Nightbird Casino 14/2/23
MM: Can you tell us about your Band and who’s your biggest influences?
Nightbird Casino is a four-piece semi experimental post-wave band from southern Oregon. We’ve
released two albums and are currently working on a third LP due out in late 2023 – hopefully! The band
is made up of myself (James Moore, vocals, guitar); Oliver Collins (drums); Landon Strine (bass, keys);
and Amanda Moore (ondes martenot, keys).
We all draw from very different influences as we’re four different people – but we’re all really into, in
general, slightly more experimental music that’s inspired by post-punk / new wave / shoegaze ... bands
like Radiohead, Interpol, The War on Drugs, Sigur Ros, Hum, Interpol, Future Islands, my bloody
valentine, Joy Division, Spoon ... all that. We’re also all into a variety of other music: classical, jazz, hip-
hop, funk, electronic, so our ideas come from all over.
MM: Where do you draw your inspirations and ideas from?
I tend to get ideas from my own life, from dreams, observations of other people and whatever I’m reading
at the moment. I read a lot. I think we all draw ideas from those things .... Life, nature, art, dreams,
literature, and of course, whatever music we happen to be listening to or sharing with each other at the
moment.
MM: What would you say is your bands favourite song?
There’s no answer to this question – there are five people in this band and we all have different favourite
songs ... I can’t even pick one single favourite song myself, I have so many. Of our own songs we’re all
pretty excited about our next single – we’ve been performing it under the name Radio Anxiety. It’s a
banger and it’s fun to play.
MM: Plans tour and festival wise for 2023?
We’re playing a St Patricks Day festival here in Ashland next month and we’ve got a ton of great local
shows around the area over the spring/summer months. We’re planning on touring late 2023 to support
the new album but nothing’s set in stone yet. It’s still in the planning phase but I expect we’ll be hitting
most major cities on the west coast.
MM: What can we expect from Nightbird Casino live?
The best goddamn live show you’ve ever seen and also a chance to win a date with our drummer – we
raffle tickets.
MM: What do you like best and worst about touring?
There’s nothing quite like getting to perform your music in front of new people every night, seeing new
cities, and spending time with your friends doing it ... but there’s also long periods of monotony, being
away from your own home and bed for weeks or months, and the long driving every day. I don’t enjoy
that part of it.
MM: Which three Bands would be your ultimate touring buddies?
Like ideally? I know Oliver would love to your with the Chili Peppers, Landon and I would probably both
pick Radiohead, and Amanda maybe M83? So I guess we’ll go with that.
MM: What's the most memorable concert you've been to (other than your
own) and why?
For me, it was definitely Radiohead at Austin City Limits 2018 – if you’ve ever seen them live, it’s just an
unforgettable experience. They’re incredible. What pushed that show over the edge was the openers:
Grace Mitchell, Foals, Banks and Steelz [Paul Banks of Interpol & RZA], and Flying Lotus. We spent all
day in front of that stage and it was one of the greatest days of my life, musically speaking. Every
performer was amazing.
MM: What do you feel has been your biggest accomplishment so far with
Nightbird Casino?
Our first album was entirely self-produced in every sense of the word: we wrote and arranged it at home,
recorded it at home while learning how to use the equipment, mixed it ourselves at home, learning as we
went ... went through the whole distribution process alone. I’m acutely aware of that when I hear it but
also proud that I essentially accomplished all that alone with no prior experience.
MM: Which are your Two favourite Albums of all time?
Tough one but personally I’m going to say Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool and Interpol’s Turn On The
Bright Lights.
MM: Can you remember the first time you ever played live and how it felt to
have people watching you? Yeah, I was 19 and playing with a band called Ten Cents for Mary.
We mostly did covers with the occasional original. First show I played with them – also my first show ever
– was in this tiny little bar in upstate New York, Monty’s Krown. I had to sing lead vocals on one song –
Possum Kingdom by The Toadies (I was the bassist) and my heart was pounding. I was sure everyone
could see how terrified I was ... once I got to the song and made it through without any complications, I
felt a lot better. The fear dissipated a little bit every show after that.
MM: Growing up which Bands posters did you have on your bedroom wall?
Of course that varied ... I remember having a poster for A Perfect Circle up in my room, and I’m pretty
sure I had Linkin Park too. That was in high school. I was really into Our Lady Peace at the time but I
remember I could never find any posters so I just went with what was available.
MM - Who do you think influenced the world of Metal / Rock more than any
other person?
That’s such a loaded question – but probably Chuck Berry.
MM - What's the most important thing to the band right now?
Getting at least eight hours of sleep more night and drinking plenty of water.
MM: If you could do a cover of any song which one would it be and why?
Right now we do a cover of Dum Surfer by King Krule that’s pretty great – we don’t like to do too many
covers but when we do one occasionally it can be pretty hotly contested. I’d love to pull off Climbing Up
the Walls so maybe we’ll play that one of these days. I love the live version of that song with the live AM
radio run through guitar pedals – it’d be cool to see if we could replicate that.
MM: Tell us why we should buy and listen to your Band?
That’s up to you. I’d say everyone should check it out if you enjoy discovering new music – especially if
you enjoy stuff in the alternative/post-punk/shoegaze-inspired type vein ... if you check it out and you like
it you should buy it because that’s the best way to support the artists you love.
MM: Four words to describe Nightbird Casino?
Hard-working. Alpha male. Jackhammer.
MM:Final Words for your fans and our readers
Thanks for listening and reading – if you find our music makes you feel things that you want to feel
again, please give us a follow on whatever streaming service you enjoy. If you’re into old fashioned
physical copies of music or highly fashionable clothing with our name plastered on it, you can pick all that
up at nightbirdcasino.com. You can find out tour dates listed there too, updated every week, so we hope
to see you at a show soon! Peace and Love.
Nightbird Casino | Medford OR | Facebook
