Movie screenings are not exactly known for inciting cases of musical kismet, but that’s exactly what happened when producer and artist Rob Fusari (a.k.a. “8 Bit”) and DJ ValNtino met at a screening of “Twilight.” After mixing Fusari’s passion for ’80s music and karaoke with ValNtino’s love of EDM, Cary Nokey was born.
Photo Credit: Brandsway Creative
You say in your band biography that you’re not “anti-radio, but pro-experience.” How would you say your live show provides a different experience from others in the genre?
The live show offers a theatrical/spectacle element. It’s more the feeling of attending a party hosted by Cary Nokey as opposed to going to see an artist perform. It is very much a full-on theatrical show as opposed to a musical performance. We often have other elements on stage and in and around the venue in itself, such as actors, interpretive dance, body painters, flash mob, featured artists/singers as well as musicians adding to a whole new interactive experience. One might say you never know what might be coming next during a show.
How did you come up with the name “Cary Nokey”?
I was attending a lot of karaoke bars in New York City a couple years ago. When I started the project, someone suggested I call it Karaoke. When I started twisting the word “karaoke” around, it started to unravel these very interesting and unique layers. First, I loved the androgyny of the name. Cary Nokey: is it a girl, a guy, a group, a solo act? Then came the whole element of through this journey we can open up so many doors of the creative soul and mind. In essence we were to " Car"R"y no key.
It was always part of the plan for an experience during the live show that we would have other performers doing their thing to the songs of Cary Nokey. So in fact it would be other singers doing karaoke to the music of Cary Nokey. All these various layers and ideas started spilling out.
Tell me about the experience of writing and recording “Master of None.”
My mother would always say to me "Don’t be a jack of all trades and a master of none." The morning Cary Nokey was born it just hit me that I had to start something with this lyric. It really spilled out of me so freely that even I was shocked. It felt very Depeche Mode but, more importantly, it felt extremely natural.
What usually comes first, a mix or songwriting?
I do get inspired by a great lyric or title sometimes, but when I hear a track I can usually go right on top of it and immediately hear where I need to go with it. The track sets me in a different direction each time I hear it. It is like a kid in a candy store. I love writing that way. But there are days where I just sit at a piano or guitar and go start to finish that way too. Different day, different writing approach.
What do you draw from when you go to write a song?
There’s a place that sits down in the soul that I think more people have then they realize. Once you learn to navigate to it then it opens up this whole other place of creativity and ideas. Most days start from absolutely nothing and just tap into that place and see what happens. I also love hearing things people say… little phrases or words they use in different ways and will take and draw lyrics from things like that. Also I read drink menus constantly because I get a ton of lyric and title ideas from those as well. Drink menus are like reading a "Prince" idea book for me.
The band’s look seems very David Bowie influenced. Was that a major inspiration behind the Cary Nokey look?
Huge influence and inspiration. Bowie in the ’80s really changed things for me musically. I would be so caught up in what he was doing musically and fashionably. I still remember the first time I heard Blue Jean. I studied that record for months. His vocal approach, the production, the story telling aspect. He used such interesting phrases and word play. It set me into a way more creative and free direction back then in so many ways. I loved watching him do interviews as well. He always kept you on your toes in his own "loving the alien" way.
Tell me more about taking your passion for ’80s music and putting a futuristic spin on it.
I didn’t have a choice, it was by far the decade that I connected with most. Musically speaking as well as the culture and unity, it brought with its movement. Every artist had their own identity back then. No one really sounded exactly like anyone else and yet it all fell into this ’80s sound. It was an anomaly. I loved the darker side of bands like The Cure, Depeche Mode and even the Pet Shop Boys. As pop as the bands were, they still had this layer of emotion and passion that simply just does not exist today with most artists. It’s like artists today purposely sing with no emotion. I guess that’s why wherever you go around the world today they still play a whole lot of ’80s music.
Name a song people would be surprised to find on your iPod.
Claude Debussy, “Clair de Lune”.
For more information on Cary Nokey, visit their website, their Facebook. Cary Nokey is a regular in Miami so expect an upcoming show. If you’re headed to NYC in May, you can catch Cary in a show Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at The Cutting Room, 44 E. 32nd St, New York.
