SheffieldÔÇÖs emo-rock two-piece Nai Harvest popped in for a chat with Charlie Mock about their new record, Gnarwolves and Twin Peaks.

Let’s start by getting down to the meaning behind your name. It’s a reference to the American band Saetia- have they been a big influence on your music?┬á

Ben: Not really! When I first started writing stuff for this we didnÔÇÖt really have a name and then I watched an interview with the singer of Saetia and he was talking about one of their songs and then he said ÔÇÿno harvestÔÇÖ- I didnÔÇÖt want to be called no harvest so I changed it to Nai Harvest and thatÔÇÖs pretty much it! WeÔÇÖre not influenced by them I just really like them as a band!

 

Do you have any big influences at all?

Ben: Not as much any more.

Lew: I think when you first start a band youÔÇÖre like, yeah I want to sound like so and so, but we just do what we want now. I guess a lot of indie stuff at the moment.

Ben: Yeah, a lot of indie stuff. When we first started we really wanted to sound like the whole mid-west scene, but when we were writing ÔÇÿWhateverÔÇÖ we purposely didnÔÇÖt listen to anything. We were like, letÔÇÖs not listen to any other bands and just lock ourselves in a room and see what comes out. With the new 7ÔÇØ that weÔÇÖve just finished IÔÇÖve been listening to a bunch of 90ÔÇÖs indie bands so I guess itÔÇÖs gone a bit more indie rock than emo. ItÔÇÖs still and emo record but itÔÇÖs definitely got that fuzzy, indie rock stuff running through it.

 

‘Whatever’ was released in March of this year, yet you’ve just finished your new record only seven months down the line. Was getting your new songs ready for release so quickly something that came naturally for you?┬á

Lew: Pretty much. I donÔÇÖt know what other bands are like but I think as soon as you put something out youÔÇÖre like, I wanna do something new! New and better.

Ben: Also we just like working on it. We work really hard. WeÔÇÖve been non-stop gigging the last year as well so we just wanted to follow that up with writing new songs. We wrote these four and were really happy with them, they work as a four so instead of writing another album we were like letÔÇÖs do these as a four and then see if we can do another album after. I think itÔÇÖs a nice stop-gap in between albums to do another 7ÔÇØ.

 

As you said, you’re releasing on 7″- any particular reason that you’ve chosen vinyl over other methods?┬á

Ben: ItÔÇÖs vinyl!

Lew: Just standard really!

Ben: Vinyl is just like, a mark in history! I think if it comes out on vinyl it will always be on wax and will always mean something, more than CDs and tapes, itÔÇÖs just a press and itÔÇÖs really cool to have it in 30 years time.

 

Touring is a big part of what you guys do- you’ve hit numerous festivals over the last few months as well as playing S┼Án here in Cardiff. Can you remember the last time you had a day off?!┬á

Ben: We have weekdays off!┬á But, since September weÔÇÖve been doing something every weekend. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the last two months has been rammo for us. WeÔÇÖre just doing our jobs and uni Monday to Friday and then as soon as we clock out I drive from Sheffield to Manchester, pick Lew up and then itÔÇÖs like a weekend party, we look forward to it.

 

You’re back on the road in November, ending the year with a joint headline tour with Gnarwolves. Are you looking forward to touring with your mates?┬á

Ben: Yes! But were kind of nervous

Lew: Yeah, weÔÇÖre nervous. I donÔÇÖt know if we can keep up with them!

Ben: TheyÔÇÖre just crazy guys! We love them to bits, weÔÇÖve known them for a while- before we started this band and before they started Gnarwolves, just from previous bands and stuff. They were crazy then and theyÔÇÖre all twice as crazy now. ThereÔÇÖs free beer at all the shows as well so I donÔÇÖt know whatÔÇÖs going to happen! Should be good, I donÔÇÖt know if we can keep up but weÔÇÖll try.

 

Finally, the ‘Twin Peaks’ quote that you have at the start of ÔÇÿWashyÔÇÖ- why?!

Ben: Oh dear. I basically wrote the whole album, not in terms of music but the lyrics, in three days and in those three days I smashed all of ‘Twin Peaks’ and in between wrote lyrics. ThatÔÇÖs basically it. Before we started writing any of the music I just had three days so I thought, IÔÇÖm just going to watch this series. Everyone was busy! So, I just watched it all and in between episodes IÔÇÖd write things down. A few of the songs have got references to ‘Twin Peaks’ in because it was all I was watching at the time. ItÔÇÖs all about my personal life but in reference to ‘Twin Peaks’ as well because the same situations were going on so IÔÇÖd reference it. The sample was just like, an ode. Lew hasnÔÇÖt watched Twin Peaks though; he says itÔÇÖs too scary!

Lew: It is too scary!

Ben: But yeah, itÔÇÖs just an ode I guess, to something that helped me write ten songs worth of lyrics basically.

 

ÔÇÿWhateverÔÇÖ is available for download now and you can listen to the duo’s new track here. Catch Nai Harvest on the road with Gnarwolves this month.┬á