From New York to Los Angeles: Nitefire and Purr On Processes and Starting Anew
Photo by Theo Donen
High school nostalgia led old friends Nico Geyer and Luke White to create their project, Nitefire. The Los Angeles duo captures 80's nostalgia while taking on a fresh and modern feel on songwriting and instrumentation. Their latest single "Ride Or Die" channels a special kind of atmospheric pop. In lieu of the release, Nico and Luke sat down to speak with Manhattan friends, Eliza Callahan and Jack Staffen of Purr, about the making of the song, finding your process in and outside the studio, and how high school wasn’t all for nothing.
Eliza: All right, camera is rolling. I think we should start with our so-called geographic differences. You guys are in L.A. right now?
Nico: And you're in New York.
Eliza: And it's pouring rain here and fifty eight degrees I want to say.
Nico: Yeah. It's pretty warm today. We're outside in Hollywood.
Luke: Sunny around seventy eight. Seventy five.
Eliza: What's the humidity like? Probably dry.
Luke: It's like two to four percent.
Jack: Nice, four percent.
Eliza: We’re at one hundred.
Luke: I don’t know what humidity is really.
Eliza: So I know, Nico, that you lived in New York before. Do you think your move, and you're from L.A., but do you think you're moving back there affected your writing at all or the style of what you're making?
Nico: Totally. Yeah. So in New York, I was writing a song with Harry Cubberly, Treatment. Everything he does is midi based because he just doesn't have the room to record live drums or anything like that. So yeah, in that sense, the geography of New York really affects the songwriting process for him. So when I joined them, it affected it for me. But now we're here and we just set up a drum kit in my room and all that, kind of like your guys’ little studio. You guys kind of have what I would like to consider an L.A. set up. You know what I mean?
Eliza: Yeah, I think we're always tempted to make the move…
Jack: And it really is because of the space…
Eliza: The space holds us.
Jack: But yeah, when we were recording our record in L.A., it was really nice. The studio we were working in we could just have the door open the whole time. Which was new for us, you know. Fresh air coming in and light from the outside.
Nico: Rather than being underground for hours on end.
Eliza: The lack of air definitely affects our minds. Maybe positively, maybe negatively. So when did this project, Nitefire begin? When you all were in L.A. or did it begin in New York and then kind of move?
Luke: It started out when [Nico] was in New York and I was in L.A. and we were just kind of talking a lot about… we used to jam in high school all the time. And we were just talking about how we missed that. We started sending each other stuff we're influenced by. And it kind of was the same exact stuff.
Eliza: What songs are you loving? Were there any kind of particular songs or bands that you were listening to that you guys both specifically bonded over?
Luke: We hadn't seen each other in months, you know, but we were talking all the time and I had asked him to send me a Spotify playlist of songs he wanted to sound like. Eight songs or something like that.
Nico: Yeah, something like that.
Luke: So I did the same for him. But those playlists looking back now with the stuff we’re making—
Eliza: —really different.
Luke: Really different.
Eliza: That's always fun though.
Jack: To us too.
Eliza: It's fun to kind of look back at the things that you were looking to really closely and see how that changes in such a short period of time. But then to also recognize the bands that are kind of always there, the ones that you aren’t ashamed of admitting that you like.
Jack: It's funny also how the recording process can start. You know, you start with a particular direction that you want to go in. And then as you prepare to record the song, you realize that it's totally something else. Which I guess leads me to a recording question… “Ride or Die”, so I mean it sounds totally stunning and it sounds like very analog. Were you guys mainly using analog gear and recording it to tape, or…?
Nico: No. So with that, we worked with Matt in Undercover Dream Lovers. He produced the whole thing. We went over to his place and we used Ableton mostly.
Jack: Oh, really?
Nico: Yeah. It's all, there's no analog recording.
Jack: Wow, that’s amazing.
Purr by Eliza Soros
Eliza: Were there particular reference tracks that you guys have for that song or a particular sound that was important?
Luke: There's this one Japanese song, I think that was kind of the main…
Nico: Oh! “For you”?
Luke: No, it's called like “Pool of Blood” or something.
Nico: Oh um, “Honey Dip in the Pool” or something.
Luke: It's just this random Japanese song we found on YouTube and it was kind of good that we lost it because we didn't completely copy it. But we had that idea in our mind… But yeah, we weren't able to find it again.
Eliza: Are there any particular kind of instruments or pieces of gear? I know Jack and I have some that are pretty intrinsic to our project and sounds that we return to over and over again, that kind of become sonic touchstones for us.
Luke: The way that song even came about was just us messing around with a Korg Poly 61. We were actually writing a different song at the time and were just super over it. And were just like let’s start a new song completely.
Nico: And the first thing Luke played on the Korg was like this little riff that is throughout the whole song.
Luke: The main keyboard riff.
Jack: Which is great, totally stuck in my head.
Eliza: The bass line is also great.
Luke: About the sonic touchstones though, I think we're still struggling with finding that.
Eliza: I feel like it’s something that changes or I don't know, like you said, sometimes you get a piece of gear and that piece of gear is really new to you. And then all of a sudden it kind of brings a song, kind of arrives.
Jack: When Eliza and I got our Kumars, it unlocked a bunch of songs.
Eliza: We got it right when we started the project and it kind of helped us transition from our previous project into the new project because we started thinking a lot about string arrangements and just different ways to approach arrangement in general. We did the album out in L.A. after we'd done kind of the arranging and demoing in our basement studio.
Nico: How different are those demos that you guys recorded yourselves from the stuff that you finished in the studio?
Eliza: We had the songs, for the most part, pretty fleshed out before we arrived in L.A. to work. So the way Jack and I have done it is we write the song together and then we'll record a demo where we write most of the parts and then we'll have our two bandmates, Sam and Max, come in and actually play the parts. Like for the first demos I was playing the parts each individually.
Jack: Yeah, we literally just lay down like an individual drum. So like a kick there, and then a high hat, and then we'd line them up where we wanted them, or we'd write a drum beat that way.
Eliza: And then Max would do it professionally and add his talent and flair.
Jack: And then Sam records the demos too. Sometimes we’d do a second round.
Eliza: So that was where a lot of that thinking happened…
Nico: When are we going to hear some new stuff? On ANTI, right?
Eliza: Yeah, I think we're going to start rolling out singles next month.
Jack: And then the record probably like February.
Eliza: We're excited because the album has been done for about a year now.
Jack: We’re eager to release.
Eliza: We already have the next album written. I'm starting to feel distant.
Nico: I'm so genuinely excited for that to come out.
Eliza & Jack: Oh, thank you!
Jack: I guess in terms of you guys, do you write together?
Luke: Yeah, pretty much only together. We’ll like maybe do a small bar or a small demo. Like not even a real thing together. Or by ourselves. And then just kind of, you know, put our heads together on it.
Eliza: For your live set up, do you think you’ll just do two-piece and with a backing track or do you want to have a full band?
Nico: We can't play without Noah, we tried it once…
Eliza: Haha and it’s not possible.
Nico: Yeah, well, the thing about Noah and playing with him is... I learned how to play guitar to him drumming, and Luke learned how to play bass, to him drumming. So it's so unnatural any other way.
Jack: Yeah, that's so interesting how it happens. I feel like I can't sing anymore without Eliza.
Eliza: So will you guys do a three-piece live situation?
Nico: No, we're getting a five-piece. Doing the full band.
Eliza: Oh yeah, you’re doing it. It does make a difference. The fifth instrument, it's hard to do without once you've made a certain type of recording.
Nico: Yeah… and how much does it affect you guys in the studio to think about how it's going to affect the performance?
Jack: We try not to think about it at all whatsoever. I think when we're in the studio—
Eliza: —that might be a fault…
Jack: Well I just think, you know, it could actually be nice to sort of limit yourself in that way. Honestly, think about what what you can do live. But when we're in the studio, we always try to… I think it's because we're always still down to explore and like you were saying, finding those sonic touchstones and how important that is.
Eliza: We naturally just haven't done that. But I think down the line… It’s good because it changes the sound. Two nights ago we saw David Byrne do his American Utopia show which just opened, it’s going to be on Broadway for a month and it was the craziest show I've ever seen.
Jack: Yeah it was fucking unbelievable.
Eliza: For the first few songs I was sure that there were twelve performers on stage, eleven or twelve including David, and I was sure they were still playing to a backing track because it sounded so insane and full and each person playing, wast just playing one single thing. Like playing a snare and a symbol, and one person was playing a guitar and there was a bass player. So it did make a band and I think there were four people doing percussion. But it sounded like the recordings, but better. And halfway through the show, he addressed the fact that there was no back tracking. It was crazy. He was like reporters will call my PR and management team and be like, “I know he says there's no backing, but is there actually no backtrack?”
Nico: I mean, he's on another level, but that kind of gives me some hope because in the studio it's so overwhelming to think about all the options you have recording. So thinking about it in terms of playing it live helps me personally. But I mean, when you can do something like that, I guess there's no excuses.
Eliza: Yeah, it can be liberating or restricting depending on how you look at it. But what about for you guys? You have the song and video coming out and then do you guys have plans for an album or an EP?
Luke: Well, I guess the idea is to get this song and video out because we've been trying to put it out forever. And then we have another song completely recorded and then we have a few other demos, so we're probably going to just release this song and then have hopefully an EP out that’s separate in the next few months.
Eliza: And you'll be playing with the five piece out around L.A… What's your favorite venue out there?
Luke: There’s a good amount. Bootleg is cool, I've been going to a lot of shows at the Bootleg.
Eliza: It feels like every musician that we know has moved there at this point.
Jack: Yeah, a mass exit to LA.
Nico: Yeah, do it. Make the move.
Eliza: Our friend who is sitting on the couch behind me is about to move to LA.
Nico: Yeah, you guys got to come here. Get that Mohawk General store deodorant all the time.
Jack: Oh, I know.
Eliza: So, you guys are both living in Hollywood?
Luke: Yeah, we live in the same house.
Nico: This place has epic retail opportunities.
Eliza: Do you ever find yourself collaborating with other people? Do you feel like it's a collaborative environment where you're at right now? Or you guys mainly just work together?
Luke: We kind of like getting a third person in every once in a while. It kind of makes things fresh. We just had a guy come over who's our friend who's super into making cool beats. He has like an MPC.
Nico: He works entirely out of an MPC 2000. Yeah. He's like a hip hop guy and we were making really cool stuff.
Jack: What's his name?
Nico: Reese. He's actually my little sister's boyfriend. So I’m going to beat him up. Just kidding Reese.
Nitefire by Theo Donen
Eliza: Who made this video? Was it something you guys though of or did you work with a director?
Nico: It was Phil, who says hi, he knows we’re doing this.
Jack: Hi Phil!
Nico: Phil and Alex Silberberg made it, and Bradley Vership.
Eliza: Did you guys all grow up together?
Nico: Yeah, we all know each other from high school.
Luke: Well, actually, I met Phil in New York. I like kind of new Phil in high school, but Nico and I went to the same high school.
Eliza: You all go way back. That's funny. I guess technically Jack and I started playing music together in high school. I played drums in a band that Jack was in, and I don’t know how to play drums. I had a separate project with two friends, that I was kind of writing the music for and singing in. And then I was friends with someone who was in the band that Jack was in and a drummer quit. So somehow I was the understudy.
Jack: Eliza was introduced—
Eliza: —Although, Jack and I were not friends—
Jack: —We weren’t even friends, we didn’t even talk while she played drums.
Eliza: I would just show up to rehearsal and leave.
Luke: That was kind of like us actually. We had all the same friends in high school but we were like not friends at all for freshman and sophomore year. Then we wrestled once and we became buds.
Jack: You wrestled? That was the icebreaker?
Nico: Yeah that was the big icebreaker.
Eliza: So you guys are Valley Boys?
Luke: Yeah, we wrestled the first day of summer and spent the whole summer after that.
Jack: Wow.
Luke: We wrestled all summer.
Jack: Eliza and I wrestle too.
Luke: If you guys don't wrestle are you really a band?
Eliza: Are there any particular bands or songs that you're listening to right now that you care a lot about?
Nico: Not to bring up this friggin’ word, but, you know, streaming platforms— But like because people have access, like personal unique access, to creating their own playlists and stuff, I feel like, aside from like algorithmic playlists that everyone might subscribe to, everyone's kind of on their own little musical trajectory in terms of what they're listening to. So, yeah, I don't know. Luke's listening to like a bunch of Primus, while I'm listening to this really weird Filipino band from the late 80s that does soft rock. And then we meet up and make music together, but we're on totally different places.
Jack: That's a great thing.
Eliza: Sometimes, whenever I feel like I'm like I’m not really writing a lot of music I realize it's just because I haven't been listening to that much music. I feel like they directly correlate—
Jack: Once the well is running dry…
Eliza: Unless you're constantly listening…
Nico: Does it affect you in the studio at all? The different trajectories meeting?
Eliza: I mean lately I've gone back to listening to a lot of Ellis Regina and Jav Jovine (?), this Brazilian music from the 70s that I've always really loved and now just listening to it more. We have some new songs that are I mean, they don't sound like them in any way, jazz bossa nova from the 70s. But I think it's something we've been in the direct, immediacy of. Jack is always entering Radiohead holes.
Jack: Yeah, that sort of happens to me. I end up listening to things that I’ve obsessed over because I'm listening to them in a new light or something or listening to them in a different way. So I think I’ve really reentered the Radiohead hole that I seem to get in every four years.
Luke: It’s hard to stay away.
Jack: Do you guys go to Amoeba music often?
Nico: I was there thirty minutes before this phone call.
Eliza: It's kind of sad, I grew up on Lafayette and Astor Place. Other Music was there and facing it was Tower Records. But there's not really a music store mecca anymore.
Jack: There was Virgin City which I used to love going to. I remember waiting in line on the day that the Backstreet Boys record came out. Like waiting for a CD at the Virgin Record Store in Union Square.
Eliza: Virgin Records was massive and that was right on Union Square and then Tower Records is in the building, which now has a Soul Cycle and NYU facilities across the street from where I lived.
Jack: And now I think Virgin is the Whole Foods, right?
Eliza: It could’ve been or it was the building across the street.
Jack: It's either a Best Buy or a fuckin’ Whole Foods.
Nico: Yeah it’s such a bummer. I mean, my first time in New York happened to fall on Record Store day and I waited in line outside Other Music and bought Tame Impala’s live versions records.
Eliza: Yeah, Other Music was a really important kind of hub. And it had such great in-stores. I mean, I guess there's Rough Trade now but Rough trade is new. Other Music, I think it opened the year I was born. I mean, I remember going there when I was like four or five with my dad and he would buy records. That’s where my parents would get CDs. But yeah, no, there's no real equivalent. I feel like L.A. still has held on. I mean, obviously, both places have been extremely gentrified, but it seems like L.A. has held on a bit more to their gems. But that's me speaking. Not from knowledge. But I know that New York has lost its gems. Which is kind of strange and sad which is why a lot of people have moved to L.A.
Nico: But you're making me miss New York so much.
Eliza: Yeah, it is a great walking city, it is great. Well we actually have to run in a minute because we have rehearsal. It was really great talking to you guys, let us know if there’s anything we didn’t say that you want us to say.
Nico: Can we say like, please don't listen to this song. Like please don't. Please don't share or listen to this song.
Luke: It's the worst.