JJ HUBZ, more recently though, ‘hubba-hubbard’, earned that from a stylist on a photo shoot. DTM. Dan. The . Man, or Dano.
What is your favorite Deli snack?
Gotta be the deli egg.
What’s coming up next?
We just made some stupid little videos called “getting to know you”. They’re kind of like track previews. We have a bunch we put up every week. SXSW, Governors Ball, some other tours to other places. Hopefully some musical collaborations this summer with other bands/artists.
Photographs by Shane McCauley