August 23: Ian Nussdorfer and The Badlands to Release “Still As Stone” EP on all Streaming Platforms.
The table is set with a margaritas pitcher and four steaming fajitas skillets. Ian Nussdorfer, frontman and lyricist for The Badlands, sits across from Nate Spratford, the band’s saxophonist. Seated beside the guys are Nate’s mom and I. We’re at their spot, Cilantro’s, making small talk and reminiscing on the summer. Ian’s face is lit up all evening with this brilliant smile. The singer-songwriter is at an all-time high.
A week later, Ian and I meet up again to discuss the reason for his spirits: his and The Badlands’ upcoming debut EP: Still as Stone.
Ian Nussdorfer (IN): I’m a junior jazz studies major at Vanderbilt, and The Badlands is my band that has now been together for two years. We originally started playing in the Tootsie Circuit on Broadway. That includes Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, Kid Rock’s, Rippy’s, Honky Tonk Central — they’re all owned by the same person.
To gig out successfully in Nashville, conquering Broadway’s hit spots like the Tootsie Circuit is mandatory. For The Badlands, this was predicated on some level of re-education. Being accustomed to performing in a Jazz/Classical music school was worlds away from the expectations and ins and outs of Music City’s downtown.
IN: It was no problem for us to play the notes, but for us to perform in that [world]… Most of us are jazz majors, and then our lead vocalist, Bella Land is a classical vocal major, an opera singer, so we felt good about our abilities as musicians, but it took a while for us to realize what skills are actually needed for the kind of music [on Broadway].
Adopting a gritty southern groove and emanating a country rock chemistry was a new challenge for all of them. Nevertheless, Nussdorfer and The Badlands crafted a setlist of well-beloved, twangy chart-toppers that proved the key to the ambiance of each Music City bar, club, and honky tonk. As the band’s auditions led to frequent shows at various downtown restaurants and dives, the band finally began to curate a new sound.
Phie Mihm (PM): How would you define your unique place in popular music?
IN: It’s a tough one, to put yourself in a box… I almost want to say popular jam or jam pop. I like the jam band influence, but we’re not a jam band to the point of Phish or the Grateful Dead. You’re still able to hear the simplicity in some of the songs that align with pop music. I mean, I wanted to incorporate the jam band thing because that’s the closest we can get to the jazz influence, with this clearly not being jazz. So that all kind of transfers into the mentality of jam.
PM: How did you arrive at the genre you’re playing? What’s the origin story there?
IN: My main inspiration has always been the Dave Matthews Band, and that’s because of my upbringing and my parents. Also, I get to study with Jeff Coffin, who’s a member of the band.
PM: Full circle, that’s neat.
IN: Then I got to combine that with the other inspirations of the band. Patrick [the electric guitarist], is much more into soul as well as country, so he brought that aspect into the playing. Then Bella brings in a whole other aspect because she’s a female vocalist, so I spent more time writing more originals that encompass her sound more.
After their initial stint as a Broadway-bound country rock cover band, the band began testing the expansion of their image. Ian and The Badlands began adding jam-inspired original pop tunes to small shows they hosted on campus.
IN: At first, we’d play tailgates. It was pretty much the same style of country rock, but then we slowly started adding originals to our setlist. We found our sound as a band… and by the third or fourth show, you’d have people who were able to start singing choruses with you.
PM: I was at one of your shows where people were singing back to you. I just can’t imagine what that feels like… to be starting out and people already know who you are and what you have to say.
Still as Stone, Ian and The Badlands’ four-track EP, is set for release tomorrow. So far, the band has teased half of the record with hopeful anthem “Moving On” and bitter, retrospective jam “Manipulation.” Ian cites flexibility in the face of change, growth through failed love, and a bittersweet disposition toward the future as primary themes for the EP.
IN: “Moving On” is about the end of a relationship. It’s about knowing that even though it’s not officially dissolved yet, you know it’s over and there’s something ahead. You know that it’s time to go to the next thing.
PM: The realization. The tipping point.
IN: Yeah, It’s supposed to be excitement for the next thing. Also, there’s supposed to be an element of fear. That’s the “sitting stone.”
Sitting still as stone, thinking ’bout the next move. / In this little game, life keeps moving on. / Will I move on with it or get left behind?
“Moving On,” Nussdorfer & The Badlands
PM: It feels like the song applies even beyond a relationship. We’re all terrified about what the “next thing” is after this. Yet, at the same time, it’s exciting to enter into what’s beyond what we’ve already experienced. I like that about “Moving On:” I feel like it creates a relatability for the record. People understand moving on from relationships, that’s the peak growing up experience, but this song extends even further… it’s the theme of everything we are experiencing during these four years.
PM: And then, what about the story behind “Manipulation?”
IN: “Manipulation” is just the feeling of being used… what I like about it is that the lyrics come to an end, showing that you’ve “lost,” but the song intentionally continues into a saxophone solo. I felt like the song wasn’t just about “what do you want anymore?” it was about letting go, letting life go on.
PM: I think the importance of instrumentals… is probably because you guys have all been playing jazz for so long together. I say this not because pop music is by any means instrumentally soulless. I think that you can just tell when musicians come from a non-pop background and bring in this chemistry with a knowledge of exactly how instrumentals come across by themselves.
PM: Now, before this record comes out, what other themes can be expected to appear on the EP?
IN: The second song is called “Off to See the World.” That one’s more with Bella’s sound in mind. One day, she brought in the idea of a ska-influenced song… so this one’s much more groove-based… It’s about, I guess also moving on to another part of your life, but this one is just the idea of “you have all this time with all this opportunity, so… go off to see the world.”
PM: This record is the soundtrack for moving on and I love it.
IN: Then, the third song is called “Out in the Woods” and it’s a tribute to where my family’s from: South Lake Tahoe, California. It’s about a hike or bike ride out past civilization while wondering exactly what is out there for me. It tries to describe that I’m not going out there for something physical, but that I’m going out there for the emotional release of just being by myself past everything.
IN: My name is Ian Nussdorfer, and my EP, Still a Stone, with The Badlands releases on August 23rd, Friday to all streaming platforms.
