What happens when Casuistry meets Two One Six and form a brand new band named New Today? It is an excellent, atmospheric, cold wave and post punk-ish collaboration, of a certain quality according to the members’ credentials. They earlier released their first LP ‘More Than Time Moves’ (November 15th) and the song ‘Butterflies’ already made an impact in the genre fans. We made a very interesting interview with the band, related to the New Today project, and it’s all yours, enjoy!
Hello guys, welcome to Last Day Deaf! What a nice surprise that was, Dante Palomba of Casuistry and Daniel Srungaram of Two One Six, forming a new band! Please tell us all about it!
DANTE: Thanks for having us. It came as a surprise to us as well. We’ve talked about collaborating on a track in the past, for Two One Six, but we were both busy with our other projects. We both have much respect for each others’ solo projects, and I think you need to have that respect for someone to be able to successfully collaborate. The first song we worked on together was a track called ‘New Today’. It went so well that we decided to make it into a band; conveniently naming the band after that track.
What are the artistic needs and concerns that made you collaborate? Is it the missing edges in your projects or..?
DANTE: I think both of us were pretty frustrated with our solo projects. We released so much music so fast that it we burnt ourselves out. I have always worked better in bands rather than by myself. I grew up playing in bands playing at club since I was 15. Casuistry was the first “solo” project I’ve ever had. Casuistry got me through some really rough times. Now that I’ve come out on the other side, as a new person, Casuistry is not as relevant today as it was when it started.
As musicians, how do you consider New Today? I am asking about the artistic priorities, since both Casuistry and Two One Six released LP’s in 2016, and now New Today ‘More Than Time Moves’ LP…
DANTE: New Today is top priority for both of us right now. We see more of a future in New Today, and it is more fun.
Listening to ‘More Than Time Moves’, a post-punk musing, filled with new/dark wave elements reached my ears, but I also noticed a few pop “shots” hiding in. How do you regard your music though?
DANTE: We don’t. We don’t want to be tied down to any genre. We don’t think about defining our music. We are more interested in how others define New Today.
And how do you part the composing and the arranging needs in the band?
DANIEL: I usually load a bowl of some weed and tell myself I’m going take a six month break from making music. And then I’ll smoke the bowl, then a few days later, a new track is exported.
Lyrics-wise, who’s in charge? Also, I found no lyrics in the web regarding to New Today; So what are your stories about?
DANTE: I write all the lyrics. I haven’t thought too much about making the lyrics available online. Maybe i should post the lyrics online. My lyrics aren’t very black and white. I leave them open for interpretation. They are about whatever you want them to be about. Most of my lyrics expose a lot of my inner conflicts and things that are very personal to me.
DANIEL: I come up with most of the song titles. That’s about all I do lyrically. I honestly have no clue what Dante is saying 75% of the time. But his voice is so good that I don’t care.
In recent years, post punk and generally ‘wave’ music, are having a great renaissance by many talented musicians. In your point of view, why is this happening, why do you think people are getting more and more involved in the genres, as artists and fans as well?
DANIEL: Because it’s fucking good.
Could you please share few names that inspire New Today’s music, or few that you are fond of, not necessarily from the genre…
DANIEL: Rape Faction and Fatal Suit have been the two major catalysts in inspiring my sound over the years. I broke all my Joy Division records in half over my knee when I first heard these bands.
DANTE: Wire, The Wipers, The Velvet Underground.
The last song in ‘More Than Time Moves’, is ‘New Today’, the band’s name, what is the manifest in it?
DANIEL: It’s exactly what the lyrics say. It’s a new day, a new way, and it’s all up for the taking.
What are your future plans, including all projects?
DANIEL: We’re currently working on our follow-up album coming out sometime around Spring/Summer 2017.
We’re also putting together hard copies for ‘More Than Time Moves’. I have about 30 minutes of unreleased 2016 material sitting on the table.. I’ll probably put that out sometime soon.
I’m also hoping to get this book I wrote entitled ”Bloodless” made into a movie one day. The footage we used for the NT video ‘Wish’ is actually test footage from the movie I’ve been trying to make. So if a movie producer is reading this and needs a script… hit me up! I got work for you!
DANTE: New Today is my main focus at the moment. Casuistry may be releasing through Chromatin Records soon, but Casuistry’s future is undetermined.
Thank you very much for the interview New Today, please close it the way you wish.
DANIEL: Smoke weed everyday.
Mike Dimitriou