During their early years, The NRIs experimented with a range of sounds from country to rock to soul. They even dabbled in classical Indian music, which influenced Bhula, who was born in South Africa to Indian parents, grew up in Toronto, and fell in love with music in DC. He says, “I’ve always wanted this band to have that diversity, especially live, play everything from a rock number, to a slow acoustic number.” Between 2009 and 2011, The NRIs captured this exploration of genre in two EPs, 8:42am and Kings and Birds, recorded in makeshift studios.“We wanted to keep costs low as we didn’t have any money,” Bhula explains. For 8:42am, they used a room at one of the music schools to track the drums and then a voice over studio at a friend’s workplace to track everything, piece by piece. The overall effect was not great, but Ben Green (Fairweather) was able to bring it to life during the mixing stage and overdubbing back at the school. Green was also instrumental on Kings and Birds. This second EP was recorded at guitarist Gabriel Fry’s parents’ house using Garageband and all the microphones they could find. They spent two days tracking and then overdubbing again.
With several years of practicing, playing shows, and recording together, The NRIs were ready to work in a real studio. Using funds from paid gigs and CD sales, they recorded the more cohesive EP, The Charm, at Inner Ear Studios, a well-known indie-punk studio in Arlington, VA (Dave Grohl talks with Don Zientara, owner of Inner Ear Studios, in his Foo Fighters Sonic Highways HBO series). Working with Eamonn Aiken in Studio B, it was on this EP that The NRIs found their sound. Playground followed last summer and The NRIs released it with The Charm on CD and vinyl. For many of the songs on these two EPs, players came into the studio with a small idea of what they were doing and only finalized it when they were recording. “It kept things fresh. I kind of took that approach from reading about it for some Bob Dylan sessions. Band members didn’t even know the song’s names, and many times had to re-learn parts once we finished mixing,” Bhula says of the process. Green did the mixing for The Charm and TJ Lipple (Aloha) did it for Playground. Playground/The Charm solidified their strengths in blending different musical styles into a new category of Americana.
And people are noticing. The NRIs recently opened for Laura Stevenson and the Juliana Hatfield Three. The feedback they have been getting on the record motivated them to finally venture out of the DC metro area. This tour had them going from Brooklyn to Philadelphia to DC. They are planning a similar tour in the fall and adding shows in Baltimore and Annapolis. “We would also like to go south Richmond, Norfolk, and Chapel Hill,” Bhula adds.
It was a sublime ending. My only wish is that they played “Memory,” a beautiful song, that more prominently features Fallow and White, not just on their respective instruments, but also their vocal harmonization. The show featured seven of the eight members: Bhula on vocals and guitar, Burgman on bass, Cogan on Drums, McCormick on trombone, Nilsson on saxophone, White on keyboards and vocals, and Fallow on violin and vocals. (Fry, usually on guitar, was in a wedding and unable to tour.) Speaking to Fallow, who is six months pregnant, I asked how she is managing shows and the tour while preparing for motherhood. She looks at White, who is standing nearby, and says, “She did it.” White smiles, eyes glazing like she’s thinking about that time, and adds, “I did two gigs when I was nine months pregnant. I told them they might have to take me to the hospital.” She smiles wryly. “What made you do it?” I ask. She answers, “You just don’t know. Maybe I’ll never get to do this again.” Her son is now three.†
The NRIs are based in Washington, DC. You can also follow the NRIs on Twitter at @TheNRIs and Facebook. They will be back in New York in the fall.