Getting to know: Nerds in Denial

New York, New York – so good they named it twice… is just the kind of joke you would expect from:

Nerds in Denial

Introduce your members, what do each of you bring to the band?

Ben: Well I bring a lot of things, best kept off the record.

Dashuan: I’m the Drummer. I do what I can, with what I have. I bring the funk. I take nothing in return.

Devin: My full title as a member of the band is Master Chef DJ Sauce Glaze, which is how I insist the other members must refer to me at all times, preceded, of course, by the qualifier His Eminence. My primary responsibility, as the band elder, is to act as a spiritual guide and prophet in all band affairs. I also compose a lot of our music, help arrange parts for our other songs, write lyrics, create concepts for our music and media, sing, play guitar, and I help a lot on the production and editing side of things. Mostly, though, I’m just trying to keep up with Richie’s good looks and boyish charm.

Richie: They call me Tonemeifter Unlicensed. What do I bring to the band? Apart from all this raw sex appeal, I play bass, I built/ run the studio we record in, I engineer, mix, master, and I’ve spearheaded the artwork on all our past releases. I also love to help with any composition efforts, from riffs to lyrics, but most of all I don’t let these guys go very long without a stupid pun or a bad joke.

Tim: I go by many names… but mostly Tim. You can also call me Timmy Tritone or Triple Six Slick if you’re feeling particularly devilish. I’m the latest addition to this fine group of musical fellows, and I bring Professional Ivory Tickling to the table, as well as various other thing-hitters and synth-whatzits. Keyboards, organs, mallets, auxiliary percussion, you name it, I’m on it. I’ve also got a technical background that I’m hoping to utilize to enhance our online presence in the future (stay tuned).

When did you last speak to your families?

Ben: I just made smoothies with Grandma before doing this. Saw my twin sister earlier today, you know, Happy Indigenous People’s Day

Dashuan: Today. Brief and sweet. Just checking on each other.

Devin: Fifteen minutes ago I got a text from my younger brother asking about how to install Tamriel Rebuilt for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. What kind of nerd doesn’t know how to extract archived folders into the corresponding data and program files?

Richie: I talk to my dad all the time, I saw my mom and sister most recently at a Yom Kippur “break the fast” dinner.

Tim: Earlier today. My parents and one of my sisters moved up to Maine recently, so I’ve been trying to keep in touch best I can. Who knows what goes on up there….

What are your instrument makes/models of choice and why? Which effects could you not live without?

Ben: I’m a slut for Fender. Just ask Gracie, Annie, Teddy, Johnny, or Simon- they’ll tell you.

Did I mention I go by thelonioiswah? Yeah I can’t live without my Dunlop Crybaby on my board whether I touch it or not.

Dashuan: I play a Yamaha 5 piece, (12’, 13’, and 16) Snare, hi-hat. 2 crash cymbals, a ride cymbal, 8 inch splash cymbal. My stack cymbals are the effects I can’t go without.

Devin: I have two guitars, a wine red 2010 Gibson Les Paul studio with a P90 pickup in the neck position, and a British racing green Supro Silverwood. I use a Vox AC15 head through the top boost channel, going into a Marshall 4×12 cabinet with greenback speakers. If I had to pick just a few effects that I gotta have, I’d probably pick my smallsound/bigsound F*** Overdrive, my Catalinbread Discman digital delay, and the Caroline Meteore reverb.

Richie: I play a Cobalt Blue 2011 Fender Jaguar Deluxe Bass with a thumb rest and an ashtray cover with a huge Fender “F” on it. And she F***S. As far as effects go I absolutely love my EHX Bass Big Muff Pi, and my MXR Slash Octave Fuzz. There’s nothing like a ridiculous amount of fuzz to rattle some bones.

Tim: The keyboards I use for shows include a Roland Lucina AX-09 keytar, a Korg R3 Synth/Vocoder, and a fairly light 88-key weighted Yamaha electric piano that I borrow from Ben. My own 88-key at home that I use for recording is a much heavier Roland RD-150, which ain’t the best for gigging. I’ve got one or two reeaaal old, half-working synths from back in the day as well, though I don’t use them all that often except for zany sound effects. I actually recently purchased my first effect pedal – a Flashback delay – that I’m excited to play around with. Most other effects I manage through the keyboards themselves, or VSTs and other plug-ins in my DAW for recording.

What are the defining characteristics of Nerds in Denial?

Ben: Unpredictability and brotherhood just to name two.

Dashuan: The fact that we’re not Nerds.

Devin: Energy, ambition and camaraderie. I think that people like being surprised and seeing what kinds of weird directions we’re going to next with our sound, and they like seeing us having fun performing on stage.

Richie: Aside from our raw sex appeal? We are influenced by a very wide selection of artists and genres. From Classical to Hip Hop to Rock & Roll to Psychedelia and everything in between. We used all that influence to “genre blend” and create our very own genre that really has something for everyone and it’s called: Craft Rock-Fusion.

Tim: Well, clearly, it’s the fact that we are all Very Cool Dudes that are Definitely Not Nerds. Plus we just vibe real well together.

If you could have a DC or Marvel superhero as a member of your band, who would it be and what role would they have? Which band member would they have to fight to get the position and who would win?

Ben: I’d love to watch Dashuan go toe to toe with Spider-Man for the drummer position. I’d back him up.

Dashuan: Given the fact that I care too much about this answer, and even crafting it so far has prolonged the release of these other answers?

I’d love to see Devin go against Doctor Strange for the spot as Frontman.

Devin: Gotta say, I never got much into DC or Marvel stuff. But if Han Solo wanted to throw down with Ben for the other guitarist position, I think it’s fair to say that we all know who’s shooting first in that standoff.

Richie: I’m thinking we pit Super Girl against Devo. If she wins we have a beautiful Kryptonian Princess fronting the band. Also she would most definitely win, Devin’s a gentleman and would never hit a lady.

Tim: I’m not sure, but I know I would totally lose a fight with any of them.

What are you working on at the moment?

Ben: Other than the music the guys and I work on I mostly write to stay current with myself – whether the songs are used by the band or not. Writing for me is therapeutic, stay tuned for the rest.

Dashuan: Rudiments. Inverting them, and slowing them down so they’re cleaner.

Devin: Right now, I’m working on these pans in the sink, and this sponge just isn’t doing the trick. Could you pick up a metal scrubby on your way home for me?

Richie: We are working on a huge 6-part release for our upcoming album ”.bars”. Once we’re finished we will have released 5 Single/EPs and a 15 track album. So far we dropped 3 of the 5 Single/EPs and are actively tracking our newest release “Out of the Country/Into the Castle” which will be available worldwide on November 20th, 2021.

Tim: Well, I was gonna record some tracks for the next EP, but it sounds like Devin needs a “metal scrubby” so I guess I’ll go grab that. Where I’m from, we just call it steel wool….

Who are your favourite bands/artists/songwriters/musicians?

Ben: Not to sound conceited or narcissistic, but boy oh boy am I lucky to be in the band I’m in.

Dashuan: Why, Nerds In Denial of course!

Devin: Man, it’s hard to choose favourites honestly. I’ll list some of the ones I’ve been inspired by a lot in the past few years though: Mourn, BADBADNOTGOOD, A Tribe Called Quest, Tame Impala, Miles Davis, Curtis Mayfield, the olllam, The Wolfe Tones, Digable Planets, JID, Sublime, Rubblebucket, The Strokes, The Doors… I should stop there, but I could keep going.

Richie: I’ve been a Beatles fan as long as I can remember, and was given an early introduction into badass Rock & Roll through Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, and others; though now I listen to a lot of some more modern Indie Rock like Arctic Monkeys, Cage the Elephant, The Kooks; as well as some mind altering Psychedelic Rock like Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Pond and others. Gotta shout out P-Funk too.

Tim: This is always such a hard question. I have an appreciation for a lot of different artists. I’ll just open Spotify and vomit a smattering of some of my favorite followed artists here: BBNG, The Beatles, Cage the Elephant, Cake, Car Seat Headrest, Chon, ELP, The Flaming Lips, Frank Zappa, GoGo Penguin, Jacob Collier, Kamasi Washington, King Gizzard, Lettuce, Louis Cole, Mac DeMarco, Moon Hooch, Neutral Milk Hotel, Pink Floyd, Primus, Queen, Snarky Puppy, Sungazer, Tally Hall, Tame Impala, Vulfpeck, Ween, Weezer, and Yes. There ya go!

Who is your favourite author, which is their best book and why?

Ben: easy. Rick Riordan. You know if you know.

Dashuan: While the poet in me wants to rush to say Shel Silverstein… I’m gonna remember the first Louis Sachar book that I’ve read until I’m old and gray.

Devin: Certainly, the good and illustrious name of Sterling Archer must be mentioned when speaking of our greatest contemporary paragons of literature. My favourite selection of his would be his best-selling novel How to Archer: The Ultimate Guide to Espionage and Style and Women and Also Cocktails Ever Written. I keep it around mostly as a reference for cocktail recipes.

Richie: I’d have to say J.R.R. Tolkien, but not for the reason you think! While Lord of the Rings is incredible, the reason he’s my favorite is this musty, yellowed book called “The Tolkien Reader” I found in a stack of books on a folding table being peddled on streets of NYC. It is a collection of essays, poems, and short stories that taught me the Tolkien method of story creation which loosely inspired a lot of the upcoming album “.bars”

Tim: I’ve always been a fan of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Just pure British droll wit and sci-fi goofiness, definitely a must-read if you’re into science fiction.

(Ed. Note: How am I not in this band???)

When is your next single/album likely to be released? What is it called and where can we get it in our ears? Why should we buy it?

Nerds in Denial’s upcoming release is called “Out of the Country/Into the Castle” and will be available on all streaming platforms worldwide on November 20th, 2021

Ben: Last I heard we were releasing it next month. I mean. ^^^^.

Dashuan: We might release something when nobody is looking. Stay tuned.

Devin: Do you like good music? Do you like supporting good musicians? How about supporting good, local musicians who create everything they have to offer DIY style, with their own blood, sweat and tears? Do zebra mussels bother you a lot? Do you need some more recipe ideas for a quick-and-easy, delicious and filling one-pan dinner that can feed you and your family on a budget? If your answer is yes to any of these questions, then we’re the band you’ve been dreaming of, and you should buy our music.

Richie: Aside from our raw sex appeal? Angelic harmonies, face melting guitar solos, sponsored ads, hauntingly specific lyrics about your life, and the drums sound ***CRISP***

Tim: Why buy anything? There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism (he says as he types this on his fancy new Samsung phone). That being said, I think you should still buy our releases. They’re hip and cool and were mostly produced without exploiting the labor of the working class. Get that wiggly air straight into your ear holes!! Buy buy buy!!!