It wasn’t too long ago that we brought you this single from NYC duo, Me Not You…
Captivated by their nostalgic, grungy Rock vibes, we were patiently awaiting the release of their new EP, “Reckoning 1“. Luckily for us, we didn’t have to wait too long.
To celebrate the release, we got to catch up with the group and have a little chat. Stream the EP in its entirety below and then keep scrolling to learn some more via a brief Q&A.
RDFO: Who are some of your biggest musical inspirations?
MNY: In no particular order: Radiohead, Lou Reed, Pixies, Aphex Twin, Kanye, Nirvana, Robyn
RDFO: How long have you two been performing together and how did you come together initially?
MNY: Eric and I played together in our last band, Little Daylight, and briefly in a band before that called Xylos. Our chemistry at this point is almost to the point of being a kind of psychic energy. It’s really amazing.
RDFO: We see that in your images online, faces are often obscured. What is the reasoning behind this?
MNY: It actually started as a joke. When our old band broke up, our label at the time proposed the idea of having me [Nikki] become the face of the new band. It would be just me in the photos and interviews and Eric would sort of be the behind-the-scenes guy. Immediately I was like, “That’s not what we’re trying to do. We’re a duo, so why should we make it seem like a solo project?”
When I told Eric, that the label wanted it to be about “me, not you“, we knew we had our name. And as an extra little joke, we scribbled out Eric’s face in the photos, like, “you guys wanted it to be just me, well here I am!” And it kind of stuck!
RDFO: What track from this project are you most excited about and resonates deepest with you?
MNY: For me, it’s probably “Kill the Noise.” I wrote the lyrics to it as the sun was coming up on a beach in Costa Rica, after a really intense and magical night. When we got into the studio to work on the track, the writing of the music transpired in a really magical way. We just kept building the song linearly, layering sounds and ended up with this weave of synths and guitars and voices that we are really proud of. It sounds like the way I felt that night on the beach.
RDFO: We see you have a lot of shows coming up with Gary Numan. How did this come about?
MNY: Gary’s people reached out to our agent and ask if we’d want to go on tour with him. When the email came in, we were like “YES!!!!” We have no idea how he heard about us. He’s a legend. We’re honored to be sharing the stage with him for 6 weeks.
RDFO: Where are you both from and how has where you come from influenced your sound?
MNY: I’m [Nikki] from Rochester, NY, and we have a great listener-supported radio station called WBER. When I was growing up, every hour they’d play a song they were thinking of putting into rotation and you could call and vote whether you wanted it in or not. They played lots of indie rock and also awesome bands from the 80s and 90s like the Smiths, Joy Division and the Pixies, bands I probably wouldn’t have gotten into otherwise until later.
I [Eric] am from northern New Jersey. As soon as I got my license, I started driving into New York on Fridays and Saturdays to see music. Though New Jersey was a kind of suburban hell for me in high school, having the city right down the road was amazing. I spent a lot of time in the East Village and Lower East Side venues, sneaking in when I couldn’t get in with a fake ID.
RDFO: What would you say is the one thing that sets you apart from other bands in your lane?
MNY: I like to think that we write songs that could exist without all the bells and whistles of production. Or, said differently, that the production we do is there solely to serve the songs. Take the Beatles, who we love, obviously… every song is arranged and produced in a clever way. They were revolutionary in that regard. But after a dinner party, when people crowd around the piano with a drink and sing Beatles songs together, the songs hold up 100% without anything else. That’s the kind of lofty space we aspire to with our music.
RDFO: What about music and being an artist do you love the most? Jamming? Writing? Performing? And why?
MNY: It’s funny… after months in the studio writing, we cannot wait to get on the road, see the country and play our music loud every night. You’re catching us at a point where we’re been holed up in the studio for months. Once we’re on tour, the ideas will start flowing and we’ll be clamoring to get back into the studio. Fortunately we love both elements of it. Each keeps the other fresh.
RDFO: What should we be looking out for next from you?
MNY: We just put out our first EP, “Reckoning 1“, so it’s kind of soon, but we are planning on putting out at least a song, maybe a 7”, before our fall tour. We have so much music that we want to get out into the world. So… lots of touring and lots of music coming out. That’s our plan.
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