SPOTLIGHT: Nautics Make NYC Their Stage in ‘bum-a-cig’
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY GIGI KANG ☆
Calvin Stark
NAUTICS IS A BAND FROM NEW YORK CITY—composed of Kenzo Repola (guitar/vocals), Van Cameron (bass), Kitt Flamer-Calder (guitar) and Levitt Yaffe (drums). They just released their new single “bum-a-cig” and there’s a lot more music coming.
Repola, Cameron and Flamer-Calder met in a music program in high school, then met Yaffe via Cameron as the pair were already creating together. After being struck by a friend’s show at Webster Hall, Repola approached the guys and suggested playing together. The four-piece formed Nautics have been making NYC their primary stage since then.
They certainly use the city to their advantage, such as in the accompanying video for “bum-a-cig.” Repola moves through Times Square with the intention to intimately showcase the grandiosity of the city which can feel both untouchable and too close.
“Times Square can feel analogous to doomscrolling or being shot with TikToks every five seconds,” Repola shares over a call. “It can be beautiful from afar, and I think [the song] gives a bit of access to a non-romantic but kind of romantic perspective on that part of the city.”
Cameron adds, “The lights on you in Times Square feel like you’re in a spotlight despite there being what feels like a million people. Everyone can see your face totally; you’re completely revealed. It feels like if you were to cry in Times Square, everyone would be looking at you despite nobody noticing another person. It’s a really weird in-between feeling.”
In NYC, Nautics have been leaving their mark on the indie and alternative underground scene. Over the past decade, they’ve played all around the city, from small rooms and outdoor spaces to selling out the Mercury Lounge, headlining at Bowery Ballroom and recently playing at Irving Plaza supporting Quarters.
“We’re a huge city of art and culture,” Repola says. “There are constantly things to do and appreciate and learn from. If you want, you can go to 10 shows a night. You can go to 50 art galleries a week. Having access to that activity allows you to explore yourself as an artist. It’s like you’re constantly flipping through a slot machine of new ideas. If you want, your brain can keep forming and shifting. I think the biggest thing if you want to be a band from New York City is to be adaptive and grow with not just music but all of the art forms around you.”
Their live show exhibits an obvious chemistry between the four guys—a natural bond that comes from having grown together for so long. On performing, Repola shares, “The biggest thing I’ve learned that has made all of us better performers is remembering that you’re just four people in a room full of potentiality and energy. It’s important to be present with the room.”
Interestingly, Nautics recently signed with Bright Antenna Records and became “the only band Bright Antenna has ever signed without seeing them perform live,” as CEO Tiffanie DeCartolo shares. “When we finally saw them onstage, they completely exceeded our already sky-high expectations and left us absolutely floored. We couldn’t be more excited about what lies ahead for these guys,” DeCartolo adds.
In addition to performing, a strong strength of Nautics is their lyricism. “Bum-a-cig” adds to the band’s recent exploration of themes like slowing down from the constant bombardment of digital information. It’s reminiscent of their February release “Wasteman” in which they sing, “I’m alone, all my friends and all my fans are on my phone.”
Across their tracks, there’s a clever bounce to the lyrics and in Repola’s delivery, such as in “Wasteman” which goes, “I’ve been cold / You’ve been colder / I’ve been colder on my own.” Similarly, in “Embrace Me,” the lyrics spring from “embrace me” to “erase me.”
On his approach, Repola says, “Van gives me a lot of musical influences. He shows me things outside of the typical indie-rock space. The rhythms within which I’m singing and how I’m approaching melody is a little nonconforming to standard indie-rock lyricism, which maybe I would be attracted to initially. But now, there’s this rhythm to how I’m singing a lot of the time and it has just become natural based on all the different genre meshes that come into field.”
In terms of the lyrics for “bum-a-cig,” Repola aimed for an empowering energy that still acknowledges helplessness. This comes through in the instrumental which is buoyant and catchy, while the lyrics add vulnerability: “I’ve been thinking out loud / I can’t figure it out / What’s the matter with me?”
On his approach to lyricism, Repola shares, “My first goal is to be honest. I like to think of emotions as tangible things, so a lot of my lyrics are simple and there’s a handheldness to them. I want the listener to feel like they can digest it and put their own thing into it. I very much care that the person listening will identify easily with it and be able to put their own experience into it.”
Apart from lyrics, Nautics’ production has been elevating as well. Different from previous releases, all of their 2026 singles so far have been electronically experimental with Repola’s vocals adapting to each track like an instrument itself.
“A lot of things start as demos that Van and I make ourselves,” Repola describes. “We write the song and finish a semi-produced demo within one night. There’s spontaneity with how we’re expressing ourselves through the production aspect. It’s a lot of fun and it’s making it so that we can create a lot of stuff then tweak it.”
Pairing the band’s experimental approach and their focus on making as much music as they can with the recent signing to Bright Antenna, there is certainly a lot to look forward to with Nautics.
Cameron reflects, “It’s nice to finally feel validated in creation and be closer to our collective vision with the help of the label. Also, just between the four of us, every time we do something, it feels more like us and I’m excited to make what we really want to make.”
Calvin Stark
