Naked Hearts quickly became one of our favorite new bands in NYC in the Fall of 2008. After we booked them blind for the NYCTaper CMJ show, we captured them live at Mercury Lounge in early October. That set was so impressive so that any trepidation about their CMJ appearance evaporated. A couple of weeks later, Naked Hearts absolutely energized the upstairs room at Cake Shop that CMJ day, to the point where they received a “can’t miss” profile at Deli Magazine. Again in November, they killed at Union Hall, and created much anticipation for the January release of their debut EP.
Well, January is upon us and the new Naked Hearts EP These Knees will be released on the 20th. In celebration, Amy and Noah will throw a CD release party at Cake Shop on January 22, and have invited along another nyctaper fave The Antlers.
These Knees is now available for Pre-Order at InSound [here].
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In December, we interviewed Amy Cooper of Naked Hearts about the new EP, the return to duo status as a band, and her recording experience.
NYCTaper: Please tell us about the new EP, due for release on January 20, 2009 — which songs are on it and who produced it?
Naked Hearts (Amy): THESE KNEES was recorded/mixed in ten days at Headgear Studios in Brooklyn in JULY 2008. We recorded all the songs onto 2″ tape and mixed directly to 1/2″. Luckily, we were working with Dan Long, engineer and co-owner of the studio, who is great with working with tape and super fun to work with in general.
We recorded six of our newest songs:
CALL ME
CAT & MOUSE
NO ONE NOTHING
ONE FALSE MOVE
CRASHING HORSES
ONLY FOR YOUNYCT: You are back to being a two-piece, which is how Naked Hearts started out. The most obvious difference is that Noah is now the drummer live instead of out front on the bass. Is this how you imagine Naked Hearts will remain in the future?
NH: Yes. We always had the vision of the band being the two of us and are happy and relieved we figured out a way to make it work.
NYCT: I see you are going on an East Coast tour to support “These Knees” and there are two dates with the Antlers. I know that two of them were in the audience at your CMJ set at Cake Shop, is that where the two bands met?
NH: Actually, I believe we met at a Sharon van Etten show; which actually ties into the NYCTaper showcase. Sharon had mentioned the Antlers to me a few times, saying we would be great together. So I checked them out for the first time earlier that CMJ week and thought they were great, so I asked them to play a few shows with us!
NYCT: The CD release show is on for January 22 at Cake Shop, anything special planned for that night?
NH: Yeah, we’re going to make it super fun party! Some of our favorite bands are playing Air Waves, MKNG Friends, & The Antlers. It is at our favorite venue, Cake Shop. We’ll have our vinyl for sale, and fun t-shirt giveaways throughout the night. There will be DJ sets and hopefully people will be down for some dirty dancing!
NYCT: Amy and I have a common friend in John Vanderslice, who produced Amy’s solo album a few years ago. Is there anything that you learned at the Tiny Telephone studios that you put to use on this new EP?
NH: Well #1, when an option, I learned to record using tape, of any size. John and Scott Solter are masters of analog recording. They taught me the importance of performance and the sacredness of mistakes. They taught me that the quality of sound is the most important thing. I tried my best to uphold everything I learned from them on this EP.
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For those of you outside of the NYC area, Naked Hearts will embark on an East Coast tour after the EP release show. Here is the schedule:
Jan 23 2009 9:00PM THE FIRE Philadelphia, PA.
Jan 24 2009 9:00PM GARFIELD ARTWORKS Pittsburgh, PA.
Jan 25 2009 9:00PM TREEHOUSE Columbus, OH.
Jan 26 2009 9:00PM THE BLUE NILE Harrisonburg, VA.
Jan 27 2009 9:00PM NARA SUSHI Richmond, VA.
Jan 28 2009 8:00PM THE CAVE Chapel Hill, NC.
Jan 29 2009 9:00PM THE RED & THE BLACK Washington D.C.
Feb 06 2009 9:00PM Death by Audio Brooklyn, NY.
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