This is the story of a band refusing to let New York go quiet. Three years in, 113 shows deep, Nite Music have played every basement, backroom, and bar the city still has left. They’ve just toured the South and spent last Halloween as Black Sabbath. Their sound is pure rock n roll. No genre boxes. Just grit, hooks, sweat, heart. Brooklyn keeps shifting. Venues keep disappearing. They keep the noise alive. This is Nite Music.
We talked with Jamie Frey about their full length in search of a label, noisy bars that matter, and the bands keeping New York loud on their own terms, whatever that might sound like.
★ What’s Nite Music up to these days?
Jamie Frey: This fall, Nite Music celebrated our three year band anniversary and played our 100th show (we’ve already hit 113 by now). We spent Halloween as Black Sabbath with a few cover gigs. In November we did an eight date run going down south and meeting up with our friends the Williamson Brothers from Birmingham, AL, one of the best bands in America, hands down, to play a series of gigs in their neck of the woods. We recently dropped a version of our debut single, “I’ve Got To Make The Call” that I had dubbed “Pt. 2” that we did with Travis. It features Shilpa Ray on keyboards, Maria Lina of Frida Kill on backup vocals, and the avant jazz saxophonist Kate Mohanty, giving it a serious No Wave skronk.
We have a full length debut that we did with Travis Harrison of Serious Bizness Studios, who has done just about all the Guided By Voices stuff in recent years, in the can. We are looking for a label to put it out (wink, wink), but plan on releasing singles until then. The next one, “Good Times,” will be out early 2026.
★ In our always-vibrant Brooklyn, how do you see things changing these days?
Jamie Frey: The best change I can see in Brooklyn music in the last five years is that it’s very clear that there is way more space for femme, queer, and non white performers than in the past. A lot of the best people around are not white men, and diversity is being celebrated more authentically and naturally. The worst change I can say is a growing struggle for space to make music. Neither the DIY venue nor the legitimate bar venue is thriving in the current atmosphere of New York City. I grew up here and I know it’s an absolute cliche for a native New Yorker to complain about places closing, mythologizing old spots etc., but it’s obvious people go out less, drink less, engage in nightlife less in the post-Covid era, even five years later. With Zohran Mamdani now elected, I’m hoping it leads to better morale in the city and maybe even a return to a more glorious NYC nightlife and a better quality of life in general for the community.
★ And how would you describe the sound or vibe of Brooklyn today?
JF: I would say things are sonically as diverse as ever. Country and Americana are huge, that is quite apparent. Punk is definitely alive and kicking. There’s a lot more Latin American influence in Brooklyn rock n’ roll, a lot of great musicians from that community. I know Tall Juan has brought some great people to the scene. There’s a band, Jairito Y La Onda, that do Cumbia rock that I love, and they really get people dancing which is amazing. I would say things feel a little more open than the days when there’d be an obvious surplus based on genres like post-punk, shoegaze, or psych rock, as examples. I don’t really think too much about genres, I don’t think Nite Music has a more specific genre than rock n’ roll or pop rock, and the bands we play with are all over the place. I don’t think the point of musical expression is to conform to any sound, I think we are best when we are authentic to ourselves, whatever that might sound like. Personally, I’m most attracted to songwriters, and we certainly have some of the best writers in the world amongst us: Shilpa Ray, Joanna Sternberg, Alexander Orange Drink, Jeffrey Lewis, Adam Amram, and Old Table just to name a few.
★ What venues are you really into right now, the ones we shouldn’t miss?
Main Drag Music is a Brooklyn staple gear store since the 90s, where I’ve worked on and off for many years. Right before lockdown, they moved their shop down the block adjacent to a different space with a huge downstairs venue, which has the gritty industrial feel of classic DIY venues that lived down the street like Glasslands and 285 Kent. Karl and his crew have created a place that hosts everything from high school battle of the bands to improv nights featuring the most sophisticated free jazz and avant garde players in the scene. 50 S 1st St, Brooklyn.
Jones Bar is a bar that I love with all my heart, it’s a great place to catch more country and bar band type stuff, really great players, great neighborhood and community feel. We’ve played a few possibly too loud sets there. 64-02 68th Ave, Ridgewood.
Sleepwalk is a bar with a small but kinda elegant backroom. We’ve been playing great shows there this past year or so. They have great booking, great sound, and are kind people who care about the music. 251 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn.
★ New York is New York. What’s one story that feels straight out of a movie, something so wild it’s hard to believe it actually happened to you?
JF: A night of my life I couldn’t really believe I owe completely to my great friend Tarra (Tea Eater) and the rest of Gustaf. I was invited to the Beck/Phoenix show at MSG with all access passes and watched the band from the side of the stage, like I could have tripped and fucked up one of the amps being played onstage. This wasn’t even the craziest part. After what I thought was already the best night of my life, we went downtown afterwards to a tiny bar where I crowded in with about 100 other people, including some celebrities, to watch Beck and his band play a whole second set of deep cuts, different from the MSG set. I could barely see what was going on but they started “Just What I Needed” by The Cars, and someone with a deep voice started singing, who I assumed was Julian Casablancas who had been standing near me. I hear people start saying “holy shit” and when I squeeze through to get a peek I see a humongous, wasted man who is Jon Hamm. He proceeded to sing hilarious versions of “LA Woman” and “La Grange” and maybe Led Zeppelin. Later, Gustaf did a set and Lydia wrapped her mic cord around Jon Hamm and gave him the mic, coercing him into doing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” which he didn’t know the words to, so he just mumbled funny stuff into the microphone. I still can barely believe I witnessed this. ★
Nite Music is Jamie Frey, Bryan Thornton, Jamie Williams, and Amanda Webster.
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