Texas Bedroom Wizard performs his latest offering
Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band is the band project of composer and multi-instrumentalist Nolan Potter based in Austin, TX. Their latest release, The Perils of Being Trapped Inside a Head , dropped back in April, picks up where 2021’s Music is Dead left off. Highly personal and relentlessly DIY, “Perils” runs the gamut of Potter’s pleasantly-skewed musical points of view. A limited edition vinyl of “Perils” is also available through Try Hard Coffee.
Dreamy and lucid keys, strings, drum corps, slippery guitar and buff bass, ripe flutes and breezy vocals. For fans of Embryo, the Mothers, Pink Floyd, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Moody Blues, the Stark Reality, and Placebo. They’re from Austin, Texas but you’d swear it’s from 1972 Europa-Mothership.
Follow Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band
Scroll down for a Q&A with Nolan!
Q: Congratulations on the new album! How did you come up with the title? What does “The Perils of Being Trapped Inside A Head” mean to you?
“Thank you! The title is something that popped into my head while on tour last year. At the time I just wrote it down in an ongoing document full of jumping-off points and bits of lyrics and forgot about it. But while I was working on the album it came back up. It seemed to summarize some kind of life experience in the VR headset we call consciousness and all the problems that come with that.”
Q: How did you get started playing as Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band?
“Throughout 2016 and 2017 I began recording songs by myself when I wasn’t working with the various groups I was a part of back then. I made a Bandcamp page to keep all the tunes in one place and it started making the rounds with my friends and getting some local attention. With the encouragement of several respected folks in the Austin music scene I managed to wrangle a group of talented friends together to play these songs and that was the start of the first Nightmare Band in early 2018. We were signed to Castle Face Records shortly after.”
Q: Your profile on Bandcamp labels you a “Texas bedroom wizard,” but your onstage performances are a serious ensemble effort. Do most of your songs start in the bedroom? How do you incorporate contributions from the band? Is there any kind of songwriting process you like to follow?
“I suppose that moniker is a bit out of date now that I’m fortunate enough to actually have separate rooms for working and sleeping. But yeah, it all still starts at home. I definitely work best alone, though I love my bandmates and really want to find the time/money to make a record with them. My friend Dillon Fernandez, who plays bass in the group, always has a hand in the mixing of my records. And when an album is finished, because of the pace at which I work, I’m always relearning the material alongside the band. It’s definitely a group effort bringing it to the stage and the songs turn out different (better) once the band gets their hands on them. There’s a lot of room for improvisation and personal expression in the way we do things. I don’t think there’s a consistent songwriting process though. It feels a bit like going into a fugue state making a song, and then you look at what you’ve done and realize it’s too late to turn back.”
Q: Can you tell us how/why you decided to call Austin home?
“I love my homeland of Michigan, but I wasn’t feeling musically fulfilled there. In the early 2010s Austin definitely seemed like some kind of promised land for musicians and it was on my mind often. I had the opportunity to meet Holy Wave on their 2014 midwest tour and that pretty much solidified the connection. I moved here the day before New Year’s 2015. I was but one of many folks to move here because of that incredible band and I’m proud to call them friends.”
Q: Can you tell us how/why you decided to call Austin home?
“I love my homeland of Michigan, but I wasn’t feeling musically fulfilled there. In the early 2010s Austin definitely seemed like some kind of promised land for musicians and it was on my mind often. I had the opportunity to meet Holy Wave on their 2014 midwest tour and that pretty much solidified the connection. I moved here the day before New Year’s 2015. I was but one of many folks to move here because of that incredible band and I’m proud to call them friends.”
Q: Do you have a favorite Austin music experience?
“Gosh, so many to choose from. One that really sticks out in my memory is Borzoi’s all-star cover show of the Who’s ‘Tommy’, in 2019 (I think) at Cheer Ups. I got to play the part of the Doctor and it featured members from Dregs, Pleasure Venom, Popper Burns, US Weekly, and Caleb DeCasper as Tommy, with Borzoi as the Who. Absolutely underrated moment in Austin music history. Pure chaos. Thor Harris lent his gong. “
Q: Are there any Austin artists you’re currently digging on? Anybody on your playlist you want to turn us on to?
“For the past year I’ve been working with new Austin weirdos Grandmaster, producing their self titled debut, the release of which we’re currently celebrating as well. They are the next Big Thing and a pleasure to work with. I also love Gus Baldwin, Borzoi, Being Dead, Billy Glitter, Holy Wave (obviously) and Dodo.”
Q: Is there anything else exciting coming up that we need to know about?
“Vinyl of ‘Perils’ will be available this month! We’ll be celebrating the physical release with an in-store appearance at Waterloo Records on May 24th. And needless to say we will be taking it on the road as soon as we’re able. “
Musicians:
Nolan Potter – vocals, guitar; Cole Koenning – drums; Raze Regal – guitar; Sam Blomgren – keys, bgv; Dillon Fernandez – bass, bgv;
Credits:
Producer: Deidre Gott; Audio Engineer: Jake Perlman; Rene Chavez; Audio Mix: Jake Perlman, Nolan Potter; Cameras: Michael Manasi, Renee Dominguez, Isak Kotecki; Edit: Rene Dominguez;
