Novus Cantus is a band of two brothers out of New York who have been performing and recording together since 2010. Noted for their eclectic sound and inspiring live performances, the brothers are constantly evolving and pushing the boundaries of music by fusing world music with rock and classical influences. Influences include Jethro Tull, Rusted Root, Gypsy Kings and Metallica. The brothers have recently expanded their focus beyond performing into mixed media collaborations and soundtrack work.
They have been featured on the Local 518 Show on 97.7 FM, 106.1 FM The ‘X’, Fylde Coast Radio in Blackpool, England, EGH Radio, WMPG-FM, “The Harp & Bard” Radio Show with Jim, WDYN – Dynamic Independent Internet Radio, IMCRadio out of Ridgeland Mississippi, Eat This ! Rock & Metal WebRadio/Blog, Jammerzine Online Radio and Magazine, the Eclectic Music Lover music review blog, Chatsong Music review blog, Soundwaves Review blog, and Global Bass Radio and Music Review Blog.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Novus Cantus about their music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
So, we are originally from the Hudson Valley, which is a beautiful region an hour and a half north of New York City. I think where we grew up really helped color our music – we grew up in an old stone house near wooded hills, winding creeks, and all sorts of birds and wildlife. I think this is why our music is a bit gothic, as well as romantic, in terms of the natural and spiritual flavor of our lyrics.
Our music is difficult to describe, because we love so many different styles: Latin; classical; folk; new age; heavy metal; grunge; and progressive rock. Novus Cantus is basically what happens when you mix Vivaldi with Heart, Cat Stevens with Alice in Chains, and Metallica with Deep Forest! So, it is a constant challenge to fit out music into a genre, but we usually classify it as world-rock-new age. I remember an old artist who came to see us perform said that our music is the kind that “Michelangelo would listen to,” and many others have said that we sound like something from a different era and a different place…which is pretty cool.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
There were a lot of reasons we chose to pursue music. First and foremost was simply the feeling of playing an instrument. We’ve been playing our respective instruments since our early teenage years, and others before that in school. For both of us we get an indescribable sense of worldly/spiritual connection, emotional expression and even some pride, or accomplishment … again an indescribable feeling.
Also, I think we were really impacted by being introduced to classical, contemporary, and world music in the 90s while growing up. It was a really amazing and diverse time for music. Along with the more typical pop-rock acts, world music was starting to creep its way into an already fractured rock scene turned upside down by the introduction of grunge. We were introduced to groups like Enigma, Deep Forest and Muzsikas (Hungarian), and it really impacted us. It was dramatic, deep, emotional… not like over the top cheesy adult contemporary, but serious.
Lastly, while we are really skipping over a lot of smaller factors that pushed us in this direction, we do want to mention what was kind of a “rebirth” for us after a hiatus from composing. In 2015 I (Christian) was typing an email at work, when suddenly… there was nothing. Everything was black, peaceful, and care-free. My heart had stopped after a seizure and pretty dramatic fall from standing. Why I stood up during the seizure I have no idea, but I did, and after the collapse one of my co-workers came out of her office and immediately began CPR. In the end I was brought back to life by my co-workers and an AED, and kept alive by the paramedics. Following lots of tests and a lengthy hospital stay, it was concluded that I suffered a V-fib, or ventricular fibrillation. Things like that do tend to bring priorities into focus. It was pretty obvious that music needed to be part of my life, and that for both Alex and I, a future without Novus Cantus was a pretty bleak prospect.
As far as motivation goes there are a few things. From a purely selfish point of view, simply composing music in itself is incredibly rewarding. Even as we are mixing the last EP we are already talking about all the possibilities for the next one – not even stopping to ask IF we should do it – only what the theme could be, what songs, album covers, etc.
Another motivator for us is meeting fellow music lovers and musicians. Have no doubt, if you are listening to the radio in your car and asking, “Is this pretty much the best of the best?”, we can assure you that it is not. We meet SO many incredible artists and fans who we get to bond with over the common experience of LIVE music! It is a shame that a lot of people won’t be able to get to see and hear what we have.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
For our most recent EP, Solstice, I think we took our experimentation to the next level. This is not to say that we did not experiment with our first two releases, but for Solstice we tried a lot of new things with respect to guitar, drum, and vocal layering, as well as in our use of sound effects and synthesizer. We were especially excited about using the Hurdy Gurdy effect in Sophia and the medieval army effects in Crusader. Solstice is also, in my opinion, more powerful and musically complex than our previous releases – we were constantly referencing passionate classical composers like Saint-Saens, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Puccini, especially when we were writing and arranging Moon. In our previous releases, we always had some concerns about where our music would “fit” in the music industry; but for Solstice, we basically pulled out all the stops with little concern for the outcome. We wanted to create great music and to let the songs take us on a journey. In the winter we are going to begin recording an even more powerful EP, with a lot of heavy metal influence – so hang on to your seat belt!
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
Well this is a great question, and we could say “the challenge of being heard over the noise”, and that would be true. But it is more complicated than that.
One of the biggest challenges has been finding a “genre” to define ourselves as on any given digital music platform. We just happen to mix a LOT of different styles, so some songs we would consider World, others Rock, and still others folk or a combination of all the above. The real CHALLENGE arises when we have to promote to new fans, radio stations or bloggers who work in, typically, pretty set genres. If we write to a rock blog, there is a pretty good chance that they will be looking for a style they’ve already heard before, and we’ve got to fit somewhere in that niche. But our style of Rock is admittedly quite fringe on the spectrum.
Another challenge is learning where our limited time and resources are best spent. Everyone seems to be shouting at bands with advice; not all of it is bad. But we’ve had to learn the hard way what seems to work and what doesn’t, and then really “stick to our guns” in terms of our game plan… trying not to get distracted along the way.
What was the last song you listened to?
Well, I don’t know how you and your audience will react to this, but it was actually the Conan the Barbarian Original Soundtrack from 1982. We love the movie, Conan the Barbarian, and the music by Basil Poledouris is just amazing. There’s gotta be some Conan-head’s out there reading this who are pumping their fists right now – it’s great stuff. I often listen to it at the gym or when warming-up for practice or rehearsal – it really gets the creativity going.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Yikes! We actually have pretty minimal experience with vinyl, although we hear it provides a much richer, uncompressed sound. So given the options we’ll have to go with CD, PURELY for the nostalgic value. I was actually talking wit ha friend the other day about how excited we were when we were kids to go to the store to buy a CD! Can you believe it? That seems very foreign now, but there really was something special about it; sound quality aside, because CDs are known to be extremely compressed, CDs were something you could hold and look at while listening. Think about an MP3 or any other streaming format – are you really capable of having an “attachment” with the band? What about with their artwork? The only think I think that comes close is watching a video of the band – that’s something that can really add a flavor to the soundtrack.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
We are both YouTube nerds. I think this is because we also love watching live performances and classic music videos. Christian introduced me to the soundtrack for Heavy Metal: The Movie by sharing YouTube clips with me – I think it’s a great place to discover new, and not-so-new music that you never knew even existed. For better or for worse, we do a great deal of promotion on YouTube and are planning on releasing more music videos and live performance footage on the site. We really dig mixed media, which is why I think YouTube speaks to us.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
We are actually on a LOT of platforms, but the top three places to connect are:
Patreon.com/NovusCantus – Patreon is where we have a dedicated community of supporters that contribute to our band! We are all about staying independent and grassroots; rely solely on the support of our patrons to keep going.
Twitter (@NovusCantus) – If you want to discuss ANYTHING this is the place to grab our attention.
Youtube – This is a platform we REALLY want people to find us on. We take time to create and put videos out pretty regularly and would LOVE to have more interactions with folks on there.
Anything else before we sign off?
If you want to hear something truly different, please check us out. And when you listen to our stuff, I encourage folks to immerse themselves in the experience. Put on some nice earphones, sit back on your bed, and really listen to the lyrics and the arrangement of the music. I feel that musical nuances can be lost when you listen to music on the subway or at the gym (which I am just as guilty of doing, by the way). But if you are going to become a Novus Cantus-head, I think folks need to lose themselves in the songs and let them transport you somewhere else. And who doesn’t love to be transported???
