NADJIA

It’s easy to follow the ebb and flow of trends in the music industry. What’s most intriguing and possibly blasphemous is to persistently go against this popular path of music for the masses. That is not to say that beauty can not be found in the mundane, but that NADJIA has consistently uprooted pop culture music and re-invented it into something more deliciously dark and beautifully brooding.

With this said, NADJIA constantly revolves around the notion that even whence nothing comes something, be it to repel, attract, argue, agree, disgust or exalt. Music is to move, either physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. As for NADJIA, music is intelligent noise which moves us to dance, to dream, to think or cogitate. Cogitate: the latin origin is “agitare” which is “to disturb”, while “co-agitare” is “to disturb together”.

Since 1996, the concept of NADJIA was to use whatever tools were available “to disturb together”, in other words, to create what was then considered “experimental music”. But then, isn’t music always an “experiment” of creation? This was the answer to their madness, their impenetrable strength and their haunting art. NADJIA uses aural and visual soundscapes to provoke and to entrance. Synth-laden and guitar laced rock infused to convey elements of light and dark. In summary, it is sheer brilliance.

NADJIA : An Introduction
by Azra Pascale

Some bands choose to make music for fame and fortune, while others -- like Baton Rouge-based band NADJIA -- love to create an experience that pushes the musical envelope.

Band members Mark Williams (vocals), Chris Deaton (keyboards), Jeff Smith (guitar), Nik Sharp (bass) and Caitlyn Morales (drums) have a passion for writing and sharing music that is unique and anything but ordinary.

NADJIA has been around for over a decade, and while the personnel has changed and grown over the years, the original idea of making music with a fresh take has remained the same.

“I started this band in ’96 when I was in grad school, and it was myself, a violin player and a computer, essentially,” said Williams, the band’s founder. “It was a different sort of vibe, because we didn’t use a drummer, and we would sample a toaster or a steamroller or a washing machine and make rhythm out of that. It was real avant-garde and real different having a violin player opposed to a guitarist or a keyboardist.”

These days NADJIA has added drums, guitars and keys, but they aren’t used in the traditional sense. They are continuing to use their new instrumentation to push their sound even further.

“The guitar and bass in our band are more the rhythm section, and the focus is more on the keyboard. Chris is left-handed so he plays a lot of his rhythm with his left hand in the bass section of the keyboard. It gives our songs a different rhythm and a different spin to them as well,” Williams said.

It’s no surprise that NADJIA strives for more than the standard rock sound when you understand their influences and what they take away from some of their favorite bands.

“My four favorites are Depeche Mode, Ministry, Skinny Puppy and Nine Inch Nails. It was nontraditional music, and it had a different kind of feel, a different kind of vibe to it,” Williams said. “It wasn’t that cookie-cutter rock-n-roll. It was experimental and aggressive and emotional, a new sort of art. It’s not as new now, but those guys were constantly pushing the envelope and breaking barriers to look for a new angle and a new approach to music.”

They not only take a unique approach to their music, but their lyrics and writing are inspired by the world. Williams’ career sends him across the globe, and it’s his experiences the band incorporates into their lyrics.

“The vibes from the cultures definitely adds a different perspective to what we’re doing. One of the longer trips I took this year was the full tour of South America. I was in earthquakes in Mexico, isolated in Rio because it was the off-season, and in Buenos Aires, Argentina, there was a lot of political unrest. I write what different things are happening in these countries and how they affect me and then we try to build that into the music,” Williams said.

Building everything into their music is no easy task. They claim that 10 weeks of preparation goes into every 10 minutes of music. It’s the cooperation of the entire group that puts Williams’ writing in the sound of NADJIA.

“I’ll be writing down ideas as I go around, and I’m in constant communication with Chris. A lot of times he’ll be writing something as I’m experiencing a different country or a different place, and we’ll bounce ideas back and forth, and then when we come into the studio, we’ll work through the song and piece it together. If you look at all of our songs, every one kind of relates to one of my trips or going to another country,” Williams said.

Time spent traveling has given the band a chance to gather more material, and they have begun putting together one more album. Still in production, this new album should be out sometime in 2010.

“We’re fortunate enough to finish tracking an album tentatively titled ‘Angels of Rust,’ which is a reference to airplanes,” Williams said. “The visual is the Angel of the North, a large statue northeast of London that I stumbled across. There are several songs that reference traveling and flying, and angels of rust has kind of become the reoccurring theme.”

While the heart of the band is writing and recording, they love to create shows that aren’t typical to draw the audience into the moment. With videos, lighting, art sculptures and, of course, music they give their audience something that will leave a lasting impression.

“We prefer to make it more of an event. We take a different approach to music, and we have a really good time with our shows. We want to try and imprint on the people that see us a little piece of ourselves and give them something different and something more unique than just your standard rock show. It’s a musical experience; it’s art in motion,” Williams said.

NADJIA Interview
by Rachel Jones
[original article from 2advocate.com]