Nightstage
With the release of the the album Sunset Industry in February 2018, Nightstage hit LA’s music scene and debuted their unique dreamy prog-rock sound. Every song on the album is a story in itself, woven by intricate guitar parts, enigmatic keyboard pads, and a powerful rhythm section, topped with intriguing lyrics which will linger on in your mind.
The band came to be in an unusual way. Max Foxx, the band’s keyboardist, rhythm guitarist - and Nicky’s father - first introduction to music was when he was seven and began playing on the piano in his childhood home. Following that, he took one piano lesson, which he didn’t enjoy. Never returning for any more lessons, Max Foxx started playing on his own, and later, when he was 14, started playing guitar. Although he always liked music, Max went on to do other things and left his music dormant.
That’s where Nicky comes into the picture. At nine years old, Nicky became hooked on music, especially progressive rock. "The first thing that really got me interested in guitar was a video of Deep Purple playing the California Jam. Seeing Ritchie Blackmore standing on that stage at dusk with his Strat was probably the coolest thing I had ever seen up until that point. I started listening to a lot of music after that, exploring all kinds of genres. When I was around fourteen and a half, I decided to start playing guitar myself. Turns out I found the one thing in life I am extremely passionate about, and at this point, I can’t imagine what I’d be doing if I hadn’t discovered the world of guitar." At sixteen, Nicky began dedicating upwards of ten hours each day to playing and practicing guitar.
Nicky’s vigorous practicing inspired Max to rekindle his interest in playing music. Max recalls, “It started a few years ago. Nicky was playing a new song, and I thought it sounded good, so I grabbed a guitar and, for the first time, we started jamming together. After that, we started discussing maybe writing some songs and forming a band, someday”. Fast forward to a year later, and they had already stumbled onto the other Nightstage musicians. Nightstage’s debut album, Sunset Industry, was recorded in the fall of 2017 and released only a couple of months later.
The songs on the album are vastly different but share the same unique Nightstage energy. “Holder of All Cards” is dark and mysterious, at times incredibly soft, and then takes listeners by surprise by exploding into a wailing wah guitar solo and later upping the tempo for a fast piano solo. Everything about “You Will Never Get It Back” is seductively driving , from the gritty vocals to the beefy guitar riff. “Grovy Lane” is an epic six and a half minute rock ballad featuring a four minute guitar solo, while “Dan’s Banjo” is a quirky instrumental song, not even three minutes long, which actually does feature a banjo solo. “We just write the kind of music we like to listen to,” Max explains. “There’s not a lot more to it than that”.
Nightstage is currently working on their second album, which they hope to release later this year.