It’s always good to be an oddball–especially in the rough-and-tumble DIY world of punk. Take it from Brian Gorsegner—frontman of the rowdy Jersey punk outfit, Night Birds. The scrappy quartet has given the world over small doses of its punchy brand of hardcore/punk with a California surf flair, a la Adolescence and Nerve Agents. Gorsegner and company find solace in weirdness—opting to be the oddball on mixed bills from basement shows in their own Jersey, to Sound and Fury and Punk Rock Bowling 2016.
Now, a decade into the project, we touched base with Gorsenger on Night Birds’ latest effort, Roll Credits, Vegas memories, and being an oddball.
The first and only time I’ve seen Night Birds was at Sound and Fury in 2012…
Oh, man. That’s something I’ve always wanted to do—put us in front of different audiences. I think it’s really important to be the oddball on bills because it gives you the chance to hit the ears of a different group of people. It’s important to embrace that mindset of diversity, because if you only listen to one style, you’ll never get exposed to anything else.
When I was a young kid, I went to a lot of those types of hardcore shows. I saw a band cover Gorilla Biscuits, and it’s history from there. I’m glad that opened the door.
Night Birds is celebrating 10 years as a band. How does it feel?
It doesn’t feel like 10 years at all! There are so many times lately when I feel like we’re still the new band. [Still,] it feels good because we feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.
We’ve done so much in 10 years, and I never thought I’d have the opportunity to so many of it. In our world of DIY punk, playing overseas is such a big deal. Back then, it was short-term goals, like putting out a record. With my first band, I thought it was the coolest thing when we put out our first 7”.
That feeling and sentiment of consistently one-upping ourselves has carried on throughout the time of Night Birds, and it seems to continue working [laughs]. Being in the DIY/punk world, our goals never seemed out of reach, but we continued busting our asses in order to make things work. I never thought I’d make it to Australia in any capacity, and we went there to play music. It’s wild.
Roll Credits the band’s latest effort, is considered a “mini-album.” Why go for this concept?
Punks have a short attention span [laughs]. The 12” EP is one of my favorite formats of releasing music. You think about some of those… Negative Approach’s Tied Down, Cock Sparrer’s Shock Troops, Circle Jerks’ Group Sex … those are classics. None are over 30 minutes, which they should, as EPs are traditionally under 30 minutes, but they did it. They pack such a huge punch in such a short amount of time, and we wanted to give that same effect with Roll Credits.
[Mini-albums] are also less pressure than a proper album. With this evolution of Night Birds, we just couldn’t swing a full album. Our bass player, Joe [Keller], had twins. Sometimes life steps in on the home front, and sometimes, the timing isn’t ideal.
Does that really mean this is the end for the band?
With Night Birds, every time we do something, we expect it to be the last thing we do as a band. We really try our best to be self-aware. I think it’s a bummer when a band sticks around and puts out shitty records to the point where no one knows or cares about the songs except for the band. I don’t want that for us. As time passes, we know we won’t get to spend as much time as we’d like to on this band, and we don’t want the end product to suffer, so we try to be aware of that. It goes hand-in-hand; the less time you’re able to spend on a product, the end product usually isn’t as desirable.
But yes, it’s hard to tell if or when Night Birds will ever end. We’re all good friends, and we still manage to put together good great songs. We enjoy traveling as a group, and all the aspects that come with being in a touring band. You can say this isn’t intentionally the end, but sort of.
How was bringing in Mike back into the band after an absence?
The whole thing was completely seamless, and it couldn’t happen any other way. He was living in Brooklyn, and were in Jersey–by the shore. When he left the band, he started running a record shop in Brooklyn. That’s when the band was getting pretty busy, so we eventually had to part ways. It was all on good terms, and we stayed in constant contact throughout his absence.
Then, awhile back, he moved closer to where Joe (Keller, bassist) and I live. We started hanging out while we were writing music, and we talked about how it would be cool to come full circle by having Mike play on the record. That soon became him giving us advice while writing, then came studio visits, and then came the idea of him playing a show with us. Now he’s back. It just makes sense, and everyone is into it. We all get along super well, and it’s perfect for this era of the band.
Night Birds has few shows in 2019—either overseas, or on a tour with Descendents and Joyce Manor. That’s huge. How does it feel?
It feels great, but natural—where shit should be. We obviously can’t go to Europe for three weeks, because we’ve got three kids between us and mortgages to pay [laughs]. The short stints are the only way we could make them happen at this point. It’s cool that people still care enough to see us, and I try to remind that to myself every time we play.
But it’s amazing that our band—our career—has gotten us to the point where we’re able to even do something like this.
Night Birds are no strangers to Vegas. Got any crazy stories?
Oh, man, I’ve got a few, but I’d need to dig into my memory.
One sticks out, though: A couple of years ago, we were there for Punk Rock Bowling. We were all drinking—hanging out during the day, and I was talking to Steve Soto [bassist of Adolescents]. We talked a few times; we became buddies over the years. Then, we met up with Stan Lee from The Dickies. He was passing through, looked at me, didn’t recognize me, and walked away. I didn’t think anything of it. Then, after one of the nights, it’s 4 a.m., I’m in bed at the hotel, and I get a text from Steve. He wanted to convince Stan Lee that he snubbed me, and that I was pissed. He wanted me to tell him off over text, and even though it might be weird, it’d be super hilarious. I couldn’t say no to Steve Soto from the Adolescents, so it did it, and he went along with the joke pretty well. It was awesome. Here were two bans my entire band idolized, and they were both texting me at 4 a.m. over some fuckin’ joke. [Laughs].
Another great story is when we got signed to Fat [Wreck Chords, label]. Fat Mike saw us play with ALL. We love ALL, and it was there when he asked us to be on the label. It was so cool, because Fat was a label we were all into as teens.
Who are you most excited to see at Punk Rock Bowling?
This year, we’re playing on Monday with The Hives and The Specials. Those are two bands that I had never really gotten into before, but only because I had never dug into. When we knew about the lineup, I went out of my way to pick up their records, and, have since, become a really big fan of both. It’s really funny because this was maybe only four months ago. I just never checked them out for some reason.
What can we expect during the Night Birds set?
20-25 minutes, no breaks. We’re going to cram in as many songs as we can, and we’re only playing the hits.
-Ian Caramanzana
Night Birds photos by Tyler Newton and Anthony Constantine
Night Birds play the Punk Rock Bowling MainStage on May 27th. Tickets are available via Punk Rock Bowling.
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