We spoke to Aaron of Nematode, an American four piece from West Philadelphia. Nematode are a psych rock band made up of Aaron Mughannam, Larry Flatley, Kazim Zaidi and Mike Downey.
The band released their last single Friends back in April and are working on more tunes at the moment!
How did Nematode come into existence, how did you all meet and form a band?
Me and Larry met through our mutual friend and publicist Madi Baver, and after I showed Larry 7 or 8 songs I had written on piano and a few rough demos I had put together with electronic drums and bass, we decided to start a band together, and he brought on his friend Mike, who he played with in a band in highschool, and his other friend Kazim who he met in a different band in college. They heard the demos that I had showed Larry before, and the rest is pretty much history.
Did you know what kind of sound you wanted when you first started out or did it come about after while of playing together?
A little of column A and a little of column B, to be honest. When we started I was writing all the songs, and they were really influenced by psychedelic music, and like, heavily influenced by Pink Floyd. My vision has always been for psych pop I think. But later on when we started to get together as a full group, we started listening to music together and writing music together and now we draw from a much wider range of influences, because everyone has a say. We're all in love with Vulfpeck. Larry's been writing a lot of more experimental songs recently and it's taking us in a whole different direction, which is really awesome and exciting.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
For me personally, my main influences are Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and Tame Impala.
Larry really likes Vulfpeck, Pink Floyd, and John Mayer.
Mike is way into Green Day, Dave Grohl, and Steely Dan, and Kazim likes Vulfpeck, Mild High Club, and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
When your writing songs what’s your writing process as a band? Is it a collaborative effort or is there more of a spear head song writer in the group?
It used to be the latter, I would write all the songs, and nitpick over every tiny detail, and just give commands at all times, but now we basically write the songs together. The two main writers are me and Larry, and we basically sit in our living room and noodle on our instruments and come up with stuff by improvising. I still write all the lyrics, but Larry comes up with tons of instrumental motifs and vocal melodies. Mike has actually written a few songs recently too! So basically the process is super holistic and inclusive. It's a lot of fun.
Where did you draw your inspiration from lyrically when you were writing ‘Friends’ and ‘Be Free’?
When I was writing the lyrics for Be Free I was coming down off of an acid trip, and when I do acid I get this profound sense of like, lacking an identity. And so I felt like my mind was almost erased, and I was worried I would be replaced, because if I couldn't be me, someone else was going to. So yeah I guess that song is kind of about existential dread, and like, easing the pain of that dread with psychedelics. And then when I was writing Friends, I was kind of lamenting over the fact that because I had moved from my hometown of San Francisco to Philly, and had basically lost a bunch of longtime friends in the process, I felt like a bit of an outcast. Being a musician and choosing to move away from home for the sake of music can definitely make you feel like you're on the fringe of society, and that's kind of what I was trying to express in that track.
Your artwork for both of these singles is awesome! Who designed it?
Thanks so much! It's designed by my friend Winston Schultz who I met in art class in high school. She's super talented and is gonna be working with us for all of our upcoming releases. You can follow her on instagram at @empty_canvas
What’s the music scene like in West Philadelphia?
We've only been around for about half a year, and during that time we've mostly played in New Jersey, but we've played a few shows in Philly and everyone here is super nice and welcoming, which is awesome. Overall the scene feels very warm and receptive, and there's a great sense of community.
You’ve got two shows coming up in New Jersey, have you played with any of the bands on those bill’s before?
Nope! That's actually one of the awesome things about being such a new band, we pretty much meet all new people every time we play!
Are you guys working on anything at the moment, writing or recording?
Sometimes I like, can't believe how much were writing. We have somewhere in the ballpark of 70 songs planned for release. We're almost through recording our first full-length LP and then it'll be onto the mixing/mastering phase! We're trying to release that by the end of this year, and then we've got a few EP releases planned after that. Definitely stay tuned.
Finally, what else have you got planned for 2018 as a band?
Other than finishing and releasing our album, we're trying to play as many shows as possible, and maybe book a small tour, probably 1-2 weeks long, if we can.
Check them out on Facebook to stay up to date here
And give 'Friends' and 'Be Free' a listen on Spotify here
Interview by Holly Beson-Tams
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