Katie Hebert, Staff Writer |
On Feb. 15, SUNY Oneonta band, It Keeps Snowing, released their debut EP, “Everything You Want Me To Be.” The band consists of Nour Yamanita, Harold Lichtenstein, and Alec Feldherr—all three are currently junior music industry majors. Yamanita writes the lyrics and melodies of the songs and also is a vocalist and guitarist for the band. Feldherr plays the guitar, and Lichtenstein does bass, recording, and mixing for the band.
It Keeps Snowing was created by Yamanita back in the fall of 2017. In forming the band, they share, “I always wanted to make a band. I realized that I was being made into a background character in my life, and this is one of the steps where I decided I didn’t want to be that anymore. I wanted to be front, I wanted to be center of attention, I wanted to make people feel things and I wanted to be seen and heard. Music is therapeutic to me, obviously; that’s why I do it, but it’s therapeutic to other people. I formed It Keeps Snowing as an outlet for me, and I hope for other people. This is what I love to do. I pour everything I have into this band because it’s something I want, and it’s the first thing in my life that I really wanted.”
As the band was founded in Oneonta, NY, most assume that the band name comes from the infamous Oneonta winters, and how “it keeps snowing.” However, Yamanita clarified that they wrote “Intro,” a one minute introduction track to the EP, to explain the name of the band, with the lyrics, “Maybe it’s the season sinking in / maybe it’s depression talking. / But it keeps snowing outside / I’m in glass rooms, staring at the sky.”
The band was signed to the SUNY Oneonta label, Red Dragon Records, after winning a contest last semester. The record deal allows them to release a record, as well as gain assistance in promotion and funds for the record. The Oneonta support from the EP has been great, with Yamanita noting how people they don’t know come up and compliment them, Feldherr additionally commenting, “Any feedback is nice. Someone saying ‘heard the song, it was good,’ is really nice because you put your heart and soul into making something.” Small Album Reviews has given multiple shout outs to the band for their single and EP release, which the band was really excited about as well.
The band recognized the toxicity that they see in the music industry, and hopes to see the elimination of violence and abuse, which has been prevalent in both the Oneonta music scene and the general music industry. They hope to see more safe spaces, much like The Nut, and want to thank the people at the venue for supporting the importance of artistic safe spaces.
In terms of influence and inspiration, they each have very unique styles and tastes. Feldherr says, ““One of the best parts of us being together is that we all do have very dispartic influences.” While growing up on classic rock, Feldherr listens to everything now, but is mainly influenced by Bowie, Talking Heads, Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, and Bruce Springsteen. Yamanita shares their love of Paramore, while adding, “I’ve had people directly come up to me and ask me if I listen to Paramore, so I have to list Paramore.” Lichtenstein incorporates influences from all over, especially when it comes to recording.
Yamanita is purposeful in the creation of their music, saying, “When I song write, you can definitely hear the influences I have but at the same time, I don’t ever want to be a ‘Paramore part two’ — that was never my goal. When I make music I try to draw from everything I listen to to make something unique. You can compare us to a genre but you shouldn’t be able to compare us to a single band.” Lichtenstein adds that they want to see more new sounds in the industry as well, saying, “I would encourage people to experiment more. Don’t listen to a band and say ‘I want to make music like that,’ take influences from them and all the other things you like and fuse them into something new.” Focusing on the Oneonta music scene, Feldherr says, “There’s so many people in Oneonta with so many influences and so much to bring to the table… to see Oneonta go into one singular direction would be disappointing. Everyone has a voice, let’s all not scream the same thing.”
“If you like us and you don’t live in Oneonta, I wouldn’t be worried too much,” says Yamanita when asked upcoming shows and projects. In terms of future plans, the band has stuff coming soon, so stay tuned! You can find It Keeps Snowing on itkeepssnowing.bandcamp.com, as well as on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook as @itkeepssnowing. The EP, Everything You Want Me to Be, is available on all streaming sites, such as Spotify and Apple Music.
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