Nigredo is performing at the next Atlanta Music Roundtable Presents along with Lucy Dreams and The Electric Nature.  This Tuesday, March 27 at The Earl. $5 – More Info – RSVP


To fully experience how incredible Nigredo is go see them live, let go of everything holding you down, and immerse yourself in the music.  You will feel a range of emotion that you didn’t think was possible.  From ambient to heavy, Nigredo creates a musical landscape that is inspiring and breathtaking.  I wanted to know more about Nigredo and surprisingly this is their first and only interview! I asked about Nigredo’s past, present, future, and what to expect at the show on Tuesday with guitarist/drummer Damon Breeland.

Full Q&A after the jump:

Describe how Nigredo formed and any changes the band has gone through over the course of existence.

The beginning of what formed Nigredo started in a rehearsal room between Josh Washburn(guitarist), and myself.  We were both session players for a band called “Apocrypha” at the time, which has since moved on to Los Angeles, and is now called “Ryst”.  When that band moved, we stayed in Atlanta, and inherited the rehearsal room with a full month paid off.  So, Josh & I decided to start playing.  For myself, I had always played drums in a band.  Personally, I wanted to come out from behind the kit.

I had recently been adding some guitar sounds/parts to Apocrypha’s live set, and had gone on a short tour to New York sitting in on ambient guitar sounds with the jazz singer, Amanda Ray.  In that time, I was able to play at Sin-e in the Lower East Side, and knew this was the direction I had to go musically.  Getting to be a part of that history that was so instrumental to Jeff Buckley in the early ’90s meant the world to me, and served as a catalyst towards embracing this sort of change.

So, from May ’06 all of ’07, we wrote together.  In that time, we had Jason Hagood playing keys, and ambient sounds.  We weren’t very sure of the direction this music would go.  The three of us had been through the cycles of bands, playing for fun, playing for money, to get labels, and through our own self discovery that we didn’t want to be in a band.  With that concept being at the forefront of our origin, we weren’t sure if we were composing music that we could actually perform live in Atlanta, or even live period.

By 2008, we had decided to form a live line up.  The search began for a rhythm section.  After several months of auditioning drummers, we came across John McAdams.  He fit us perfectly for that time period, and how we were growing in our writing.  With no luck in finding a bassist, one day a good friend, Chris Wilfong, opened our door at rehearsal one night and said, “I’m tired of hearing you guys play here, and not playing shows.  I don’t care if you don’t have a bassist.  I booked you to play a show at 7 Stages in L5P.”  On May 28, 2008, Nigredo played its first show in the Black Box Theater of 7 Stages.

In attendance was Josh Broughton, our first bassist.  He is currently the guitarist for Attention System.  He approached us after the show, and asked if he could play with us.  We had also played with Josh Broughton in Apocrypha, so it was an easy decision knowing he was an excellent guitarist/bassist.

From there, we began playing shows, and decided to record some compositions for booking purposes.  We have been very fortunate early on to have Gavin at Stickfigure/Drunken Unicorn to be so supportive of our humble beginnings.  He took a chance in allowing Nigredo to open for shows with Maserati, This Will Destroy You, Mouth of the Architect, and countless others early on when we had zero following, and no music to display.  He has been one of our greatest supporters.

In 2009, Nigredo really started to evolve with the addition of Rob Sepanski on guitar, rhodes piano, mandolin, lap steel, and anything else he could fit into our basement rehearsal space.  We had initially invited Rob over to record with us after hearing his performances with an instrumental band  named Willow.  That band came to end with Tanner taking over vocals with O’Brother, and Rob came to join us as a core member of the Nigredo family.  After playing some great shows in Atlanta, we parted ways with John McAdams on drums due to him moving to New York for a graphic design career, and also with Josh Broughton due to Attention System become very busy.  We added on drums, Justin Tullis, and on bass, Kory Dean.  Both played in the bands 2081, and Amili.  We had played with their bands before, and had Kory Dean perform viola tracks on our first recordings along with Rachael Keplin on viola as well.  So, it was a natural fit, and easy transition for us.  

In late 2009, we made our first tour run through the Southeast.  Once the lineup change took place, we began another run up the east coast in the winter of 2010 with Braveyoung.  From there, we kept playing solid Atlanta shows, continued writing together, and booked a tour for the summer of 2010 with Gifts From Enola.  We did a two week run through the southeast to Dallas, TX & back with them.  When starting that tour, we had decided to actually record a full length record to release.

Most of 2011 was consumed with recording.  We spent all year working in several studios around Atlanta.  Most of our tracking was done with Josh Coleman(manager/engineer) at Doppler Sound.  Nathan Schreier is mixing the album at his studio, Genetically Modified Music, in Los Angeles.  From there, we’ll have the mastering done by Howie Weinberg.

Other line up changes includes having Aaron Hendrickson(Treewitch) now on bass, and Kory Dean performs with us on viola.  Also, Rachael Keplin performs with us on viola as well when available.  

From there, 2012 has started off with a new perspective.  Nigredo was given an opprotunity to be a part of something special at the end of the year in a live private performance.  This was such a unique, and humbling event that it greatly expanded our perspective towards what Nigredo could/should be going into completing our first record, releasing it, and our live performances.  Since, we have added Nick Johns on piano, rhodes, & persephone.  We’ve also been adding Mike Barnes on orchestra percussion.  We have opened up our live performances to include a wide selection of Atlanta musicians.  If the stage can fit it, we’re going to bring it.

I have noticed you playing the drums the past few Nigredo shows I’ve attended.  What has it been like switching up instruments and can you elaborate on if this is a line-up change?

Playing drums is a natural thing for me.  My mother started me on drums at 5 years old.  I grew up a church drummer, and have always played in bands around town.  I have such a therapeutic expression & passion for drum performance.  In the beginning of writing with Josh Washburn on Nigredo compositions, I would usually start out on drums as we would arrange.  We still do that to this day.

As for there being a line-up change, that necessarily hasn’t happened.  All of us in Nigredo know we are in a musical family together, and not a band.  Our live line up can change depending on our individual lives’ needs, and we are very supportive of one another.

As for the March 27th show at The Earl, Matt Lynch (Eyris, Trioscapes) will be joining us on drums, and continue as needed.  When Justin, and Matt are unavailable, I will gladly jump behind the kit.

Are there any plans on touring?  If so, which band/musicians would you love to tour with?

Tour planning for Oct/Nov 2012 has begun.  We have been waiting on planning such until the record was finished.  We had anticipated it being done at the beginning of this year, but we’ve had to allow the record to take precedence over our scheduling.

We’ll be doing a 2-3 week East coast run up to Canada, and back.

As for bands we’d love to tour with, that’s wide open.  We love blending with just about every genre of music.  Of course, we have toured several shows with Braveyoung, Gifts From Enola, and The Bronzed Chorus.  They are always great road mates, and we enjoy the dynamic musically from the stage with each of them.  We’d love to do some dates with Manray, and always love playing with Hail The Titans.  Also, knowing that the Deftones put This Will Destroy You on 10 shows in 2011 in arenas opening up for them, I would not turn down a call from Chino inquiring.  Ha.  Also, we’d love to tour with Mono, Maserati, This Will Destroy You, and several other bands that have been instrumental to us musically.

How would you describe your live show to someone who hasn’t seen Nigredo before?  Any special surprises we should expect next Tuesday?

When people ask for me to explain this, the most comfortable response I’ve had is to compare it to movie score music.  Hans Zimmer, Thomas Newman, Howard Shore, Randy Edelman, and countless other movie composers are very influential to us musically.  It’s a sonic journey where your mind is allowed to dictate your own story in the audience, and follow the dynamic shaping and shifts of the musical composition.  It is very much a shared expression between everyone in the room.

As for surprises for Tuesday, we’ll be bringing quite a crew with us.  We’ll be adding orchestra percussion(timpani, concert bass, etc…), Nick Johns on piano, and placing them on the side stage near the front of house sound booth.  We’re also researching a different type of stage set up for both areas that you’ll just have to witness at the show.

I probably speak for myself and all of your fans anxiously waiting but are you currently planning any forthcoming releases?

We are going to be releasing a full length, vinyl, and several other splits with other bands we love this year.  Also in the works is to release a live performance of a private event(that I mentioned earlier) from Dec. 2011 that has inspired us so much.

There isn’t a date yet decided on the record release as we are currently completing mixing.  We really put everything we had into tracking this record for over a year.  There are several guest musicians, horns, a string quartet, and many more portions of this record that has made it time difficult in setting a release date.  We can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, and we’ll be releasing it very soon.

It’s a complete honor to have Nigredo play the Atlanta Music Roundtable show. How vital do you think it is to have local blogs supporting and writing about the Atlanta music scene?

Personally, I find a greater connection & trust to reading updates on Atlanta music through the blogs.  With what you personally sacrifice in time, money, and energy, it is immeasurable.  It definitely shows a genuine passion for music in Atlanta, and is the mortar for the indie Atlanta music community.  I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, and collaborating with a few of the music bloggers, and I have nothing but respect & appreciation for what they give to this community every day.

What are some of your favorite Atlanta bands/musicians we should know about?

O’Brother has something special going on.  Getting to play with them at their Jan. 6th album release was special for us.  Royal Thunder has truly grown into something powerful.  Their dynamics are limitless with great tones, and a mysterious emotive character to all of their songs.  I recently did a two week tour with them as a tech, and was blown away every night.  Anytime the boys from Subrig Destroyer(Joel Martin & Chris Holcombe) are playing in other current bands(Demonaut, Guzik, Utah), we’re there.  Subrig was a major influence in the beginning for Nigredo.  Multiplexor(http://multiplexor.bandcamp.com/) is a band that’s a must see.  Kyle Coleman has recorded an amazing album, and his live shows are inspiring.  Our brothers in Hail The Titans from Montgomery, AL are fantastic.  They live their music.  We share a lot of the same energy.  Lux Noise is another band with fantastic vocals with a great sense of harnessed experimental writing.  Manray, out of Athens, GA, is phenomenal!  I was locked into every note, and beat when we shared the stage Jan. 6th for O’Brother’s album release.