Night School is a new band formed by Lexy Morte (ex-Whirr, Camera Shy) along with Baylie Jimenez and Cheyenne Avant. The trio mix the best of 60’s melodies and 90’s indie rock vibe with melancholic feelings. Lexy told us all about the band and their debut album, Blush.
You were formerly on Whirr, then you formed Camera Shy with Nick Bassett and now you’re on Night School. What led you to form Night School?
I loved both of those other projects I was in, but I wanted another outlet where I was doing most of the writing instead of just vocals.
What did you want to bring to Night School that you didn’t have the chance on the other bands?
I wanted to incorporate a more 60’s sound for Night School that the other bands didn’t have.
Your music is like a nostalgic daydream where you pick the best of the 60’s surf rock and 90’s indie rock. What were your main inspirations while crafting your music?
Thank you! For this record my main inspirations were the Beach Boys and 90’s era Weezer. I’ve always loved 3 and 4 part harmonies and the Beach Boys did it best in my opinion, I wanted to recreate something like that sound they have. The production of Blush, as far as guitar tone and overall sound, was very inspired by Pinkerton.
The dynamic trio guitar, bass, and drums just flow really well on your band and that’s something that really stands out in your music. How do you usually approach the songwriting as a band?
For the songs that I write I usually come up with all the parts and then show the song to Baylie and she adds drums, Cheyenne and I sometimes collaborate on bass lines as well. As for Baylie’s songs, she’ll have the basics of the song written out and I’ll contribute with vocal harmonies and guitar leads.
Blush is a short but great album with bittersweet ballads and dreamy tunes. Tell me a little bit about the process of working for your debut album.
The songs on Blush were written over the span of a couple years. Some written by myself or Baylie on our own, and some were more of a band collaboration. We didn’t intentionally create an album of emotional love songs. [laughs] It just somehow ended up that way. We’re very happy with how this record turned out.
The album ends with “Pink”, a beautiful piano-based instrumental song, which is something different from the whole album’s sound, but still it fits its mood, nostalgic and dreamy. How did you come up with this song?
I’ve been playing piano since I was a little kid, took piano lessons for years and all that. I love writing piano pieces and wanted to find a way to incorporate that into the record as well. The Cardigans record Gran Turismo has a beautiful distant sounding piano song at the end and I always thought that was a cool idea.
You released a music video for the track “Last Disaster”, which must had been really fun to shoot it. What can you tell me about how was it like the shooting experience and the story behind this song?
It was so much fun to shoot! It was a really hot day, but we had a great time anyway. We’re always just joking around together so it seemed appropriate to make a silly video. Nick Schuller directed it and did an awesome job.
What song off the album stands out the most for you and why?
“Airplanes” is probably my favorite song. I think it has a different vibe than all the other songs on the record and I like that. It can be easy to get stuck in writing songs that are all a similar style, it felt good to write a song that got away from my usual style a bit.
The album’s artwork is really sweet, who’s that little girl on it?
Thanks! That’s our friend Jessica’s daughter, Luci, she does all of our artwork. We loved that picture of her daughter and thought it was perfect for the record’s cover.
What are your upcoming tour plans for this summer?
We are joining the Graveface Records Roadshow for their west coast dates and are super excited about it!
What have you been listening to lately?
I’ve been listening to a lot of Sunny Day Real Estate, Jeff Buckley and Madonna. All the old Madonna hits.