An Interview With Nigel Chapman of Nap Eyes & Shows # 738 & 739

Nap Eyes formed in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2011. Fronted by vocalist/guitarist Nigel Chapman, Brad Loughead (lead guitar), Josh Salter (bass) and Seamus Dalton (drums), Nap Eyes musical style has drawn comparisons to bands such as The Velvet Underground, The Clean, The Go-Betweens, and Television, among others. Their style sometimes called “slacker rock” is different. It does have similarities to the above-mentioned bands, but at the same time it doesn’t. The music also lends itself to the indie rock world and also to other genres. Lyrically, the words operate on a different level being introspective, deadpan and sarcastic at times. I’m Bad Now, is the third full-length album release by this band. Released via You’ve Changed Records/Paradise of Bachelors, I’m Bad Now finds Chapman questioning relationships and life in general in philosophical, existential and cosmic contexts.

Recorded in June/July 2016 in Montreal at Hotel2Tango with Howard Billerman and Mike Wright, I’m Bad Now was the first Nap Eyes album to be recorded with overdubs. While all previous albums were recorded basically live off the floor, I’m Bad Now still resonates with a similar musical aesthetic to its predecessors, 2014’s Whine of the Mystic and 2016’s Thought Rock Fish Scale. “Every Time The Feeling” opens I’m Bad Now with its jangly rock guitars and rolling basslines. Lyrically, with lines such as “I can’t tell what’s worse the meaninglessness or the negative meaning/I’ve figured out a way to get on with my life and to keep on dreaming”, Chapman digs into a feeling and a sense of existential dread, while at the same time addressing outcast/outsider themes. “I’m Bad” questions the prospect of good versus evil in broad strokes, with elements of country music and alternative rock converging together musically, “Judgement” has lyrics asking “Please don’t ask me to throw my work away”, droning guitars, drifting basslines, subtle, yet aggressive drums as the band builds up to a musical jangle reminiscent of The Clean. The song ends anti-climactically, as the song questions the judgement of others and the prospect of everyday life. “Roses” arrives like a restless and impatient version of a Rolling Stones country song. With a bassline reminiscent of “Miss You” and sliding 70s country guitar licks, the song itself seems to question vanity, desire and unwanted attention.

“Follow Me Down” again makes its way into country, with rim shots on the drums and a powerful bassline, mixed with acoustic guitar and intense, but subtle electric feedback. Lyrically, the words are poetic with their landscape imagery and executed in a deadpan delivery drawing on a Lou Reed/Leonard Cohen influence. The song, like the character in it, seems to zone out as it contemplates internal contradictions. “Dull Me Line” enters a cosmic space lyrically with a chorus of “Dull me line/Running abandoned race tracks in my mind/Dull me heart/Heavy with bored and lazy disappointment art/Dull me head/Stubbornly trying to forget what you said/Dull me soul/Wandering restlessly without a goal”. Musically, it flows with an uneasy breeziness, likely influenced by Chapman’s Nova Scotia surroundings as well as drawing comparisons to early R.E.M. and The Modern Lovers. “Sage” is mellow bringing in elements of Wilco and Television, “Hearing The Bass” brings up the tempo. The song features lyrics by Danika Vandersteen, and an almost dream pop-like atmosphere, as it draws on nautical themes (which appear throughout the album) to paint a picture of its surroundings.

“White Disciple” comes in as the second last track on I’m Bad Now. The song itself was written prior to the band’s first two albums. It is a long track that draws on a story of spiritual awakening. “White Disciple” features primarily bass that sounds like it was carved out of wood and a rhythmic drum pattern amongst guitar stabs and trailing guitar lead lines. “Boats Appear” ends I’m Bad Now. At almost seven minutes, it is the album’s longest track (not available on vinyl editions of the album). The track with lyrics such as “Boats appear on the water/Like the ones in the dream/I have seen the steam trails rising/From the sea/Like a dream”, questions things in a very open ended cosmic/existential way. Musically, the song pulls at the listener’s mind with a folk dynamicism. As a whole, it has been said that I’m Bad Now is loosely connected to their previous two albums to create some kind of trilogy. While there are similar themes that pop up and appear between the three albums, I’m Bad Now stands up by itself. The meanings that can be drawn from the songs here can be abstract, or not. The listener is not presented with everything spelled out for them, which causes repeat listens to reveal little subtleties that may not have been noticed before. With all its cosmic layers, drawing on everything from existential to philosophical themes, I’m Bad Now seems to ask more questions than it answers. However, as we are told in “Boats Appear”, ”It takes time to understand things/And the more you know/The more you don’t know”.

Check out Revolution Rock's interview with Nigel Chapman of Nap Eyes here:



Show 739 (Originally Aired On September 8th, 2018)(Nap Eyes Interview):

1. School Damage - Assimilate
2. School Damage - Meeting Halfway
3. Wild Billy Childish - You'll Be Sorry Now
4. Bob Seger & The Lost Heard - Persecution Smith
5. The Canadian Squires - Leave Me Alone
6. Them - Mystic Eyes
7. The Secrets - He Treats You Bad
8. The Clean - Tally Ho!
9. Nap Eyes - Everytime The Feeling
10. Nap Eyes - Hearing The Bass

NIGEL CHAPMAN (OF NAP EYES) INTERVIEW

11. Nap Eyes - 2 Cool To Be 4-Gotten (Laginappe Session)
12. Monomyth - Transmission
13. Modern Superstitions - Black Moon
14. The Mark Inside - Coming of Age At The End of Days
15. Wild Nothing - Letting Go
16. Grounders - Mickey Won't Move
17. Protomartyr - You Always Win
18. Nervous Exits - Annabel
19. Martin Van Ruin - On The Level
20. PRIORS - Grease
21. The Famines - The State of Music
22. Dragsville - That Girl
23. Volunteers - Don't Get Me Down
24. Neil Young - Mellow My Mind
25. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - An Air Conditioned Man

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for September 8.

Show 738 Play List (Originally Aired On September 1st, 2018)(Aretha Franklin Tribute, Archie & The Bunkers, Ancient Shapes, Daniel Romano):

1. Aretha Franklin - The House That Jack Built
2. Aretha Franklin - Niki Hoeky
3. Aretha Franklin - A Change Is Gonna Come
4. Condition - Caravan
5. F&M - Colmar
6. Mitski - Blue Light
7. Father John Misty - Date Night
8. Archie & The Bunkers - Fire Walk With Me
9. Archie & The Bunkers - Laura
10. David Lynch - Star Dream Girl
11. The Demics - The 400 Blows
12. Ancient Shapes - Giant Comma
13. Ancient Shapes - Teenagers (The Rats)
14. Daniel Romano - Nerveless
15. Daniel Romano - Blue Champagne
16. The Moths - Lightning Coyote
17. The Thirty Eights - The Drop
18. Gogo Loco - The Gogo Loco Twist
19. Adolescents - Amoeba
20. No Age - Drippy
21. Rock n' Roll Monkey & The Robots - Do The Rock n' Roll Monkey
22. Iggy & The Stooges - I Need Somebody (Instrumental)
23. Farewell Mourners - Always Eventually
24. US Girls - Mad As Hell
25. Underworld & Iggy Pop - Bells & Circles
26. Oh Sees - Enrique El Cobrador

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for September 1.