Since 2011, the two person team known as Night Club have toured, recorded and made videos with a devoted and creative DIY drive and attitude, slowly gaining attention, notoriety and respect the hard way. They spent years grinding out shows on the road, doing countless self-financed indie tours traveling the coasts and country, gaining handfuls of fans per night. They’ve never given up their fight for respect and success and after years of paying dues are finally seeing signs of a diligent payoff. The band that drove day and night to play a show for five people more times than memory recalls will be supporting A Perfect Circle in October and November playing large venues and arenas.
With comparisons to Babes In Toyland, The Birthday Massacre and One-Eyed Doll with a healthy You Tube collection of self-made videos, writer/vocalist Emily Kavanaugh and beats master/programmer Mark Brooks have cranked out three EP’s, and 2016’s Requiem For Romance LP. Word of mouth have helped them get where they are today. This year’s Crazy World is geared and ready to deliver and musically administer for live dosage.
Their newest video, “Candy Coated Suicide” is a visually vibrant tribute to both chemical induced states of mind and fairy tale imagery, “We make all of our videos ourselves,” Brooks says. “We already had the song. We wanted to do something along the lines of the perverse side of something sweet, the dark side of sweet. I’m a huge Alice In Wonderland fan. It’s a bench mark for all things you think are happening, aren’t happening. The bunnies just seemed to go along with candy really well. Let’s make a very pink, magenta video. It seems like you’re on drugs and fucked up.”
Kavanaugh says the bunnies were two guys from Craigslist, “They were aspiring actors,” she says. “You’re gonna put on this giant bunny head and no one will know who you are. We kinda felt bad but they head-banged in time well and had rhythm making it more absurd. They came up with their own dance moves. It worked out great. They were both like what, a bunny suit? It’s in an empty warehouse with a blue screen. You don’t know what it’s gonna look like till it’s done.” They probably thought, “What are they making?”
They received a copy after completion and liked it. “They were like, wow this is awesome. I didn’t know it was gonna be like that,” Brooks says. “There’s an art to it.” They got lots of attention with people sending head shots, not realizing there was a pink bunny suit involved. “They were killer and did a great job.”
Scary World’s about different elements, “Addictions are an element but it’s about mental illness really.” Brooks grew up with schizophrenia in the family. Both members have battled depression, anxiety and dealt with different medications. “We started writing this record and became apparent it was more and more about that stuff. That’s why there’s a pill on the record. It’s basically about trying to survive your own mental illness. There’s an element of addiction because it’s part of it. When we were first making the record, I was taking medication. You don’t wanna be addicted, but sometimes you need it. When we write it’s never about one thing, it’s always three things.”
Mental illness became the unconscious topic that slowly revealed itself, “It just sorta became the common theme,” Kavanaugh says. “We really wanted to get personal, push ourselves lyrically. We wanted to write what we know and that’s being weird, being mentally ill in certain ways.” The album’s for anyone who deals with mental/emotional conditions whether anxiety, depression or other issues.
They reevaluated themselves on this record, “We work really hard and a lot of people think, they’re just a dance band,” Brooks says. “We’re like, what? We had to present ourselves with who we actually are.” They’re not an ‘80s dance act. “We have a message in these lyrics and say something,” Kavanaugh says. “It’s getting lost on people. On this record we wanted to turn that around a bit.”
They’re constantly evolving seeing themselves as their version of a rock n’ roll band and the antithesis of what most people consider a synth band. “We’re really loud and jump around a lot,” Kavanaugh says. They see themselves as their version of AC/DC or Mötley Crüe. “That’s the goal whether or not that comes across. There’s nothing more boring to me than people who just stand on stage without moving, especially with such high energy. You want that in your face. At least I do anyway.”
Brooks agrees, “We don’t wanna be a boring electronic band that stands behind things,” he says. “That’s what people take away seeing us live, especially the tours. We just went out with Combichrist and Wednesday 13.” People were like why is this band here? “Then we play and they’re like, woah. All these metalheads come up after saying I don’t like dance bands, but I like your band. There’s something about you live. You have riffs, head-bang and bring it harder than a lot of metal bands. That’s a really nice thing to hear.”
“I just want to get on stage and cause a commotion,” Kavanaugh says. “I think they should see a show.”
Brooks talks the duality of Kavanaugh’s transformation from preshow to on stage. “Emily’s frozen before shows, like a ball backstage, afraid to go on. The minute she’s on stage, she explodes.”
Kavanaugh adds, “Its anxiety balled up,” she says. “Before shows I feel like I’m gonna throw up, can’t talk to anyone.” She keeps to herself working herself up to the moment. “It naturally comes out.”
Years ago they decided to do a cover but wanted to do a song no one would expect. The first attempt, a Judas Priest song was scrapped going with INXS’s “Need You Tonight.” The video was filmed on Santa Monica Blvd on Sunset in Hollywood. “That was a weird shoot. We didn’t have a plan,” Brooks remembers. “Let’s just shoot on a street. There was a breeze, which never happens in L.A. Emily’s hair’s blowing around. It was like one of those things meant to be, couldn’t have planned it, it just worked.”
Some of their earlier videos shared fetish-like imagery which they ultimately shied away from due to focus on visuals, not the music. Though they appreciate the look, style and aesthetic, they don’t want to be pigeonholed by appearance or sound.
They make records and videos on their time. “We have our own label and schedule. We don’t feel a record’s over till we think it’s over,” Brooks says. “Last time, we put out the video 14 months after the album came out and ended up being our most popular video and brought a lot of new people. I think next year we’re doing three or four more videos. They take time, we make them all.” The “Candy” video involved two to three months of prep, set building and prop work. “People are like when’s the next one coming out? Do you wanna come over and help me build a set? Have you ever story-boarded a video figuring out every shot and how to make it? I love doing them, they turn out well. We just can’t bang them out. We try and make every video stand out for its own thing.” Quality takes time. “It takes us nine months to a year to make a record, because we’re picky.”
They want their videos to stand out as different and unique regardless of visuals. Collectively it’s been their biggest success so far, so they’re doing something right, attracting global attention. “We just did a European tour and people were coming from Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary all because of YouTube videos,” Brooks says. “That’s the one thing we totally control and do exactly how we want.” It’s brought lots of online traffic and attention. “Now we really see it paying off. People in Russia and Poland are waiting for the next video, as if it’s an album. There’s sort of an art to it.”
Kavanaugh and Brooks met in 2011 sharing musical tastes with instant chemistry writing beats and songs for other people. “Mark said we should be a band, I said no. I was very insecure. I’ve never been a front person before. I was not confident in my abilities and really awkward at first. Over the years, I’ve grown into the person I am today but took a long time to get comfortable.”
The first three-four years were very difficult, “You don’t get credit for writing things catchy and melodic in this day and age,” Brooks says. “In the long run, if you know how to write songs and make something people will listen to, you’ll go much further than other bands. It takes time. We’ve toured a lot and played shows to nobody for years.” Those small, intimate shows gave them experience and seasoning and in the last year and a half people have come. “You kill yourself on these tours, going out for weeks, playing one or two great shows and the rest were attended by five people. But those five people love you and it’s awesome. It’s cool a few times but when you’re doing it a hundred times.”
People on social media ask when they’re playing their city. “We’ll play there when the booker of that tour decides we play there,” Brooks smirks. “We’ve had people get mad and say that’s two hours away, and we’ve traveled 24 hours for a show. We’ve earned it. We’ve done a lot of touring, probably more than a lot of bands our size. Bands were like, wow, you’ve played there.” In the future they’d like to be direct support or do co-headlining gigs. Their show will get bigger, but when you’re the opener you’re limited. We just wanna kick ass.”
Unfortunately they still deal with sexism, “We get it all the time,” Kavanaugh says. “Mark does the beats and you’re the singer. It’s not so clear cut. I write half of it with him. She’s the pop singer and dances, that’s what some people think of me. Women can write too.” They think of themselves as a band making cool music together.
She’s not a fan of front row texting when she’s working, “On the Combichrist tour I snapped one night,” she remembers. “These girls in the front row were texting, looking really mean and bored. Maybe they weren’t there for us but if you’re gonna sit there and text the whole time at least let someone else come to the front or go to the bar. There were people behind them going crazy. I just snapped. It’s really annoying when all you see are cellphones. It bothers me when people abuse it in front of my face. I work really fucking hard on stage, sweating my ass off. The last thing I wanna see is a grumpy looking girl texting in the front row when I traveled 8 hours to be there that day.”
From the beginning to today they’re grateful for everything they’ve earned. “Thank you for buying our records. This is the best our records have done and we’re charting. A very heartfelt thanks, we really appreciate it, being a small band. It’s a great thing to wake up and see that.”
