Bio
"I'm seeing patterns in the walls, Fractals and tracers Visual Snow"
The Next Great American Novelist is an indie rock band from New York City. Music that eschews the dirt and grime of the city for psychedelic songs with an edge. The live shows are high-energy, filled with brotherly camaraderie and three-part harmonies.
NGAN was featured on The Walking Dead and authored several jingles, including for Swedish Fish. Riding on the wave of their successful cover version of “You Are My Sunshine,” which broadcast in a national commercial, they have just released their third record, Visual Snow Ep.
As hinted in the regal name, this band purveys an impressive literariness and emphasis on storytelling. Like reading a good book, each time you listen to a song, you’re bound to find more moments that make you perk up and praise their vantage point.
With inspiration from psychedelic art and a DIY ethos, NGAN has self-produced each album and dedicated themselves to countless studio sessions to bring their vision to life. Incorporating lavish string orchestration, syrupy synths, and sound design. These elements are part of their live show which make for an exciting departure from the typical rock trio format.
Press
Bands Do Brooklyn
There are countless elements that define an individual’s experience and influence how we each see, move through and make sense of the world, and for Jason Cummings—one half of NYC duo The Next Great American Novelist—one of the most formative factors is a rare phenomenon known as visual snow.
As the band explains it:
“Visual snow is a neurological disorder characterized by a continuous visual disturbance that occupies the entire visual field. Tiny flickering dots that resemble the noise of a detuned analogue television, or a sparkling blanket laid upon everything in your view. In addition to the static, or ‘snow,’ affected individuals can experience additional visual symptoms such as images that persist or recur after the image has been removed.”
Careless Moon
Cahill left his college classical guitar program after becoming disillusioned by the academic approach, and later found himself working in life insurance and playing a solo show in Bushwick. He was prepared to hang it all up after that performance, before a chance meeting with producer and future bandmate Jason Cummings revived those efforts. This partnership came after their first album, 2014’s I’ll See You in the Art You Love, a tightly woven album that leans acoustic indie-folk in the vein of stated influences like Elliott Smith and Pedro The Lion, described as “emo-folk born of alcohol-crutched post-collegiate depression.” For the record, I don’t see any problems with that angle.
The group’s latest record follows six years of energetic psych-rock live shows that built to a new crescendo with the release of Careless Moon in the fall of 2020. It’s beautifully produced and performed, with instruments entwined together with that floaty wonder that comes from dedication to the studio sessions. -Scene Point Blank
I'll See You In The Art you love
The band has subsequently evolved from the release of Art You Love to become a louder act, as Cahill joined forces with Jason Cummings and Danny Sher, but the delicate beauty of the songs here are deeply moving. The sadness is unavoidable throughout Art You Love, and the record plays like one long break-up, but for anyone who has ever had their heart broken, the songs are a testament to a pain that is all too real and often indefinably penetrating.
What I admire most here is that Cahill remains devoted to his suffering; there are no happy endings to these songs nor is there any silver lining-everything he feels hurts and he is boldly exorcising these obsessive thoughts for all to hear. Despite the similarities in tone and topic, the songs never become redundant, and even the six minute “Prosthetic Memories” moves along briskly and poignantly. Closing with the ethereal title track, the record closes with a breathy, solemn statement that reinforces the anguish Cahill feels. His suffering is the world’s gain and I can clearly understand why the Boss of Jersey Beat wanted this one to get some attention. -The Jersey Beat