For Nation of Language’s Ian Devaney, performing is akin to letting all of your ‘weirdness out in one big go’.
The Brooklyn-based trio, hailed for their shimmering retro sounds and captivating live performances, have been riding high on the success of their third album Strange Disciple, touring non-stop and sharing the stage with synth stalwarts LCD Soundsystem.
Ahead of the synth-pop outfit’s massive outdoor Collins Barracks show supporting Indie-sleaze legends Gossip, we had a chat with Nation of Language vocalist, guitarist, synth player, and frontman Ian Richard Devaney to chat about James Murphy, Pixies, singing into hairbrushes and County Mayo.
For the readers who may not know, who are Nation of Language?
Ian Devaney: Nation of Language, it is myself, Ian Richard Devaney, it’s my wife, Aidan Noell, and our dear friend Alex MacKay.
We are fast approaching the first anniversary of Nation’s third album Strange Disciple, how has the last year been? Have you plans for the next album yet?
Ian: We are kind of always in a state of writing and recording, whether that’s for singles, or whether that’s with an eye on the next record.
There’s been a lot of writing and that kind of work going on during these lulls between tours. We’re always moving!
Your dancing has been hailed as pretty expressive, and you have said when performing you can’t help but ‘move to the music’ – What gets you going?
Ian: Honestly, I think you get worked up into this excitement.
I think of myself when I was a younger person, and you got the hairbrush in front of the mirror and your favourite song playing and you just knowing that you that no one was going to be seeing you and you could just let all of your weirdness out in one big go.
And that is kind of the same energy that gets channelled on stage. There just happens to be some amount of people watching me this time. We definitely want to feel like we are there with the audience that is there that night.
We want to treat every show as its own distinct thing and make it special for each audience. So getting that energy back is always such a powerful thing for us.
You finished off last year’s shows playing a four-day run with LCD Soundsystem, they must be huge heroes for Nation of Language, did you and James Murphy hit it off?
Ian: He was really kind. He came up to us the very first night, and was, I mean, the whole band and the whole crew are really just, it’s such a group of positive people.
They were so excited to have a band opening because oftentimes it just ends up being a DJ because they have so many logistics to deal with, they have so much gear and such a production.
I mean, they’re one of my favourite bands, and fortunately, we’ll get to play some of the same festivals as them coming up in August when we’re over in Europe, which will be very cool. Everyone in the band is super cool.
Last year when Nation were touring Strange Disciple, you mentioned that you still hadn’t managed to get on a honeymoon with Aidan yet, but hopefully this year, did ye get on one?
Ian: We did it, we did it. We went to Japan and Vietnam for a little bit, and then, basically, right when we got back, we went straight into preparing to leave for tour. So we did manage to squeeze it in, this time, incredible.
Nation of Language has been solidly touring since March, with a few breaks here and there, but pretty much a go-go. I imagine long periods away from home can have an impact – how do Nation unwind?
Ian: Jumping into the studio is definitely a really great way to kind of deal with the post-tour time.
Because, to be honest, and this was something that I read, I think it was in a screenshot that Justin Bieber took of his Notes app that he was writing some thoughts down in.
And it was basically how, when you’re on tour, there are people cheering for you, and it does these crazy things to the endorphins in your brain, and you come off tour and everything feels very different, and there’s this sort of endorphin crash that happens.
Talking to my other friends who are musicians, right when you get home from tour, you can kind of enter into this inexplicable depression that even if you’re really glad to be home and be seeing your friends you haven’t seen, your body just kind of goes into this strange funk.
So being able to pour yourself into something creative, especially, if you can be in a studio with a producer. Bringing in some new voice into your creative process can really help you lift out of that and feel like you’re getting back on your feet quicker.
Nation Of Language will play Collins Barracks next week. The show is between your London one and your Utretecht one, with a bit of time on either side – any plans to head around Ireland or Dublin?
Ian: I’m kind of the only member of my family who hasn’t been up to County Mayo, where my grandparents came from.
I would really love to go up there. They’re from around Swinford and Toormakeady. Both of my brothers have gone, my parents have gone, but I’ve never been able to go, and so I would really love to do that one day.
What moved Nation of Language to do a cover of Gouge Away in your sets?
Ian: I think that was the first song that we ever covered.
I had been a little bit resistant to doing covers for a little while, just because I wanted to when people would suggest, ‘Oh, you should cover this or that’, it was almost always a New Order song or a Depeche Mode song, where you’re like, ‘Yeah, that would be fun’, but I would basically just be doing a worse version of the same thing because those kinds of bands are such a direct sonic inspiration to us.
But one day we were just kind of sitting around, and Aiden turned to me, she’s like, ‘What if we did Gouge Away?’
And instantly I was like, ‘Okay, here’s a band that is, so inspirational to me, but that doesn’t really show through in the music so much’.
I have always wanted to just scream those choruses and this can be my opportunity to do that multiple times a month going on tour. I could hear exactly how we would do it instantly.
Nation of Language will open up for Indie sleaze icons Gossip alongside Sprints at the Wider Than Pictures series at Collin’s Barracks on Tuesday, August 27. Tickets cost €41 plus booking fee and can be found here.
JAMES, THE THE, and Deacon Blue will also perform at the Wider Than Pictures series over the weekend, find out more here.
