Chris Blair (Lostboycrow, Asking For A Friend), Bryan Sammis (Olivver The Kid, La Bouquet), and Olen Kittelsen (Armors) all teamed up with producer Sam Beresford a year ago. The dream team has just released their first single under the name 1990Nowhere, a name that they all connected with as '90s kids and existentialists. Their first collaboration “$20” was released in 2018 under their individual names. But this team effort wasn’t just a one-off, and we can expect much more from 1990Nowhere in the coming months.
“Watergun” is a deeply personal and brutally honest debut from the group, and the first single off an upcoming EP. It first took shape as a voice memo on Blair’s phone. His solo apartment jam session birthed the first verse of “Watergun.” “It’s kind of a happy-go-lucky lamentation if you will,” says Blair. “The neighbor’s dog would in fact not stop barking at me and I wrote it down and brought it to the guys.”
Sammis contributed to much of the chorus, whose playful, bouncing melody was originally a guitar line. “I know that for me the song is about wanting to share what you’re going through and not wanting to be the only one that’s going through something and kind of being very honest about it,” explains Sammis.
“I think the beauty of this too is we’re not dumbing it down for each other," he continues. "We’re on the same wavelength here but talk about this overarching general subject how [we] want to talk about it and in what capacity. It’s interesting because if someone was like ‘hey what’s Olen’s verse about in the song?’ I’d be like ‘I don’t even want to answer that because I’m not sure I know.’ It’s almost private, like I would have to read his diary to figure it out, which is what I think is really cool and leaves a lot up for interpretation for people.”
The water gun itself is a flashback to college, where Sammis admits to having cheap tequila squirted into his mouth through a plastic water gun. It is a commentary on cult mentality, and one’s willingness to do stupid things if others around them are also doing stupid things. You never want to be the only one feeling a certain way and doing a certain thing. There is solace in solidarity.
For now, Sammis and Beresford are in Southern California, Kittelsen is in Phoenix, and Blair is staying near one of Minnesota’s thousands of lakes. No concrete date is set for the upcoming EP yet but stay connected with the group with the links provided below.
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