David Norbery puts Nomen Novum on hold, reveals new project, Night Heron
With this new guise comes an impetus to embrace a simple and more naturalistic approach to creating music.
Photo credit: Lisa Highfill
Singer, guitarist, keyboard player, and composer David Norbery has quietly embarked on a new musical path under the name Night Heron. Since 2008, Norbery has carved out a place within Atlanta’s music scene by turning out layered, left-field electronic pop under the name Nomen Novum. With this new project comes a new impetus to embrace a simple and more naturalistic approach to creating music — one that’s not beholden to the standards he’s developed over the last eight years with Nomen Novum. Night Heron plays 529 tonight (Tues., July 26). Before the show, Norbery checked in to talk about the changes at hand.
Are you putting Nomen Novum on hold or is it done?
It kind of feels like it’s done, but I don’t like making absolute statements like that. There’s a good chance I’ll do something with it later, but right now, I don’t want to sing.
Is this a necesarry step for you in terms of musical evolution?
I think so. I have a 9-to-5 job, and for a long time it has felt like I had another job, which I don’t want it to feel like anymore. Now it’s more like play. I have work and play, and having that separation has made me feel better about music and work.
You needed to lift that psychic fog.
Yeah, and it’s more in line with the kind of music that I listen to. I got into the habit of making these specific kinds of pop songs, but I don’t listen to anything that sounds like Nomen Novum. It’s amazing how you can get into these habits that last for years.
How has the music you’re making changed with Night Heron?
It’s really minimal. With Nomen Novum I got into having these 30 and 40-track arrangements. Everything was perfect and tight. Now I just have a couple of synthesizers and a drum machine, tape echo, and effects. Everything is going into a mixer, so it’s all live.
I’ve found that the more you limit yourself, the harder you work to make what you’re working on better — less is more.
Very true. Before, I wasn’t giving myself any limitations, but I was making the same thing over and over again. I was using the same kind of drum sounds, and the same kinds of melodies. So now, I’m limiting myself really hard. It’s exciting. Also, I’m learning a lot more about mixing. It’s so much easier when you only have a few tracks to work with. And it’s hard to boil something down to only a few things.
Are you a fan of Throbbing Gristle’s music?
I have only listened to 20 Jazz Funk Greats.
That’s an interesting one to mention. When I was a kid, my grandparents had an old electric church organ in their house. Some of the songs on 20 Jazz Funk Greats always reminded me of that organ — they could have been made with those effects and wonky, preset sounds. There are elements of Night Heron that put me back in that headspace. It’s hard to talk about Throbbing Gristle without thinking of all of these other things that are attached to that name, but at the heart of it all is the music and the technology that they used in similar ways.
Yes, and it was technology used in a rough, destructive way. It worked really well for them. And I think, especially today, it’s gotten easy to make everything sound perfect. Every track is separated, and can be treated separately. When I listen to what I’m doing now it’s just more fun because I’m actually enjoying myself. It’s rough. There are mistakes, there’s noise.
How a musician rolls with mistakes and noise when they’re performing live is something I’ve always paid attention to — it says a lot about the performer and the music itself.
I really don’t care about seeing a band reproduce an album. My whole thing, for a long time, was playing fixed arrangements. I would play guitar and keyboard, and I would add elements to it. But I want to get as far away from that as I can. I just want to play the songs and take them to new places.
It’s at least as much, if not more, about the way that I’m processing the sounds. The actual sounds aren’t that important. I have two analog synthesizers — I was really inspired by Alessandro Cortini’s records — especially the last one, Risveglio. He just uses two analog synths — overlapping — and puts this really destructive echo on it. That’s all there is on the entire album, and it’s awesome. ... And he recorded in hotel rooms and with a field recorder. That was really inspiring to me.
Are you going to put out a Night Heron record soon?
Yeah, I’m not 100% about the title yet, but I’m mostly done with one. I don’t know what to do with it yet.
Night Heron plays 529 tonight (Tues., July 26), with Logan Takahashi, Divine Interface, and Skybison. $10. 9 p.m. 529 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-228-6769. www.529atlanta.com.