A New Chapter For NONEWFRIENDS.
Time flies when you’re having fun and NONEWFRIENDS. has had a lot of it over the past four years. Their latest release “When I Met You” marks the end of an era for the band, as they are all graduating from college at Syracuse this spring. This period of transition is accompanied by all kinds of mixed feelings. It’s exciting and emotional. Both of those feelings are encapsulated in the band’s latest release, “When I Met You.” The song is upbeat upon first listen, but talks about what happens when you meet someone and the timing doesn’t match up. Twenty Minutes Later got the chance to catch up with the band and learn more about the new track. Read our interview below.
WHO GOT THE IDEA FOR “When I Met You?” WHAT PART OF THE SONG CAME FIRST?
It’s kinda funny actually. We all live together and Jackson and Peter were writing together and working on the instrumental. They had the synth intro with the guitar. Jack was in the shower which is right next to Jackson’s room. He was humming melodies and had the full verse and chorus when he came out. Jackson and Peter finished most of the lyrics with the help of Liz.
HOW DOES THE BAND BALANCE IDEAS? WHAT ROLE DID EACH BAND MEMBER PLAY IN THE MAKING OF THIS SONG?
This song was super collaborative— honestly, more so than a lot of the other songs we’ve put out. A lot of the melodies were written by Jack and the song was produced by a mix of Jack, Peter, and Jackson. Once we had melodies down, it was kind of a big collaborative effort amongst me (Liz), Jackson, Jack, and Peter to write the lyrics and create the actual message of the song. I think Jackson and Peter first created the beginning intro, and it just took off from there.
WHAT DOES THE SONG MEAN TO YOU? DO YOU GUYS HAVE A FAVORITE PART?
This song is pretty sad when you think about it. It's basically about when you meet someone and everything seems perfect, but your lives aren't really lining up for it to work. The line, “Two friends pretending that they are strangers,” is definitely the toughest line because it's like you can’t do anything about it—even though y’all seem good for each other the timing just wasn't it.
THIS SONG MARKS THE END OF AN ERA BECAUSE NONEWFRIENDS. IS GRADUATING FROM COLLEGE. WHAT WAS THE BAND'S FAVORITE COLLEGE MEMORY?
I mean that’s so tough. I think my favorite (Jackson) is when I got into a verbal argument with Bill Werde—the head of the Bandier department—in front of my whole class about ownership of music. We didn’t know each other at the time, but at the end, he asked me if I had music. I said that we were playing a house show that Friday and he should come. He came and it was my first time seeing any professor at a house venue. He stood mad stern the whole time with his arms crossed. But afterward, he said we were good and that he wanted to hear more. Now Bill is one of my favorite/most influential professors and I just always thought it was funny that it all started with that giant argument in my class. But the fondest one has got to be the first show we played after releasing our first song. I remember looking at Peter while we were playing it and everyone in the crowd knew all the words after just one day of it being out. That was like the craziest experience for me—people singing back something we created.
NONEWFRIENDS. WAS RUMORED TO SHOW UP LATE / NOT SHOW UP TO CLASS DURING THEIR TIME AT SCHOOL. WHAT DOES THE BAND DO DURING THIS TIME?
Mainly just trying to figure out how to get more clout. The sentiment is that if we show up late it makes us look cool and like we aren't trying too hard. This should translate into more clout.
THE MUSIC VIDEO WAS FILMED IN SYRACUSE WHICH IS WHERE THE BAND WENT TO SCHOOL. WHERE WERE YOUR FAVORITE PLACES TO HANG OUT AROUND CAMPUS?
Taps (Dive Bar) gives out free popcorn and you can play pool.
The promenade on the first nice day in spring. <3
Food.com. If you get a booth in there you’re set. You could spend hours there (we also have played Catan there several times).
Our house. It’s really close to campus and so big and has great views.
YOU GUYS HAVE PLAYED A LOT OF HOUSE SHOWS. DID YOU HAVE A CRAZIEST/FAVORITE ONE?
Oooo this is a tough one. Personally, I (Liz) think the craziest one we ever played was a show we did in the basement of this house called “The Ark.” It was literally hazardous. There was a line of people down the driveway into the street. It was definitely the most crowded space I have ever been in. I remember everyone was so packed up against the walls that the lights kept accidentally turning on and off. My favorite show— jeez I have so many. Right now I have to say the last one we played outside in our backyard. It was just so full circle. We played a lot of the songs we did at our first show and feeling the community we’ve built here was surreal. I did in fact cry moments before it started lol.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS POST-GRAD? ARE YOU ALL HEADED TO THE SAME CITY?
Loaded question. We’re ultimately trying to be based out of NYC. Some of us already live there, so we’ll definitely end up there. As for future plans, we're really just trying to continue making music and eventually hop on a tour. Luckily, we will all still be close to each other, but it feels good that we’ve had this college space to build our foundation, and now have an audience outside of this university that we can spread further.
WHAT CAN LISTENERS LOOK FORWARD TO FROM NONEWFRIENDS. HEADING INTO SUMMER?
On the low, we are definitely building towards a 2nd EP. We have a lot of unreleased music, like so much I don’t think we’ve put all the pieces together of like what is exactly going to be on it yet, but very much looking forward to that.
WHAT DID I MISS? ANYTHING YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT THE SONG OR YOU GUYS?
I think that it’s been a long journey for the band. We talk a lot about identity within the music and within us as a group. Where we were as people and the music we were making a year ago is completely different than now. I think I want people to know that these new singles and eventual EP is a true showing of us and where we are now. I don’t want people who liked us for our old music to think we have just completely abandoned that side of us. I think we are just growing and figuring out ourselves and the music we are trying to make.
YOU CAN LISTEN TO “When I Met You” BY NONEWFRIENDS. ON STREAMING SERVICES LIKE SPOTIFY AND APPLE MUSIC. GO STREAM THE SONG AND MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW @twentyminuteslater TO STAY UPDATED ON FUTURE POSTS.
