An Interview With Williamsburg Band Keepaway
We couldn’t be more excited to have buzz band Keepaway headlining our Northside Festival showcase this year. Raves by tastemakers including Prefix, Pitchfork, and well, us, are quickly establishing this Williamsburg -based trio as a band to watch.
We spoke briefly with Frank Lyon (drums) and Nicholas Nauman (guitar) about their EP, the Animal Collective comparisons, and of course, Christina Ricci.
Keepaway will be playing the FREEwilliamsburg Northside Festival showcase at Brooklyn Bowl this Sunday, June 27th along with The Babies, Oh Land, Glass Ghost, and Hooray for Earth.
What are you trying to Keepaway from?
Frank: The money, the cars, the hoes. I suppose…
Nick: It’s one word, buddy. Ballsports, secret cubbies, our band. A vibe.
(Keepaway were formerly known as the unGooglable IN)
Where are you all from and where do you live now?
Frank: I am from a few places, but I will go to Minneapolis to die. I currently live on Lorimer St.
Nick: Mike and I spent many formative years together outside of Boston. I got Kentucky and Ohio in me. Some California. I live fairly close to Frank.
Do you have a favorite Williamsburg hangout?
Frank: My bed.
Nick: Frank’s bed.
Do you tire of the Animal Collective comparisons or are they apt?
Nick: I don’t get it. We were trying so hard to sound like Wavves.
Frank: It’s cool.
We love the EP. Do you bring something different to your live shows or do you try to replicate the sound of your recorded songs?
Nick: Thanks! The EP has its place in our shows, but actually we mostly play stuff that we haven’t properly recorded yet.
Frank: There is certainly and inevitably some replication going on, but, in general I like bands that don’t pretend the record and the live show owe each other too much. That’s like some real last year codependent sh*t. There is too much pleasing lateral space to explore in the performance of a song for me to be enthused by offering a carbon copy of something we did ONCE in a studio.
Jiggle Bug: J-J-J-J-jiggle.
Nick: We should mention, though, that we’ll be playing the EP in its entirety at an ATP Don’t Look Back festival in the fall, along with Peter Tosh and Danzig. Super super stoked about that.
Last year Meryl Streep showed up at the festival. If you could have anyone in attendance at your show on June 27, who would it be?
Frank: Christina Ricci.
Nick: One time in 1999 Mike and I saw Christina shooting a movie in Boston. She and Mike made kissy faces at each other. That’s a true story. But on June 27th, as at all our shows, I think we’d like to emphasize quantity over quality. The more people the better. I’d rather play to a million slobber-faced, smelly jerks than a roomful of Ghandis.
Who’s your favorite Brooklyn band, other than yourselves of course.
Nick: I like Biggie.
Frank: There’s a band called Behavior that I like a lot. They have a good related project too called “Pearl Necklace,” which I think is a pretty sassy and brave name.
Nick: I like Prince Rama.
What’s coming next? Is there a full length in the works?
Frank: We are putting out a single sometime toward the end of July called “100″ and we are currently hard at work writing our full length album to debut sometime next spring/summer, if all goes to plan.
Nick: Yea, we are wildly excited about the music we’re writing now. It’s a blessing. We just want to delve deep deep deep into these jams, find their kernels, pop them, spend serious quality time in the studio. Also, don’t forget about our budding clothing line, Keepaway Klose. The first run is almost sold out, but we’ll have more soon. We’re going to expand our brand like a marshmallow in the microwave.
Keepaway will be playing this Sunday at the FREEwilliamsburg Northside Showcase.
