Divebar Youth X No Cigar
Divebar Youth is the project of genre-bending artist and producer Vinnie Barbaro, known for his versatile songwriting and prolific output, bringing a distinct darkness into the indie & alt-pop realm. He has quickly established himself as a powerhouse, gaining placements across streaming platforms, radio rotation, and a supportive fan base. In the lead up to BIGSOUND Vinnie interviews the NO CIGAR who are also appearing.
What made you want to start creating and sharing music?
We’d all played in bands growing up, but in 2019 found ourselves without a creative outlet, so being mates, it was only natural for us to converge and start jamming together. Before too long we had a bunch of songs written, and started off by playing house parties in Auckland to mates, and it grew from there. Playing and performing music is infectious, so once we’d started we were only going to get more and more embroiled in the scene. We love it.
What song of yours are you most looking forward to performing at BIGSOUND 2024 and why?
We’re most excited to play our new song Chantilly which is due for release later this year. New music always gets us fizzed up, and this one has a beautiful balance of raw live energy, but also settles back into a lush, easy-going verse. Playing unreleased music is always exciting as you never know how it will land with your audience, but I think this song certainly has a wide catchment, so hopefully should win a few people over.
What’s been one of your favourite experiences at a show of yours?
When we performed in Paris last year, we were performing ‘Great Escape’ for the first time, (which was unreleased). The crowd seemed to be vibing it, and before long we saw a three-tier shoulder stack, with our guitarist’s eldest brother at the top. It was hard not to laugh from stage, as we knew he’d had his fair share of pre-release listens, necked a beer on the top of the stack and proceeded to belt the lyrics back at us when no-one else in the venue had ever heard the song. Security weren’t too happy and almost had him kicked out once he safely returned to the floor.
How did the band meet, and who are your inspirations?
We were mates through high school, and Ned and Arthur even go back to day one at primary school. We’ve been working on the band chemistry from the sprightly age of 5. There are so many influences, but it’s hard to go past the likes of Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Red Hot Chili Peppers to name a few. It’s inspiring seeing so much talent coming through New Zealand and Australia at this time, and having the chance to play alongside and with upcoming talent really drives us to continue to create and improve our sound.
How would you describe the new music you’re making?
Some of the new music we’ve got lined up for the next body of work has a bit more of a raw rocky energy to it. There are still those chiller numbers that speak to the early NO CIGAR sound, but having that extra bit of punch later in the set will be fun to hit live. Our song-writing is a product of the environment we’re jamming in at the time, and a getaway we had earlier this year allowed us to crank it up a bit louder than usual, and naturally what we came away with was a bit more lively. Very fun to play, and excited to see what people think of it at Big Sound.
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