NGHT HCKLRS
Austin, TX | Established. Jan 01, 2015 | INDIE
Music
Press
All it took was one listen to NGHT HCKLRS‘ “Not Your City,” and the immediate reaction was visceral. Through the opening with the distant sound of a police siren, onto fearsome funky beats and pulsing synths, there are the cynical rumblings about the changes of one’s hometown. It’s not pretty. The refrain keeps hammering, “This is not your city,” a reflection of Austin’s current social clime with the influx of new residents, construction, corporate ruthlessness and the impact of it all.
NGHT HCKLRS is the brainchild of Kevin Douglas and Dean Mason, formerly of the Austin Music Award-winning avant-garde/experimental outfit S O R N E. (The name NGHT HCKLRS comes from the night air raid squadron that Douglas’ grandfather served in during the Korean War, the Night Hecklers.) After writing some new tracks, Douglas and Mason recruited friend and drummer Phil Hook and vocalist Shala McD into their new project. Their sound totally reflects their collective personality: It may be driven, intense and even furious at times, but it’s not exactly taking everything too seriously.
Pay a visit to their Facebook band page, which gives artists the rather boring option of listing their “genre,” and you’ll find NGHT HCKLRS have put, “HaHaHaHaHaHaHa.” Most apropos, and the name they intend to use for their forthcoming full-length release this year (don’t know how the hell your Austin Music Minute host will read that on air, but there you go). They do, however, offer a musical description from two perspectives: One, you experience a fierce hybrid of disco, punk and hip-hop; two, you take a flying leap into a surreal realm where people from the late ‘70s/early 80’s attempt to imagine what music will sound like around the year 2015.
This is one you need to check out, kids. - Laurie Gallardo - KUTX
Beerland has a really fucking weird bill that mostly seems unified by how little the bands sound alike, and honestly, that’s alright by me. At the heart of it is Nght Hcklrs, who are fresh off a Spider House residency and have a sound that is alternately catchy as all fuck and crazy as shit. I’d liken them to parts of that Super Furry Animals/Boom Bip spin off project Neon Neon except I think I’m the only one who was into that project enough to remember it. Comprised of electropunk, hip hop and pop parts, Nght Hcklrs are particularly volatile live, and Beerland should be a great fit for their “fuck everything, let’s party” philosophy. - Nick Hanover - OVRLD
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
https://youtu.be/LyZp4gwkgDEhttps://youtu.be/0ZDFx240oLEKevin Douglas, Dean Mason and Phil Hook met 5 years ago after they all moved to Austin,Tx around the same time. Kevin from N...ew Orleans, Dean from Rhode Island and Phil from Indianapolis. The three bonded quickly over similar influences and past experiences in former bands. They always wanted to create something together but it would take four years before that could happen, mostly due to their involvement in other projects. Over the course of those four years, Phil would provide his trademark 'big beat' style drums for multiple ATX singer/songwriters and Kevin and Dean would be instrumental in the development of the avant-garde/experimental Austin Music Award winning act SORNE. After touring the US for 3 years, playing many national notable festivals and opening for international standouts TV on the Radio, Beats Antique, The Roots, Dr. Dog, James Blake and Little Dragon, performing at legendary venues like The Fillmore (SF), Red Rocks Amphitheatre (CO) and Irving Plaza (NYC) to name a few, Kevin and Dean decided to depart SORNE in 2014 and embark on a new project they call NGHT HCKLRS (pronounced Night Hecklers).
The name was born in 2013 from a conversation the two were having with Kevin's grandfather about his service in the Korean War and his experiences in a night air raid squadron called the Night Hecklers. The next year the two started writing some catchy, tongue-in-cheek songs under the moniker and recruited Hook to play drums. Within months NGHT HCKLRS started to play some live shows and soon discovered the sultry, soulful voice of Shala McD, another Austin transplant originally from Seattle and asked her to join the band to complete the sonic vision.
In the spring of 2014 they released two demos recorded by them in their house entitled Adderall, a song about vocalist Dean Mason's former addiction to the pharmaceutical drug and Philip Seymour Hoffman, which is inspired by something the singer's grandmother said when his father passed away. Then in early 2015 they previewed three new songs from their upcoming full length, including the antagonistic lead single Not Your City, (about the ever-changing city the four now call home), accompanied by an 'electro-funk' track WMAO and an 'electro-punk' track Jumped the Gun . All five can be heard and downloaded on their soundcloud page. https://soundcloud.com/nght-hcklrs.
In a mini-mockumentary they did last year driving around East Austin in an old Lincoln Continental (which in the filming of, they find baby rats living in the trunk and make a pit stop at the pharmacy),
video can be scene here: https://youtu.be/0ZDFx240oLE, the group states they draw inspiration from the architects and pioneers of the punk, hip hop, disco and no wave movements of the 70's in New York City. Kevin Douglas, the producer and overall creator of their sound describes it as a "late 70's / early 80's futuristic take on what people thought music would sound like in 2015". While critics and fans have compared them to a wide range of artists; such as LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, NIN, Tv on the Radio, Saul Williams, MIA, Run the Jewels, iconic acts like DEVO, Afrika Bambaataa and the Beastie Boys, NGHT HCKLRS seem to have their own approach to making pop music. On their Facebook page NGHT HCKLRS say "it's like Newcleus meets Suicide."
Now dawning a laughing hyena as their logo and a picture of the infamous sports heckler Robin Ficker on their cover, NGHT HCKLRS are poised to release their debut album appropriately entitled HAHAHAHAHAHAHA in 2015.
Band Members
Links
