Musical Beginnings: Arek Tirtir, of the dynamic duo n/a, reminisces about his earliest musical memory which set the stage for his musical journey. Growing up with a punk band rehearsing in his home, thanks to his brother's band, Idiot Proof, Arek was lullabied into a world of music. This unique childhood experience instilled in him a deep love for music and showed him the potential of his passion.
Inspiration and Influences: Arek credits David Bowie and Tom Waits as his major musical influences. His musical initiation began with classical piano at age 4, but it was Bowie's "Life on Mars" that transformed his perception of music. Tom Waits' music, on the other hand, taught him the power of emotional singing and creative problem-solving in the studio.
Memorable Performances: The duo's performance on October 29, 2023, stands out for Arek. Featuring an artist creating live paintings and a Halloween-themed exorcist gag, this show was not just about the music but the healing power it held during Arek's personal struggles.
Fan Interaction: For n/a, their audience is primarily each other, focusing on prolific creation and live performances. They maintain a cool presence, both literally and metaphorically, in their musical journey.
Album Creation: The process behind their latest live EP, "Ceremonies," reflects a collaborative and intuitive approach. Arek and Nicholas Mastrangelo (Nick), the other half of n/a, carefully selected the best performances of 2023, with Nick's creative influence shining through in the album artwork and title.
Live Performance vs Studio: Arek expresses a strong preference for live performances, valuing the spontaneity and joy of musical conversations with his bandmate over the meticulous nature of studio work.
Musical Milestones: Releasing two EPs in a single year marks a significant achievement for n/a, showcasing their productivity and ambition.
Genre Exploration: n/a's music is a kaleidoscope of genres, reflecting their eclectic tastes. From jazz to indie pop, they embrace diversity in their sound, driven by a philosophy of exploring new terrains in music.
Social Media and Music: While acknowledging the time-consuming nature of social media, n/a emphasizes the importance of focusing on their core identity as a band rather than getting lost in digital promotion.
Personal Favorites: Arek playfully avoids picking a favorite song, likening the choice to choosing between his 'babies.'
Artist Identity: Arek resonates with the idea of being 'not made for this world' and believes their music reflects this sentiment, appealing to those who feel similarly out of place.
Instruments and Gear: Arek cherishes instruments with personal and emotional connections, especially his Sonor AQ1 drum kit, which carries a piece of his brother's musical legacy.
Future Plans: Looking forward, n/a aims to maintain their pace of releasing music and performing live, with aspirations to tour.
Influence on Fans: n/a hopes their music contributes to a less lonely world, bringing people together through their art.
Creative Rituals: Advice for Aspiring Musicians: Arek advises aspiring musicians to focus on the joy of making music with their bandmates, ensuring that if they're having fun, the audience will too.
n/a's journey is a testament to the power of music in shaping lives, transcending genres, and creating a unique identity.
***n/a is a duo comprised of Nicholas Mastrangelo and Arek Tirtir. Arek filled out this form on behalf of the band, and answered questions from his point of view. We hope that if we are eligible for an interview, we could be interviewed together as to give you a complete picture of the band.****Arek: My only sibling is my brother, who is 11 years older than me. As a toddler, my lullabies were listening to his punk band, Idiot Proof, rehearse and write their material. Having a loving older brother is a real luxury. I think I was born with an intense love for music, yet I’m eternally grateful to have a brother show me where that love could take me one day.
Arek: if I had to boil it down to a two artists, and trust me, I’d prefer to include many more here. It would be David Bowie and Tom Waits. I started music by taking classical piano lessons at the age of 4. I was 6 years old when my brother put on “Life on Mars” while driving me to school. I was never the same ever since. I never knew flourishing, seemingly “classical” piano could be used to rock my face off. And it was the first time hearing music caused goosebumps to cover my whole body. So I have Bowie to thank for many many things, as we all probably do. Listening to Tom Waits gave me possibly the most important gift of all. Weeping along to his tracks, gave me the courage to sing in public. I learned from Tom Waits that great singing comes from the heart. You can transcend the voice you were born with if you put your heart on your sleeve and sing it with everything you got. Additionally, I’m enamored with Tom Waits’ intuitive problem solving in the studio. Is the snare not punchy enough? Ok throw the snare out, let’s hit a dresser with a 2x4.
Arek: I think our performance on 10/29/23 was the most memorable of last year. I thought our improvising and comping were on point, we had the absolutely incredible @strangefrenzy (her instagram handle) up on stage with us improvising paintings in response to what we were playing. It was so fucking cool. As a Halloween gag, we had an exorcist come in to lift a curse that had been placed on the band, concluding in an epic Ramones cover of Pet Sematary. We have a bunch of clips from this show on our twitter page! Check it out my friends! Though frankly, it’s the behind the scenes stuff that made this performance so memorable to me. I was really struggling from an unexpected breakup. At that moment, I didn’t think I was capable of anything. But as a band, we decided we’d do this super ambitious show, and in the middle of the set, I really did start to feel the dark clouds hanging above me begin to part. Sure my heart was broken, but we made some lemonade that day.
Arek: Right now it’s just a ceiling fan that keeps us cool in the summer months. Though you never know who will hear what! n/a’s intention is to be prolific as possible and perform live excessively. The audience we do this for, is each other.
Arek: Our most recent release is a live EP. Basically, I listened back to every single n/a performance of 2023 and flagged what I thought were the best songs. I sent Nick something like 10 or 12 songs that I thought went really well. Then from there, Nick whittled it down to his 5 favorite songs. Also, Nick picked out a film photograph I had taken in the summer of 2022, for the album artwork, and suggested the title “Ceremonies”. It’s funny because when Nick first pitched the cover artwork and title to me, it didn’t really resonate with me at first. But a few days later, the “meaning” revealed itself to me, and I fell in love with it all, and gave Nick the green light to finalize the packaging. You see, besides the final track, “Ceremonies” is comprised of songs that Nick wrote. The meaning I found from the EP’s presentation is that this is Nick, from Arek’s point of view.
Arek: I prefer performing live so much more, I really can’t emphasize it enough. Performing live is the most fun thing in the whole world! Can you think of something more fun than having a musical conversation with your best friend, with spontaneous unplanned beauty erupting with no warning whatsoever? Performing live also means band practice, and god is band practice so fun too. Everyone should form a band, just so they get to enjoy some band practices in their life time! I get a lot of satisfaction from being incredibly meticulous during practice and preparation, but then throwing that all out the window when it’s time to get up on stage.
Arek: Releasing two EP’s in one year. One day we’ll make George Clinton proud and do like 20 releases in a year or something. Something I’m always talking about, and I’m never sure if it horrifies Nick or gets him pumped up haha!
Arek: Yes we have explored different genres of music, you can especially hear so in our debut EP “Shadow of the Alley”. That EP goes from plastic jazz paranoia as a means to psychedelia, to a New Orleans brass band who had to pawn their brass instruments, to indie pop, to our own twisted style of outsider garage rock. I think this is a natural consequence of Nick and I being eclectic listeners. We love Gary Numan just like we love the Grateful Dead. We love Britney Spears just like we love Count Basie. We’re all beautiful, with beautiful ideas. Staying in one lane sounds boring to me. Life is too short for that!
Arek: Frankly, it’s mostly been an unproductive time sink for us. In the past, Nick would spend hours upon hours in Adobe Premier creating Instagram stories more akin to stunning artwork than engagement inducing PR, that haven’t led to significant growth for us. So these days, we’re always reminding ourselves to focus on being the band, and not putting too many hours into all the other demands of running a DIY band.
Arek: I can’t publicly choose between my babies this early in my career! Hahaha!
Arek: I’ll quote the ever brilliant band, of Montreal here. “But it’s like we weren’t made for this world, though I wouldn’t really want to meet someone who was.”
Arek: My favorite instruments are the ones I have an emotional connection to and that I enjoy the feel of playing. I adore the drum kit I used on “Shadow of the Alley”, a sparkly white Sonor AQ1 I got for dirt cheap back in 2013, with the same snare my brother used in his punk band Idiot Proof, decades ago. I just love that kit to bits. It’s small enough to fit in the back of a sedan, and resilient enough to survive my bullshit for 11 years.
Arek: We hope to continue our pace of two releases (EPs/LPs) a year, alongside a ton of live performances! And of course, the dream is to go on tour as soon as possible.
Arek: I hope n/a’s music helps create a less lonely world for everybody.
Arek: I highly suggest that the metric you measure success by, be the amount of fun you and your bandmates are having. Make your audience be each other. This also makes performing live a lot less scary. Don’t worry about making the crowd happy. Improvise a little variation on the chord change that’ll make the bassist smile. Play a drum fill that gives your guitarist blues face. Do you catch my drift here? If you have fun, so will the rest of us.
n/a Socials
Official: https://www.gruesomefeatures.com/
Bandcamp: https://thisbandisna.bandcamp.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thisbandisna
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