Regular followers of the blog are already aware of Hamilton garage rockers The Dirty Nil. Their brand of authentically gritty, under-produced and best-served-LOUD rock has endeared itself to OTM, mainly because it’s a genre that’s really a fine art — and The Nil do it well.
In between the booze, pizza and rocking, OTM managed to snare Dave Nardi (Bass, Vocals), and Kyle Fisher (Drums) and lure them to the virtual couch with promises of liquor and candy in exchange for a quick chat. Score!
OTM: The Mayan Calendar was lyin’! Now that we’ve lived to see 2013, what albums are you looking forward to this year?
Dave Nardi (Bass, Vocals): New Queens of The Stone Age. Dave Grohl, Nick Olivieri, and Mark Lanegan return to the fold. Forget about it. I don’t even need to hear it. It’s already better than everyone else’s new albums.
OTM recently was able to scratch Roger Waters from the“Bucket List of bands/artists to see before I die”. Who’s on top of your musical Bucket List?
Dave: In a perfect world, reunited Fugazi. In a (slightly) less perfect world, reunited Drive Like Jehu. In an alternate dimension, “Children Of God”-era Swans.
Kyle Fisher (Drums): My Morning Jacket/Lightning Bolt
If you could recruit anyone to direct a music video for you (Go wild! You’re not footing the bill), who would you choose and what song would you want them to tackle?
Quentin Tarantino. None of our songs are good enough to be in a Tarantino movie, so I’d let him pick his own song. We’d be in it though. And Harvey Keitel would be in it. I miss when he was in Tarantino movies. De Niro too. Someone needs to throw him a serious bone. Silver Linings Playbook? Fuck off, he was in Goodfellas. Speaking of which, Scorsese can co-direct our video. Perfect music video.
Name five essential albums you can’t live without.
Dave: Hot Snakes: Automatic Midnight, The Rolling Stones: Exile On Main Street, Replacements: Let It Be, Fugazi: Red Medicine, Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Zuma
Kyle: Led Zeppelin IV – Led Zeppelin, Pinkerton – Weezer , Enter the Wutang (36 Chambers) – Wu-Tang Clan, Lonerism – Tame Impala, Constantines – Constantines
What was the last great book you read?
Dave: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. McCarthy once said that the only real literature is that which deals with life and death. After reading this, it’s hard to disagree. Brutal, bloodthirsty, and beautiful.
Kyle: Tie between 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami and The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Your favourite guilty pleasure?
Dave: Randy Newman: Sail Away. Not really a guilty pleasure, because it’s an objectively incredible album. But I feel like people forget that before he was a Disney tunesmith, Randy Newman was a bafflingly good songwriter, satirist, and piano-player. Pure dynamite.
Thinking of concerts you’ve attended as a fan/spectator, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen someone else do in an audience?
Kyle: Weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, pretty sure Luke was there too, was Sloan getting a basketball thrown at them at the Burlington Sound of Music Festival two years ago. Hit Chris Murphy’s amp and it was just the douchiest move I’d ever seen.
Bastardizing a Metric lyric: who’d you rather be, The Tragically Hip or Rush?
Kyle: LED ZEPPELIN. ALWAYS.
Well played! Chicken or the egg question: which usually comes first, the music or the lyrics?
Kyle: Definitely the music.
Your first concert: who was it, and how old were you? More importantly, how was it?
Dave: When I was 15, I saw Van Halen. Van Hagar really. Fortunately, I was young enough to not be a jaded asshole yet, so I didn’t fully grasp the subtle differences between Hagar and Diamond Dave yet. All I knew was that they were playing Panama, and that was sweet.
Kyle: I was 13 years old. I saw Good Charlotte. It was kind of shitty. Stopped listening to them immediately.
Edgefest 2004 or whatever, Good Charlotte headlined over Finger Eleven (this was back when Finger Eleven hadn’t sold out entirely). My brother and I bailed before GC and you’ve confirmed my instincts. Thanks, Kyle!
In the spirit of Shaun Of The Dead, what was the second album you ever bought?
Dave: I bought The Who’s Greatest Hits, the one where the cover is Pete Townshend’s Union Jack jacket. I bought it at Rasputin’s Records in San Francisco when I was like 12 years old. I bought some other dumb records while I was there. Nazareth’s Greatest Hits. BTO’s Greatest Hits. Apparently I bought a lot of greatest hits records as a kid. Kids are so stupid.
The best music-related film ever made?
Dave: The Devil And Daniel Johnston. Or High Fidelity. Or Almost Famous.
The world is ending in ten minutes. You can listen to one and only one song before the world ends. What song do you go out on?
Dave: AC/DC : “Highway To Hell”. Brian Johnson sucks. Bon Scott 4 Life.
Kyle: I would jump into the first car I could find and blare “Highway Star” by Deep Purple. It’s pretty cliche but just drive that sucker off a cliff and into oblivion.
I’d expect nothing less from you! Last one: what can we look forward to from you in 2013?
Dave: No full length record, ever. One 7” record a week until the songs devolve into 30 second jingles about cereal and dog food. More band members. More orchestral influences. Even more band members. Afrobeat influences. Less band members. Turntables. No band members. Death.
Kyle: More blood, more music, more beer drank than anyone ever.
I have no doubt that you guys will out-do Keith Richards someday. Thanks so much! Shots this weekend?
You haven’t lived until The Dirty Nil have blasted your ear drums, so make them a priority, alright? They’re even playing multiple sh0ws, so no excuses: March 22nd at 11pm (Bovine Sex Club) and March 23rd at 2:30am (Horseshoe Tavern).
The guys have also offered up two of their 7″ vinyl releases for our CMW Giveaway! Share this interview on social media or head here to learn how to win!
Open 'Til Midnight 