This week’s NY Entertainer of the Week is Eighty Ninety. We chatted about their music, their NYC favorites, and their experience at Douglass Recording.
Photo Credit: Mallory Turner.
upfrontNY: Can you tell us about your music?
Eighty Ninety: We call our style of music “808s and telecasters” because we approach every song without a preconceived or genre-based notion of what it should sound like. If a song calls for sub-bass and 808 drums, we’ll use those. If it calls for Nashville-style guitar, we’ll do that. “808s and telecasters” came from our first song, “Three Thirty”, which used both.
The one part of the process that is pretty consistent is that our songs will be written on a guitar or a piano before we produce them (rather than programming a beat or loop to write over).
upfrontNY: What was it like having Taylor Swift add “Your Favorite Song” to her Songs Taylor Loves playlist?
Eighty Ninety: We’re huge fans of Taylor — Abner once saw her two nights in a row — and so it was honestly a pretty wild experience for us. We have so much respect for her as a writer, producer and visionary artist that it was a kind of validation we never expected. It also introduced us to so many of her fans, who have been so supportive. The fact that she chose “Your Favorite Song”, which at the time was our newest song — and not viral in the way “Three Thirty” was — made it extra-special, like she really heard it and chose it as a song on its own terms.
upfrontNY: You have an EP coming out this year, what are you most looking forward to for the release?
Eighty Ninety: Up until now we’ve released mostly singles as well as one shorter EP, which has been a good way to define our sound and make each release feel special. But while making this EP, we were really intentional about creating a set of songs that fit together. The goal is to make songs that work on their own, but that achieve even greater meaning in the context of each other. With that in mind we tried to go even deeper musically and lyrically, which has been really fulfilling. We’re also just excited to get more music out there so you can leave us on shuffle.
upfrontNY: What can others expect from this EP?
Eighty Ninety: We’re hoping to both expand and deepen the world we’ve started to create with the first songs, both musically and narratively — there are stories that continue and develop throughout the songs, and characters that come and go. It almost felt like creating a season of tv in that way. Each episode has its own internal integrity, but together they tell a larger story that explores the themes and ideas that we’re most interested in and affected by.
upfrontNY: What is it like working together as brothers and following this dream together?
Eighty Ninety: We always wanted to make music together. As siblings we have an easy creative shorthand so it feels halfway between a collaboration and just having an extension of yourself working on the project. As brothers we can hype each other up and also ground each other. We got most of the fighting out of the way, haha. It’s been great.
upfrontNY: You recently performed at Douglass Recording, what was the best part of that experience?
Eighty Ninety: Douglass Recording is a great recording studio in Brooklyn run by our good friend Myles. His band Earthquake Lights just released their debut LP, and he pitched the idea of doing a livestream show with us and an audience to celebrate. We’ve never done something like that before so it was a cool way to have a show that was really intimate — there were probably 30 people in the audience — but also hugely public, because anyone in the world could tune in. Some people who live on the west coast (or in different countries) that haven’t had the chance to see us live were able to watch. The livestream is down now, but we’ve posted the video footage of us playing “Your Favorite Song” on our YouTube channel.
upfrontNY: Do you have a favorite song to perform?
Eighty Ninety: Sometimes we’ll get crowd sing-alongs to “Three Thirty” and “Your Favorite Song”, which is always really cool. We open the show with a bigger, more widescreen take on “Fading” that sets the stage for what we do as a live band and how the show differs from the records that we always love to play. It’s fun and also maybe even a little surprising for people who know our music.
upfrontNY: Do you have a dream venue, city, or country you hope to one day perform?
Eighty Ninety: We did our first tour last fall with Savoir Adore. It was an east coast run celebrating the release of their new record. We’d love to tour the west coast soon — it’s time.
upfrontNY: What is next for you?
Eighty Ninety: We’re going to be putting out the first single from our new EP very soon!
NYC FAVORITES
Favorite NYC music venue: Our favorite venue to play and see music at is the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Perfect size, great on-stage and venue sound. We had an awesome time playing there, opening for VHS Collection. A couple other favorites are Baby’s All Right and Elsewhere.
Favorite NYC spot for a night out with friends: We see as much music as we can – lots of our friends our musicians so a night at any of the venues we just mentioned. Music Hall, Baby’s, Elsewhere.
Favorite NYC restaurant: Since our favorite pizza place closed we’ve been pretty heartbroken.
Favorite NYC spot for inspiration: Different every day – which feels like the point.
Favorite thing about NYC: So many cool people crammed into such a small place.
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