Ackerman is an an experimental rock trio from Brooklyn.  The trio is comprised of Jordan McAfee, Matti Dunietz, and Bernardo Ochoa. Check out our interview with the band as we talk about their music, where they find inspiration, and NYC!

upfrontNY: Can you tell us about how the band was formed and your name Ackerman?

J: Initially, the project wasn’t formed as a band at all. For awhile Ackerman was just a vessel for me to release my own music that I was working on at the time. After being surrounded by so many close friends and artists for so long, it just ended up being a collaboration in so many different mediums, with the music at the core. We’ve had filmmakers, visual artists, animators, and graphic designers contribute to the project. It’s a creative outlet for more than just music-  even now, I mostly think of Ackerman in that respect, as a multimedia project with many different collaborators. The name came about from a man I met who lived a very rural life that I wanted. It represented a part of me I felt I had lost living in New York. Getting friends involved was a natural next-step after awhile. 

N: Jordan reached out to me and asked me to work on a melody for a song he was working on. I started hanging out at Jordan & Matti’s house more often, working on the song turned into working on a record, and the rest is history.

 

upfrontNY: How would you describe your music?

N: Exploration pop.

J: That’s a hard question. Genre-wise I think it’s hard to classify because the project has worn many different hats for different records. I think that’s the new normal, especially for us. It could be Nebulous-pop? Nebu-Pop? That works hahaha. 

 

upfrontNY: Can you tell us about your new single “Loverboy”?

J: Loverboy is the first single from our new EP, 1000 Variations of Yourself. It’s the closer of the record, and the end of the first stage of a two-EP narrative theme. 

N: It’s about an awkward first date! The song is beach-y and retro inspired but it’s actually about a couple huddling in a small cafe because their date got rained out.

 

upfrontNY: Where did you find the inspiration for the song?

J: It was inspired by the memory of an awkward date I went on a couple years ago, and explores themes of chemistry, platonic vs romantic love, and independence. 

N: We listened back to old school pop and rock songs and tried to emulate that while also having a sunny vibe.

 

upfrontNY: Can you describe that feeling you had when you first heard Loverboy and having others hear and connect to it as well?

J: I was just excited to get it out there.

N: It has been super exciting. So many people hit us up to tell us that they loved the song. We’ve been holding on to it for a long while, so to have our friends share that excitement is really special and kind of crazy.

 

upfrontNY: You have a show coming up September 6that Mercury Lounge. What do you love about performing in NYC and what can others expect from attending one of your shows?

M: Oh boy. Our shows can include a whole range of energy. We sometimes play ambient sounds and meditate on the more melancholy and calm music of ours.

Lately we’ve been digging in and releasing the more untamed and epic energy of ours. We’ll probably be rocking’ for most of the set. Our live songs take on a whole different form from our records and we don’t hold anything back. We let things breath and are willing to go in whatever direction the room takes us, even if that means composing entirely new songs on the spot. 

N: NYC musicians are amazing. Unless I’m playing bills with friends and people I already know, I always end up meeting new people or seeing a new band that I end up loving and learning from. It’s a great place to draw inspiration from.  It’s hard to answer an audience question as a performer – our shows are always different but we try to tap into the same energy. I’d say come with no expectations and hopefully we don’t suck lmao

J: NYC has some really exciting bands coming up right now. It’s always exciting to meet new people and see friends old and new! Our number 1 priority with live shows is to have fun, and we’re always trying to get the audience on that vibe as well.

 

upfrontNY: If you could play any venue, city, state, or country – where would it be?

M: All of them! Every venue and every city has a unique vibe and energy that provides it’s own excitement to our performance. My goal is to perform a lot and in vastly different settings. 

N: I’ve always wanted to play Israel-Palestine. It would be cool to tour through Europe as well. The Kitty Cat Klub in Minneapolis stole my heart last night so I definitely want to go back there.

J: I’ve never played a show outside before. That would be nice.

 

upfrontNY: How did Ackerman go from starting as a bedroom project to where it is today?

M: Well, first off I would say that it is still essentially a bedroom project. We really strive to convey that intimacy you get from being in your safe, comfy home that allows complete self-expression devoid of external pressures. It is a project where you feel comfortable falling asleep to the music, or frolicking around in circles jumping up and down and yelling at the top of your lungs.

J: There are elements of the bedroom project that still exist in Ackerman today. We still produce, record, and mix everything ourselves in our own little homemade studio. We call it “bedroom hi-fi”- 2 we just try to go for the highest fidelity and give our recordings that polish and professionalism ourselves. Having huge orchestrated songs and full orchestras on tracks don’t necessarily correlate with DIY usually, but we’re trying to change that. The process is virtually the same as it always has been. 

M: And that continues today at Stanhope Studios where we recorded the most recent EP. Right next door is my bedroom and the spirit lives on!

 

upfrontNY: Your album 1000 Variations of Yourself will be released this Fall – what can we expect from that?

J: Hard hitting songs that make you groove, expansive ambiences, immense orchestrations, crunchy guitar, smooth synth, tasty licks. We’ve really dialed it up for this EP. 

M: Someone recently described the album to me as a combination of ambiance and far-out grooves. It’s chill but then it’s also epic.

N: Power caller status. You’re going up to the top.

 

NYC FAVORITES

Concert Venue: 

J: Elsewhere 

N:  Elsewhere

M: Elsewhere

NYC spot: 

N: I really like my room lol

M: Too many to say!

J: Cypress Inn

Restaurant: 

J: Cypress Inn

N: Cypress Inn

M: Cypress Inn

NYC memory: 

J: There are too many to choose. 

N: Walking to the East River when I was 19 and marveling at the buildings and how small we all are.

M: All the hangs!

Best thing about NYC: 

J: The quiet when it snows. 

M: Constant change and moving forward

N: There’s always another “best thing” out there.