Los Angeles Indie-Rock band New Media have been making a name for themselves playing gigs from the West side to Long Beach.
By Melina Paris, Music Columnist; Photo by Simone Wicks
Last week, I witnessed a band whose sole aim was to make me a fan the moment I heard them live. The band is called New Media and the band leader, Zach Noel is my cousin. Blame it on pride, but when Zach texted me about the gig, I was admittedly excited to hear them play.
But, more importantly, my cousin is a conscientious examiner of art. So, it was an easy move toward reason that New Media’s music would be quite interesting.
And it was. New Media describes its sound as melodic indie-rock with a nice helping of atmosphere and fuzz.
The foursome played a striking set at Dipiazza’s in Long Beach, Feb. 6. They’ve been together since 2017. Noel and Tamara Simons are the band’s vocalists and lead guitarists with Jack Meighan on bass and Julien Nicolai on drums.
The band has been real busy playing a slew of gigs from the westside to the Long Beach as of late. On this particular night, their show at Dipiazza’s came after playing the The Federal in North Hollywood for the second time in the venue’s Indie-Night series and before their weekend engagement at Harvelle’s in Santa Monica.
New Media hasn’t even released an EP yet, but they have been generating a buzz with their live performances of their original music — music built on layered, energetic rhythms.
They opened their set at Dipiazza’s with Slow Motion, a psychedelic expansive number with a robust, foot tapping bass. It brought an easy intro to the set and succeeded in piquing interest for more of these sounds.
The arrangements, as on Thin Ice, are ripe with lush cords and distinctive melodies that call your attention. It’s especially so on guitar. Zach and Simons’ unpredictable expressions move the record needle forward with enduring, progressive sound.
Signals brought a pure indie sound. Its lyrics conjured the reasoning of a twenty somethings realization of life’s ironies. Zach’s extended bridge flowed into a dreamy guitar riff, expanding with improvisational roots, becoming an elevated version of itself.
New Media assembles unexplored directions which, after hearing, bet, you will want to be where they play. That fuzz and atmosphere they boast is actually a nuanced grasp of musical arrangement, well beyond their evident youth.
The driving, Monsters raised a haunting, kind of Southern rock groove, juxtaposing retro influences with an indie posture. Tunnel Vision cruised through powerful kaleidoscopic guitar loops while Lost in the Shuffle’s elegantly layered chords transposed from soft, dexterous fingering metamorphosing to a hard rocking finish.
For the talent witnessed at the Dipiazzas show, New Media’s goal is inherently sensible: to give its fans and listeners the ability to access music more representative of its energy onstage. It’s without a doubt, in that live energy and in New Media’s sophistication where listeners become fans.
Next up for the band is to record an EP in 2019. In the meantime, you will find New Media playing throughout LA.
Details: www.soundcloud.com/newmediala
Facebook: New Media LA
Instagram: newmediaband
Venue: www.dipiazzas.com