It’s been a wild few weeks for Night Argent. Hitting the road on The Vans Warped Tour 2015 after winning the Ernie Ball Battle Of The Bands is a surreal feeling. Recently, the band opened up to us about their experiences as a group, and why the best is yet to come.
When did you (personally or collectively) decide that you wanted to pursue music as a career?
Personally and collectively actually coincide with each other. Growing up, we all knew we wanted to be involved with music our entire lives, but it wasn’t until High School that we made the firm decision that this would be a career focus. The music programs at school that supported us and helped us grow played a major role in our development as individual musicians, and as a cohesive band.
Would you say there’s a common theme that you portray in your music? How do you maintain that continuity?
I don’t know if we actually have a ‘theme’ so to speak. We definitely have continuity in our sound. Most people describe it as anthemic rock with pop elements. But maintaining our sound is actually relatively easy now. Finding our sound is what took a lot of work. We spent the past several years developing our individual styles into a singular unit. What you hear now is the product of trial and error, writing and rewriting, tweaking, and adjusting, until each of us were happy with what we had to offer.
What’s been the biggest challenge you have faced as group? How did you/do you handle it?
I think developing our sound may have been the most rewardingly stressful thing we’ve done as a group. Differences in styles and ideas created a lot of friction, so disagreements were common. Some days it seemed like we’d argue about a single part all day, walking away with nothing to show for the hours spent together. But we worked through it until we could finally tell the difference between insults and constructive criticism. And everytime someone tells us they like our music, it validates all those hard times together.
How has your experience on Warped Tour experience been? How does it differ from regular touring?
It’s been flat out incredible. Obviously the major difference is the gathering of so many performers in one stop, which is quite unique. But the other bands have been so welcoming and supportive, we feel right at home. The crowds have been receptive and supportive, making each show monumental for us.
What cities have you not played/visited yet but hope to in the near future and why?
We were actually just talking about this a couple days ago. We haven’t had a chance to play a single show in Florida yet, so Miami and Orlando are still on our list of hopefuls. And if we ever get to play on the beach down there, we won’t complain.
With the sudden sweep of success such as playing Warped Tour and winning the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands (Congrats by the way) how do you keep yourself grounded?
Thanks a lot! We’ve been extremely fortunate with the success we’ve had, and I think remembering that has been the key to staying level-headed. There are MILLIONS of other people out there working and struggling to get their music heard. Sometimes circumstances make all the difference. We work hard, but there’s still a bit of right place/right time involved in our success. The right person, at the right show, heard the right song, etc. But the bottom line is it’s a privilege to do what we love, not a right. And we’re eternally grateful for every opportunity we’ve had.
You guys are currently giving away your next single, “Widowmaker,” for free on PureVolume.com; so what are your views in terms of streaming and the state of the music industry?
With the internet, the industry has changed. File sharing makes music readily available to anybody in the entire world, instantly. We’ve discussed this extensively, and we all agree that we want to share our music with as many people as possible. So we’re giving away our song with that goal in mind. That one person will hear it, love it, and share it with several other people who will, in turn, do the same.
If you could give any advice to yourself from before Night Argent really took off, what would you tell yourself?
“Prepare yourself for rejection.” As more and more people hear our music, we have seen an increase in feedback, both positive and negative. Some of the comments we get are pretty brutal, so it’s important to prepare yourself to deal with that.
What instance where you could see that you were making a connection with your fans?
One of our most memorable experiences with fans was in Rexburg, Idaho. We played a show at this awesome spot called Sammy’s, and after the show, decided to invite the entire crowd to play laser tag with us at an arcade next door. So we spent the next several hours playing laser tag, video games, and just talking with these amazing fans. They left quite an impression on us, and we hope we did the same for them.
What’s one word you would use to describe your career so far and why?
Surreal. Growing up we’re commonly told that ‘childhood dreams’ are exactly that. But we’re getting to live out what we used to dream about. So even after the countless hours of work put into making a 4 minute song, it’s still hard to believe that we get to play that song on a stage, on Warped Tour, all over the country.
You can keep up with Night Argent and their growing success on their websites
