NVO

Ever wonder what it was like to travel into the future so you could soak up the sun while sipping an umbrella drink by a classy hotel pool on Mars? Well if you didn’t, Reforestation by Night Vision Odyssey will make you wish you had. The euphoric keyboard arrangements welcome you to a world where funky bass lines meet astro-sonics in a beautiful marriage of soul and space. Pop this one in the deck for that ride to the beach and you will be sorry that you’ve arrived because NVO's groovy brand of chill house makes you wanna keep on chooglin’. Check out the full album courtesy of MalLabel: http://digitaldjpool.com/mallabel. - Digital DJ Pool

Fast-rising purveyors of fun NVO stormed the stage at the Independent January 4th, showcasing why the SF-based collective is poised for a breakthrough year.

It would be foolhardy to label NVO simply as ‘jamtronica’ — certainly shades of STS9 and Big Gigantic come to mind as the group is instrumental in nature, building beats to euphoric plateaus. But included in the sonic equation are obscure sci-fi movie samples, remixes like Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime”, turntable scratching and a fresh auditory dance aesthetic reminiscent of Paper Diamond or Burial.

NVO has hit the bricks hard the past year, playing shows at Elbo Room, Silent Frisco sets and two performances a day at Burning Man, but this one at the Independent was a huge step forward. True to the ethos of Burning Man, the patrons that helped fill SF’s premier emerging artist venue seemed to all know each other and the band. The Saturday night ‘party with your pants off’ mentality was hyper-present with the aid of an incredible light show and a bouncy, high energy performance.

NVO’s biggest strength is they overtly have fun while performing, thereby encouraging the crowd to join along. DJ/producer Justin Ward (aka DUDHAUS) and sampler/scratcher Chuck Jones project unbridled enthusiasm while drummer Greg Maximov thrashes away like Animal from The Muppets and Mike Laglia focuses on effect-laden guitar work.

The lighting provided by Creative Precision was big, bold and oh so very pleasing for the eyes. Carter Adams controls the lights, timing them to the music exquisitely à la Phish’s CK5. The spotlight driven visuals not only enhance NVO’s live performance, but it immediately elevates them to the next level — they are ready for the festival circuit and proper touring in 2014. - Showbams

There are lots of reasons to be excited to see NVO at the Chapel on Saturday. There is the primary reason you see any band – they put on a great live show – but for me it’s also rewarding to see and support an act that is such an integral part of the local music scene. These guys are everywhere and have brought so much good to Bay Area music scene you can’t help but love seeing them shine.

Let’s get the basics out of the way first. From their press info you find out “the group’s four-piece core features Greg Maximov on drums, DUDHAUS (aka Justin Ward) on effects and sequencers, Chuck Jones on turntables and samplers, and Mike Laglia on electric guitar and lap steel.” While their atmospheric sampling might be what catches your initial notice, your feet are firmly locked into the dance beat that drives all their music. It’s down and dirty dance music at it’s essence, presented in unique fashion. Check out video from their most recent show at The Independent, then when you need more give a listen to their new EP.

I have to admit I am quite fond of the guys from NVO personally. They are always great to work with, they are professional while still being fun and you know if you do a show with them they are gonna work their ass off promoting it. They are pros and the type of acts promoters love to work with. NVO is great because they will play pretty much anywhere in any way. In the last 18 months in addition to many traditional venue shows I have seen them play Burning Man Fundraisers in cramped clubs, in the shadows of a highway overpass at Decompression, on the back of an art car at Ocean Beach and on top of an RV at High Sierra Music Festival. Don’t take my word for it – check out the their photo stream on Facebook.

My favorite was seeing them wheel all of their equipment across the playa in a tiny wagon to play a sunrise set on the back of The Janky Barge in front of the incredible “Truth Is Beauty” piece by local superstar artist, Marco Cochrane. These guys truly live up to their “Fuck Yeah” motto and are always down to help out other local groups and art projects. Bands like that enrich the local music community instead of simply benefiting from it.

One last reason to always be excited to see NVO is their frequent collaborations with the visualists at All Of It Now and the lighting designers at Creative Precision Lighting. Both of these Bay Area companies are some of the best in the business and really add to the NVO live show. For a band that size to invest in premier lighting and visuals – even at a discount – really shows their focus is putting on a great live show first and foremost.

Tickets are still available. See you there! - 1690 Post

NVO, our new favorite party band, kicked off their California Spring Break tour last night in LA, and they’re headed up the coast. The San Francisco-based quartet has a sound that is best described as funky, intergalactic panty-dropping party music.

“We started NVO to play our friends’ monthly house party. The party just kept growing, and our friends kept finding bigger spaces to host it. And then the party just got too big to be a house party,” drummer Greg Maximov explained backstage at the Fillmore last April.

NVO has since only gained momentum. They outgrew their monthly party at The Boom Boom Room, and wooed new fans at festivals like High Sierra Music Festival. They’ve supported acts like Lotus and Bernie Worrel, and they’re currently on tour with Conspirator (the side-project of Aron Magner and Marc Brownstein of The Disco Biscuits).


NVO backstage at The Fillmore – Photo by Sam Heller

NVO’s groove lies in their celestial rhetoric and embrace of both digital and analogue sounds. Their drumming attacks, their electric guitar guides, and the MIDIS, sampling, and Kaossilator transport audiences to a dynamic and metagalactic state of jammy flow, something NVO has aptly dubbed “space funk” (aka the untz). Catch NVO in a town near you for a unique San Francisco party treat. See you at The Independent on Friday.

cookoo cachoo in space suits too,
-blanca - Young and Pretty

The four-piece band NVO brings live and electronic elements together in beautiful harmony. With the latest release of their Solar Tides EP and some busy weeks ahead dedicated to touring, these boys are flaring up and about to go super nova! The members include: Greg Maximov on live drums, DUDHAUS (aka Justin Ward) on sequencers and synths, Chuck Jones sampling and scratching, and Mike Laglia on guitar. The three song EP is available on a ‘Name Your Own Price’ basis on bandcamp and features uplifting live elements with nice synthetic builds that will keep you dancing all night long. Check this EP to find out who’s coming up in the livetronica scene and read our artist interview with Greg, Chuck, and Mike from the band to get a feel for NVO!

For those who haven’t heard of the electro-rock band NVO, how would you describe your sounds?

GM – We walk the line between a rock band and a produced DJ set. We draw our fans both from the electronic side and the rock n’ roll realm. We can’t really be shoehorned into any particular electronic subgenre, but the general purpose of our songs is to make you dance, and they tend to be high energy.

CJ – Sometimes people say we play electronic funk. Our songs span tempos and styles, for example some songs are at 128 BPM and on the house/electro side of things. Other songs are in the 95-115 BPM range, more mid-tempo breaks. A few songs are at drum and bass/jungle tempos, we have a dub track, and also some more cerebral, ambient stuff. We don’t have a vocalist, but we use a lot of samples from hip-hop acapellas and science fiction movies.

How did all the members; Mike, Greg, Chuck, and Justin, come together to form NVO?

GM – Chuck and I were roommates in college, and Chuck and Mike were childhood friends, growing up in Oakland together. When they moved back to the Bay Area after college, Chuck discovered that Mike had a stockpile of great songs built up that had never seen the light of day. I was living in SF and playing with a few bands when Chuck and Mike brought me into the fold to flesh out some of Mike’s tunes. I was keeping a practice space at the time in the basement of a laundromat, and the three of us practiced down there for six months, just learning how to play live electronic songs as a band. (It was VERY slow going at first. I think we still have some embarrassing old recordings somewhere…). When we finally played our first live show, our friend Justin Ward, performing as “Dudhaus,” opened up for us. It was then we realized how adept he was at controlling Ableton. We quickly invited him to join the band.

Solar Tide is a space-rock extravaganza. Did you guys put a lot of improvisational elements into the EP?

CJ – Absolutely! We call it ‘structured chaos.’ The songs have a distinct arrangement, but we earmark certain portions where we cut loose. For example, when Mike does his guitar pedal freakout at the end of ‘Solar Tide Spreading,’ the rest of us know that some spacey sounds are coming, but its new and fresh every time. Dudhaus will do the same thing with his Ableton programming and effects chains– every time we play he’ll rock a different delay or big hit of reverb in a new place, riffing on what the rest of us are doing.

GM – We generally approach recording as well as playing live with a jazz band mentality. Our songs always had a defined framework, but we leave plenty of space for improvisation, and rarely play a song the same way twice. Even under the layers of studio polish, the songs you hear on “Solar Tide” are in fact live takes: all four band members in the studio, recording simultaneously. We always embrace happy accidents.

How was the show at the Brick & Mortar Music Hall on June 7th for the release of your Solar Tide EP?

CJ – It was amazing! We had a great turnout, everyone throwing down super hard on the dancefloor. We also tried out a few new arrangements that people seemed to like a lot. Carter from ArtnowSF killed it with the light show, and Gamelan X, Cavalry, and DJ Phleck made for a great night of music.

GM – Sweaty! We have a super fun and loyal SF following and they brought their best dance moves to this show. It was a high-energy raucous crowd. We played the album live in its entirety, and it was very well received.

The EP has a mix of rock, post-rock, dub, hip-hop, and electro vibes. Where do your tastes converge or differ when creating a new track?

ML – NVO has never really been allegiant to any single genre. I think we would lose our minds if we wrote and played just one style of electronic music over and over again, song after song, night after night. Nothing but respect to the folks who specialize completely in a very specific genre. In fact in a lot of ways this is a great decision from a music business perspective…But we’ve always tried to put our creative vision first, business second. Because let’s face it, if you’re in the music industry to make money instead of to make music, you should have your fucking head examined.

We think that a good show or album can move around in tempo, mood, feel, and color with a lot of agility. Our coherence comes from memorable songwriting, killer sound (and lighting) design, and an energetic performance. There is a pretty healthy science fiction obsession going on too.

‘Mars Raver’ is a straight up hyphy track with psychedelic synths, guitar riffs, and lasers thrown in there. WouldNVO ever consider throwing a rave on Mars?

CJ – Oh yeah!! Maybe we can get the Cantina band from Star Wars to throw down too? (I always wondered what the Cantina band’s next gig was after Han Solo shoots Greedo.) As to venue, I’d say we do it after-hours style in that dive bar Schwarzenegger goes into in ‘Total Recall.’ We’d also need a cameo DJ set from the actual Mars Rover, because that thing is just way too awesome. Every time we land another robot on Mars I completely lose my shit. When the last rover landed, I ran around telling everyone, ‘HOLY SHIT WE JUST LANDED A ROBOT ON MARS AND IT HAS A FRIGGIN’ LASER ON IT!’ Did I mention there is a robot on Mars that can shoot laser beams? Because it’s out there. Right now. On Mars. With a laser. Pew! Pew! Pew!

Why did you decide to make Solar Tide available on a “Name Your Own Price” basis?

CJ – The important thing for us is that people hear the music! If people want to download the music for free, we 1000% encourage them to do so! That being said, if somebody wanted to donate to help us recoup the costs of making the record, it makes sense to give people that ability. We are super DIY, and every penny the band earns gets put back into the band.

What’s next for NVO?

CJ – Lots of exciting things in the works! We’ve got some killer remixes coming out soon from The Flying Skulls and some other top-notch Bay Area artists, ranging from future bass to glitch hop to jungle. We’ll be running around California this summer rocking some festival slots, and if we can figure out a playa-ready rig, we’ll head up to Burning Man in August for some art car shenanigans. In the fall we’re putting out a full-length concept album, based on the day in the life of a robot in a dystopian future. In the same way that ‘Solar Tide’ spanned different styles and tempos, the next album will cover a lot of ground, and has a distinct narrative. We’re really excited!

GM – We’ll be performing a late night Silent Disco set at High Sierra Music Festival as a live band. This is super rare and we’ve been working very hard to put together a live band set that rocks over wireless headphones (and listened to by a field full of dancing maniacs at three in the morning). Also, look out for music videos for the Solar Tide tracks. We had a great response to our Discorental video and can’t wait give you another peek into our imaginations! - Music You Need

San Francisco group NVO has just released a new single, "Solar Tide Spreading," off of their recently released EP Solar Tide.

Rooted in jammy psychedelia, NVO provides an atmospheric, spacey soundstage akin to that of The New Deal.

As "Solar Tide Spreading" suggests, the group uses a combination of samples and live instrumentation on all of their recordings.

According to the NVO website, the track "is a steadfast call to action in the battle for clean energy," - a bold theme to explore musically.

- See more at: http://inyourspeakers.com/content/news/245-listen-nvos-new-single-solar-tide-spreading-06192013#sthash.q0uo5CsY.dpuf - In Your Speakers

Hailing from San Francisco and bringing the noise, electro-jam quartet NVO's track "Solar Tide Spreading" hits all the right notes.

The track comes to us off of NVO's newest album Solar Tide, which was released June 4. Members Mike Laglia, Greg Maximov, Chuck Jones, and Justin Ward blended the infectious riffs found in jam rock with the body moving beats found in electronic music today.

At multiple points throughout the six minute jam, NVO bounced in and out of varying melodies. The changes kept us guessing and gave new life to the song new life - holding our attention.

However, repetitive backbeats and a lack of significant vocals do hold "Solar Tide Spreading" back. The multiple variations and riffs only go so far, and the six minute time slot asked a lot from today's fast paced, attention deficit-addled audience.

After naming your own price, you can download Solar Tide off of NVO's Bandcamp page (you can find the link to the bottom right of the page).

- See more at: http://inyourspeakers.com/content/news/179-jam-electronica-foursome-nvo-dazzles-solar-tide-spreading-07042013#sthash.Fgg0QaRI.dpuf - In Your Speakers

Let’s go deep into the far reaches of the galaxy of our minds with this “Astral Revelation (Deep Mix).” Be on the lookout for the other mixes of this incredible tune… they getting a little more electro funky aiight? - Bass is My Boyfriend

When San Francisco-based trio NVO described their genre to me as "live electronic music," I immediately scoffed. Electronic music is soulless and meaningless and, to recycle some words I've already used to describe my least favorite genre, emotionally dead inside. This stuff is for obnoxious tech bros and spoiled suburban kids.

In the case of NVO, their music is not dead inside. I was dead wrong.

Featuring traces of G-funk, shimmering production values and acoustic drumbeats to give the grooves an organic feel, their music does feel alive, fresh, and distinctly apart from the smorgasbord of electro projects cluttering the Bay Area. The track "Sidewalks" off their latest EP Night Vision Odyssey is particularly enticing with its soaring synthesizers, trance-inducing rhythm and psychedelic vibe coloring it all, filling your mind's eye with flashes of neon pinks and blues and greens, taking your imagination on sci-fi journey through space and time. - The Bay Bridged

NVO tunes in on the funk at the Hard Rock’s Vinyl
Space Funk is best defined as:
That golf shot when man landed on the moon.
A close encounter on the Space Shuttle.
An EDM sub-genre.
All of the above.

NVO, a San Francisco band featuring live electronic music, makes its debut at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino at 9 p.m. Saturday in a free performance at the Vinyl showroom for dance fans 21 and older.

The band’s website explains it all: “Since 2010, NVO has been rocking the scene with a steady assault of guitar, bass, drums, synthesizers and whatever else they find to channel the funk. The group takes an organic path to groove creation, always dissecting and reconstructing their sound with the freshest tech.

“The resulting fusion of bass-heavy rock, sci-funk and rave-hop epitomizes the NVO sound as they blast you into space.”
NVO is producer and guitarist Mike Laglia, drummer Greg Maximov, DJ Chuck Jones and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Charles Darius.

In 2015, NVO released “Night Vision Odyssey,” which quickly shot up the Beatport charts last October, ranking in the top 10 for Electro House, top 10 for Chillout releases, top 25 for House releases and top 25 for Electronica releases. “Night Vision Odyssey” features “a gamut of midtempo grooves, cinematic headnodders and dancefloor destroyers.”

Changes are under way in the group’s space groove, though. An upcoming EP moves from purely instrumental compositions to lyrics-based songs, and includes collaborations with Lateef the Truthspeaker and Eko Zu.

Although Saturday marks its first appearance at Hard Rock, NVO is not new to the Tahoe scene, having played at Heavenly Village, Tamarack Lodge and Whiskey Dick’s Saloon. As far as the Vinyl: “It’s a brand new venue and the sound and lighting are on point. Casino dance party! Heyoooooo!”

NVO can surprise the uninitiated. A reviewer for “The Bay Bridged” online music magazine said he scoffed upon hearing the group describe its genre as “live electronic music,” which he considered “emotionally dead inside,” best suited for “obnoxious tech bros and spoiled suburban kids.”

“In the case of NVO, their music is not dead,” the reviewer admitted. “I was dead wrong.”

The answer, of course, is “4. All of the above.” So brush the stardust off your space suit and set the GPS for the Vinyl on Saturday. - Tahoe Onstage