Nolan Potter's Nightmare Before Christmas
Nerd alert!
On the debut of Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band, Nightmare Forever, the local octet synthesizes fever dream psychedelia, acid jazz, and a deep fascination with the fantastical and occult. The group’s namesake bandleader pens pieces detailing wizards, elves, plagues, and seahorses.
“As a kid, I was a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and anything with fantasy,” affirms Potter.
Stitched together from recordings throughout 2017-2018, including segments off solo LP Strange & Secret Peoples (2018), Nightmare Forever resulted from a budding friendship with Oh Sees cottage industry John Dwyer, who became a fan of Potter’s solo work after hearing last year’s instrumental suite A Spirit Lasts Forever and personal recordings The World Is a Peach Goodbye in 2017. Working at Hotel Vegas, Potter was approached by Dwyer to record for his Castle Face imprint, home to Ty Segall and Australia’s King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.
Recorded over nine months, Nightmare Forever thus spasms through prog (“Elf Curse”), space operas (“Donny’s Trip”), and Floydian opuses (“Pity in the City”) employing unconventional instruments and improvisational sorcery.
“We get comparisons to Jethro Tull with the flute, but honestly, it was just an instrument I got my hands on and wanted to use,” explains Potter on the instrument’s grounding of the album. “The flute has a mystical quality to it other instruments just don’t have.”
Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Before Christmas revives jazz holiday classics and traditional carols into a fusion of supernatural psychedelia.
“Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and musically, no other season can beat it,” enthuses Potter. “Expect lots of glockenspiel, flute, violin, and sleigh bells.”
– Alejandra Ramirez
