The Michigan Daily caught up with Nomo frontman and University alumnus Elliot Bergman to talk about the band’s next hometown show.
The Michigan Daily: What’s going on at the show this Saturday?
Elliot Bergman: (The show) is going to be a benefit for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. An installation piece by my friend Soma (will open the show). It’s a large, inflatable structure that inflates and deflates in time and is luminescent. There’s going to be six of us in there playing drones until people get sufficiently weirded out. Then the bands will play. We also have some really great DJs.
TMD: What’s it like to be playing at The Blind Pig?
EB: I’m really excited for it. It’s cool to be able to have The Blind Pig let us do our own thing. We’ve got a lot of new material that we’ve come up with in the studio that no one’s heard before that we can’t wait to play.
TMD: What’s it like to be an Ann Arbor band?
EB: Ann Arbor is really receptive and supportive of the arts community. It seems like there’s a lot going on and people doing a great job of promoting and putting shows together. There’s something really special about having a community that really supports you. People feel … a sense of ownership. Nomo wouldn’t exist in Chicago or New York.
TMD: What else is going on with the band?
EB: We just had our record come out in Japan (last) Friday on this label called P-Vine. They put out great stuff – everything from James Brown to Coco Rosie to Sun Ra.
TMD: How’s the national response to Nomo?
EB: People can get into (the music) on first listen. We’ve played every kind of gig imaginable, from a basement show for 20 people to a 4,000-person block party last weekend in Chicago. I’m interested in finding something that’s a freaky dance party as well as spiritually and intellectually engaging and challenging.
Nomo will perform at The Blind Pig tomorrow night at 9:30 p.m.