#novusolis

NOVUSOLIS

Zachary Perron (ZP) and Amanda Lowe (AL) are the duo behind Novusolis (NS), an Ottawa post-rock band that just released their album, Collapse. The summer of 2018 is a big one for the band, with future plans to tour the UK in August. We discussed their songwriting approach, their recent album release show and the Ottawa post-rock scene. Read the interview, and then check out their latest album here.

VITALS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/novusolis/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/novusolisband

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/novusolis/ 

Latest Release:  Collapse (Album, June 2018)

Upcoming shows: July 8 - General Assembly, Ottawa, ON July 28 - B-Side Lounge, Toronto, ON August 10 - The Forest Cafe, Edinburgh, UK August 12 - The Fiddler’s Elbow, London, UK August 15 - The Chintz, Falmouth, UK August 19 - Shout About It Festival, Liverpool, UK

SA: How did Novusolis first start playing music together? ZP: I first started accompanying Amanda on her solo project. Then we started writing more ambient music together, so we created a separate project - which became Novusolis!

SA: What bands or musicians would you cite as the biggest influences on your sound? AL: Vocals and songwriting style wise, Daughter and Keaton Henson have influenced me the most. Especially how they create a heavy feeling with simple sounds and heart shattering lyrics. Instrumentation wise we both love Explosions in the Sky! ZP: I draw inspiration from a lot of different sources that range from black metal to shoegaze to hip hop! But if I’d have to choose specific acts, I would have to say Radiohead is the biggest one for me, as well as Portishead, MONO, and Deafheaven. We try to mash up all those influences into our own blend of post-rock.

SA: Thus far in your career, what has been the band’s biggest success? NS: OUR NEW ALBUM!! We are finally super close to the sound that we want to achieve!! It’s a huge step up from our first album - and we’re very proud of it!

SA: Conversely, what is the biggest challenge you have faced, and how have you dealt with it? ZP: Balancing our romantic relationship and musician relationship can be tough. We both want to be better musicians and work on our music but we can’t let it define our relationship. We have to nurture the other aspects of our relationship, the ones outside of making music because if we don’t then we aren’t taking care of each other, and can become toxic. AL: Since we’re both busy people, we plan a schedule that guarantees at least one day a week for practice/Novusolis work. The other days are dedicated to working on us- activities, movies, eating food, relaxing!

SA: How do you guys approach the song-writing process? ZP: It depends on the song. Most of the time, I’ll create a guitar loop and Amanda will try to find melodies that fit. Then we just keep adding guitar and synth  and drum layers until it sounds full. After that we start structuring the song. Sometimes I’ll change it up depending on Amanda’s singing style. AL: For lyrics, I’ll ask Zach for 3 words describing the instrumental we just made and I’ll jot down 3 of mine. We read them out and I’ll build a song using a few of those words as themes. Then we’ll pick a song name that embodies the feeling of the song! 

SA: What are your thoughts on the Ottawa music scene, and in particular, the Ottawa post-rock scene? ZP: The post-rock scene is pretty small. We’re like a book club, we all know each other, and we play shows together. It’s slowly building up though!

SA: You recently had your album release party at Black Squirrel Books. Any highlights from the night, or moments that really stuck out to you? AL: I loved that our bill was all female fronted post-rock acts, with Adriana Ciccone of Constellation 425, Kyla Hidalgo of No Mistakes In Space, and myself! Another thing that stuck out to me we’re the comments we got afterwards, friends and strangers saying how strongly they connected to the lyrics. That was pretty cool! ZP: I was too busy running around that night, everything is a blur!!

SA: You have just released your latest album, Collapse, this June. As a band, do you have a favourite track off the release, and why? NS: ATLANTIS! We had a bit of a different songwriting approach for this one, and it turned out to be awesome. The main loop sounds like you’re underwater, which adds to the imagery of the song and lyrics. It was overall a really fun song to create and to play!! 

SA: If you had to choose, what three records would you cite as most impactful on your sound in this group? NS: 1) Every Country’s Sun by Mogwai 2) Hymn To The Immortal Wind by MONO 3) Under Summer by Yndi Halda