Chuck Betz, Ryan Naideau, and Jimmy Shelton met in high school on Long Island while playing in punk and hardcore bands like Guadalupe, Dustheads, and Religious Knives. Four years ago, they started Nude Beach, a band that drew very much from those roots, playing scuzzy rock and roll wherever they could. "We just wanted to play house shows and parties and stuff like that," explains drummer Naideau.With their 2012 LP, II, Nude Beach grew into a more expansive sound, drawing more from the classic rock of Springsteen and Petty than their punk contemporaries did, while still proving themselves one of Brooklyn's hardest-working DIY bands, playing around the borough nearly every weekend.
The aesthetic change was mostly inspired after writing the song "Walkin' Down My Street." "That song we had written a long time ago, but it didn't really fit in with the type of music we were playing then," says Naideau. "But on our first tours, we would play that song all the time. It was kind of the transitional tune in a lot of ways. It kind of bridged the gap between our first record, which was more punky, and the second record, which was more melodic, with more hooks."
II was originally self-released, and then later re-issued by Other Music Recording Co., an imprint of Fat Possum. "Nothing was changed," adds Naideau. "It's not that different except that more people have heard it. We've made some money, so we bought a van. We were able to tour with Roky Erickson this fall."
The next record is going to be more of a "classic psychedelic-rock record," with more instrumentation and piano on a lot of the songs. "But it's all up in the air," Naideau says. "Anything could change at any moment."
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NUDE BEACH :: BROOKLYN, NEW YORK :: Listen live at wfnx.net
