The New Yorks We Enjoy This Too Much Interview

The New Yorks We Enjoy This Too Much Interview

Indie rockers The New Yorks have today announced their new single We Enjoy This Too Much, a seriously fun, guitar-driven bop reminiscent of The Wombats, out July 14. An endearing clip, featuring the charismatic half wolf/half human frontman Sir Wolf, accompanies We Enjoy This Too Much with a perfect nostalgic quality. This lively track is the second taste of their sophomore EP I Wish I Was You, But That's Just Me, a collection of clever and irresistibly catchy songwriting, set for release on July 31. To celebrate the release, The New Yorks will be hitting the road, kicking off with a free show at Hotel Steyne in Sydney on August 18, then heading through their hometown of Adelaide on August 25 and wrapping up in Melbourne at the The Reverence on September 22.

We Enjoy This Too Much is so steeped in mid-2000s influences, yet somehow it exists as new today, and audiences will surely be grateful that it does. Evoking thoughts of The Strokes, Catfish And The Bottlemen and early offerings from The Jungle Giants, We Enjoy This Too Much goes hard and fast, guitars and riffs abound, and buoyed by clever lyrics and lead vocalist Vinnie Barbaro's energetic performance. Of the inspiration behind the track, Vinnie says, 'We Enjoy This Too Much is a rant about an irrational adoration for constant debate and agitation between a couple. It's a bit of a complicated relationship... the idea of love-hate and what is actually healthy is one that is dwelled upon, with conversational lyrics intended to represent bickering about what to watch on Netflix. The temptation to push the quarrel in order to get one's way is unanimously accepted to be a waste of time, instead they both take comfort in meaningless argument."

The clip is a VHS-soaked alternate universe where it's somehow completely normal for a wolf/human hybrid to start a band in their garage and ultimately suffer a meteoric fall from grace. Directed by Oliver Del Vecchio of EAT SLEEP EMPIRE (The Coconut Kids), the concept behind the clip sounds a bit off-kilter but somehow makes perfect sense when all is in motion. Vinnie explains, 'The film clip is a prequel to the video of our previously released track, Sir Wolf. Sir Wolf was established as a dominant character, a gobbling narcissist of a business man that's interested in the dollars generated behind the music. Sir Wolf is extravagant in order to out-shadow his dissatisfaction. We Enjoy This Too Much provides a backstory to how he became this figure. Set in 1985, the clip shows the failure of Sir Wolf's band, -Steppe & The Hunting Men' and his adoption in the music business. A love for being a musician results to be detrimental, with his failure turning him bitter."

The EP encompasses this world, cleverly crafted by the band, and spins it into an indie pop/rock wonderland. Upon listening to I Wish I Was You, But That's Just Me, you would be forgiven for thinking you had transported back to the time where Hot Fuss by The Killers was first doing the rounds. Recorded at Chapel Lane Studios in Adelaide by Michael Carver and Simon Kither and mastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound (Paolo Nutini, The National, Talking Heads), the songs fold into each other with ease, swelling and deflating most sweetly; crescendoing at Truman and taking a gentle breath in at Death In Modern Time. Speaking about the EP, Vinnie says, 'The main themes of the EP are admiration and resentment; love/hate relationships and the irrelevance of questioning juvenile morality. The notion of love/hate relationships is not necessarily based on human interaction, but rather how a love for something and the search for admiration or approval can rob that process of the elements that made you love it in the first place."

Anyone who listens to these recordings will likely be hungry for the live show, and luckily The New Yorks are set to deliver. The group are thrilled to be stopping by Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne in August and September, and more than ready to hit the ground running with high-energy live shows. Vinnie enthuses, 'The recently built set is an honest representation of the recordings. We have always been a traditional band with an organic set up, little time for smoke, mirrors and bullshit."

The New Yorks are Vinnie Barbaro, Marcus Rosella, Carlos Carosi and Jared Grimm.

The single We Enjoy This Too Much will be released on July 14. The EP I Wish I Was You, But That's Just Me is out July 31.

Stream: WE ENJOY THIS TOO MUCH
Watch: WE ENJOY THIS TOO MUCH      
Stream: I WISH I WAS YOU, BUT THAT'S JUST ME           

The New Yorks 'I Wish I Was You, But That's Just Me' Tour

FRI 18 AUG | HOTEL STEYNE MANLY, MANLY NSW | 18+
Free entry show | supported by Space Monk

FRI 25 AUG | ROCKET BAR, ADELAIDE SA | 18 +
Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au | 1300 GET TIX | All Moshtix Outlets

FRI 22 SEP | THE REVERENCE HOTEL, MELBOURNE VIC | 18 +
Tickets available at doors

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Interview with Vinnie Barbaro

Question: How would you describe The New Yorks music?

Vinnie Barbaro: 'Early 2000's Indie Revival Band", Black jeans, a polished garage and a range of tracks that are meant-for-MySpace.

Question: What inspired We Enjoy This Too Much?

Vinnie Barbaro: The concept of a toxic relationship between anything really. Much like the clip, the song is about this love for something that just doesn't work but you're not willing to accept. The song is intended to have this strenuous -rant vibe' to represent endless bickering about non-sense with a significant other.


Question: Can you tell us about filming the video for We Enjoy This Too Much?

Vinnie Barbaro: We've worked with Oliver Del Vecchio, an Adelaide based filmmaker (under the banner Eat Sleep Empire) previously and like always he adds so much conceptually and visually. We got through filming in a day which we were quite happy with and got to enjoy a grill session on the Webber.


Question: What should we expect from the upcoming shows?

Vinnie Barbaro: For our shows, we aim to replicate the recordings as purely as we can. We are just a band. We don't try to be something that we're not.


Question: Which is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Vinnie Barbaro: The first track, -Bad Man' off the upcoming EP is what I like playing the most. The song has impact and I always love Jared's vocals throughout the bridge and the last chorus. Whether people like the song, I guess we will see.


Question: If you could have anyone, in the world, attend your shows, who would it be?
Vinnie Barbaro: Vitas, the Latvian song bird himself.


Question: What is the story behind the name, The New Yorks?

Vinnie Barbaro: I was sixteen, I liked the sound of it, unfortunately there isn't much more to it. Sometimes, I question whether we should've went with The Westhamptons...


Question: How did the band come together?

Vinnie Barbaro: Just a few high school pals who enjoy a good customer service role, drinking spiced rum and dry and scoring cheap Ubers.


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Vinnie Barbaro: That's a difficult one, a lot of things inspire writing I guess. Obviously, writing can become a coping mechanism sometimes but everyday life itself inspires writing. I don't like trying to extravagate my life; unfortunately I'm not sneezing glitter or partying with a young Bob Dylan.


Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

Vinnie Barbaro: What I listen to can vary quite a bit, recently I've been loving The Hotelier's -Home, Like No Place Is There' as well as Paolo Nutini's -Caustic Love' and Franz Fedinand's -You Could Have It So Much Better'.


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Vinnie Barbaro: I really just loved playing guitar, I was young and listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan and BB King and all those blues guys inspired me as a player. When I got older, all the traditional indie bands influenced me a lot, The Strokes, The Kooks, The Wombats etc. That's when I really started forming a career path.

I've never really considered it going -into the music industry', I think the day that playing turns into a chore will be the day I move onto something else musically.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Vinnie Barbaro: We have sent a letter to Pitbull.


Interview by Brooke Hunter