With their brilliantly-addictive new single Black & White out now, we took the opportunity to chat to Nausica all about their career to-date, goals, inspirations, and more.
Nausica are back with new single 'Black & White'
For those who may be new to your music, how best would you describe your sound?
Eccentric, dreamy, danceable, 80s, indie. Pop with an experimental edge.
What challenges have you faced in the music industry so far?
I think the biggest challenge is to understand that you are in an industry at all. We’ve been doing everything by ourselves for years, e.g. writing hundreds of mails to clubs to get gigs, without getting a lot of response. But for now we think it’s an important part of learning how the industry works, to what they respond. You get more relaxed about everything that comes next.
How difficult would you say this career path is in terms of making a name for yourself?
It could be one of the most difficult in art, I guess, especially to stay truthful to what you believe is good music. But I am also not afraid of making mistakes or musical decisions you could regret. My experience showed me that this is the only way to grow. It’s a choice you make in life.
How important is it for you to have creative control over the work you produce?
Oh very much, because when you give all you have, you want to create something that is beautiful in your own perception. And when you find partners, like in our case, fashion designer and VJ Sarah Knüpfer, who is working with us for our music videos, it’s also very comforting to be able to trust someone to do their work well, let them work things out, to be able to let go of control.
Where do you draw influence and inspiration from for your work?
The lyrics are often from real life experience or inspired by what goes on in the world. The music itself comes into being in the rehearsal room. We create together. All four of us have a long list of inspiring musicians we listen to; Future Islands, Talking Heads, Japan, PJ Harvey, Warpaint…
If you could collaborate with anybody going forward, who would you choose and why?
Music-wise, I would love to collaborate with the singer of Future Islands. I feel deeply connected to his way of expression.
Tell us a random, funny fact about you that not many people know.
I have a forklift driver’s license and even drove a seven-ton forklift truck for a summer job when I was 20-years-old.
Do you have definitive aims or goals for your career?
Yes, of course. There are these very simple but important ones, e.g. to be able to live from the music, which is still not completely possible. I think the biggest one is to keep on doing it with passion, reminding yourself of what you have achieved already. As a band we are quite organised and we are working towards playing bigger shows; the main focus is on The Netherlands and Germany for this year.
Where do you hope to be this time next year?
I hope we’ll be preparing for festivals in the summer.
What should we expect from you in the coming weeks and months?
We’ll release a music video for Black & White soon (out now), and there will be another one in late summer, called All I Do.