Interviews

Cloud Nothings Interview

• 14th Dec 2010

Cloud Nothings comes in the form of a Cleveland 19 year old called Dylan Baldi, who has ignored his career advisors and left school to pursue his career as a pop star. This decision in equal measures is both commendable AND stupid, so this young man must believe his music is ‘world-changing’ enough to sell millions. Well we must all be intrigued to see if we agree now. Here’s what the self-assured young man has to say:

How would you describe your music to someone who had never heard it before?
Threatening.

What are your ambitions for Cloud Nothings? Where do you want to be this time next year?
This time next year i'd like to have t-shirts for sale at our merch table. Still haven't gotten around to that.

Being a young musician, are you pretty care-free with your career or do you have a more serious agenda?
Being carefree with your career at any age seems like a pretty bad idea. I'm definitely taking it seriously.

How do you find touring? Looking forward to touring the UK again next year?
Touring is great, it gives me a chance to meet a lot of people and see a lot of places I wouldn't have otherwise. It's a lot better than sitting in a classroom, which is what I could have been doing right now.

What’s the reception like from the crowds at your gigs? Do you have a sense of generating a fan-base of sorts?
The reception from the crowd is usually very positive. I think we're definitely generating some sort of fan base, though it's more apparent from the way people respond to things on the internet than anything I've noticed in “real life.”

How do you think you are received by critics? Do you pay attention to it?
We're received well by most critics, too. I can only think of one negative live review that has been published.

What’s your opinion of the music scene now? There definitely is one, and it’s very popular, but it just seems 'underground' and not as publicised now.
If anything it's more publicized and less underground, I think. The internet changed all of that a while ago, and things have just been getting easier to access (and quicker to throw away) since then.

What are your influences and inspirations?
Husker Du, Beat Happening, K Records, Matador Records, Archers of Loaf, The Replacements, etc.

You have an album out on January 24th on Wichita Recordings. What are we to expect from it?
Slightly cleaner recordings, better songwriting, and more energetic performances than 'Turning On.'

Finally do you have a statement that you need to tell the world?
Everyone should listen to the bands; Library Time, Herzog and Emeralds – all from Cleveland, all fantastic.

If retro 80’s synthesisers and modern pop is your bag, then his career move could well pay off. I’m not sure it will change the lives of millions of people, but no doubt he has developed a following well enough to pay his bills for the next few years anyway. I do hope it doesn’t come the point where he has to get a proper job in a few years though. He is very innovative and imaginative in an age where you’re not meant to be. I hope he does well, if only to stick two fingers up at his school teachers… love it.