Locals Only: Norust for the Wicked
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Impressive up-and-coming rockers Norust find themselves in music
Interview By Dale Johnson
Fir...Impressive up-and-coming rockers Norust find themselves in music
Interview By Dale Johnson
First, let's get the pronunciation straight -- it's not "No rust" as in, "There is no rust on the prow of the ship." It's "nor rust," as in ... the name of the band.
"It comes from Neil Young," says Norust guitarist Travis Talbert. In a roundabout way, the name references Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps. Norust thinks a little differently than most, which is good news for local music fans looking for something unique.
Norust is a young band that came into its present lineup last summer and then added Jake Lillenstein (vocals/acoustic guitar), who sometimes bills himself as "Ruebin Church." Nathan Wagner (drums) and Dan Fisk (bass), played together for several years before adding guitarist Talbert and Lillenstein to the mix. They are, however, pretty new to the publicity/media game, which was evidenced in their answer to one of my questions.
"Is there anything, anything at all, that you'd like to say to the readers of CityBeat?"
Wagner: "Thanks for reading?"
But, it's that kind of earnestness and concern that make Norust's music so appealing. Their sound has an uncompromising, yet accessible, integrity to spare, putting one in mind of Pearl Jam in the Ten era or, fittingly, Neil Young and Crazy Horse. You can hear something very real, almost elemental, in their music, like discovering a small truth of life. There's no predominant influence to their sound -- they take cues from everybody from John Lee Hooker to Bob Dylan to The Beatles to Blind Melon.
"We can't trade CDs back and forth," says Fisk. "We can't go, 'Hey Travis, listen to this CD I just bought,' because he probably wouldn't like it; likewise for everybody else (in the band). But we're able to come together and write songs that please all of us."
In March they entered the Northern Kentucky University "Battle of the Bands" contest without really knowing anyone at NKU and won the contest, something they weren't expecting to do.
"That was the weirdest thing ever," says Wagner about the win. "We went in thinking it was just for publicity. We didn't bother promoting it at all. We didn't even tell our friends to go. We played first, and lots of people showed up after we played -- so we figured the chances of us winning were slim to none. We played a decent show, I mean, it wasn't anything spectacular."
"We did pretty good," says Fisk without a trace of irony or gloating.
Music is a great passion for the members of Norust, and their biggest goal is to bounce some of that enthusiasm the listener's way.
"I just want to make people feel good," says Lillenstein in regard to performing and songwriting. "This is the only thing that makes me feel truly happy. I find it very hard in life to be truly honest, and I really think that onstage I'm totally honest. (Honesty is) what I want to project to people (which) I just can't do without singing my songs. In life, I can always think of the right thing to say but never at the right time. And that's why I like writing songs, because you have as much time as you want to get out what you want to say."
"This is the closest I feel to what is really me," agrees Talbert. "This is what I feel like I was meant to do. I don't, by any means, think that I'm the best at it, but I think that I do it as well as I possibly can, because that's all you can do with anything."
And that's what makes Norust -- who recently recorded a new, soon-to-be-released EP at Mind Ignition Studios near Dayton -- a band to watch. They might be young and new, but they have a lot of heart and idealism that comes through in their music. It's refreshing to hear a band with a soul in the plastic cacophony of today's Pop stars.
NORUST has sound clips and more info on the band on their pages at cincymusic.com and soundclick.com.
