Nova Flares

Indie rock shoegaze artist Nova Flares has announced his forthcoming self-titled EP, set for release on June 1. This follows up two beautiful surf-gaze singles – ‘Krokodil Tears’ and ‘Gut Splinter’.

bio / about

Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Nova Flares is the solo project of Jason Wagers, whose music as a solo artist cleverly combines shoegaze with neo-psychedelic and surf rock. This is as close as one can get to the surfgaze dreamery Quentin Tarantino or David Lynch love to include in their soundtracks. The new accompanying video for ‘Krokodil Tears’ was directed and edited by Hunter Saylor, co-directed by Jason Wagers, and produced by Eric Yaets.

Conceptually ‘Krokodil Tears’ conveys the simple idea of two energies traveling towards one another and creating a beautiful reaction. The verses are slightly sensual sounding and invoke motive, the pre-chorus comes in and sounds so peaceful, yet there remains a slight feeling of chaos in the mix. Then suddenly everything starts feeling easy going and perfect after the chorus hits, like everything is just the way it was meant to be.

“Slow-Building. Explosive. Passionate. I imagined beautiful explosions in the sky when i was making this song…. & maybe methodical love making at some point. I wanted a gut feeling of satisfaction at the end, so that’s what I aimed for,” says Jason Wagers.

“This song, along with every track being released on the coming EP, are meant to be strictly musical however, I intentionally made these tracks very spacious and vibey so that the listener could attach whatever memory or emotion that they get while listening to a song. This should be a more personal experience. To me, that means that to every different listener, it’s a completely different song, and I like that idea. Similar to the idea of a “nova flare”, this ends up being a memory of giant reaction.”

This music is heavily influenced by neo-psychedelic bands of the 90’s through to those currently active, such as Black Market Karma, Mystic Braves, Holy Wave and The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Jason Wagers has dubbed his sound “surfgaze”, the style borrowing gazey elements that can be traced back to My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Beach Fossils and The Jesus and Mary Chain, while also being influenced by surf and beach-goth-psych bands like The Growlers, La Luz, The Warlocks and the Allah-Las.

The bright, reactive sound of this music inspired the project’s name ‘Nova Flares’. A nova is an astronomical event causing the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently ‘new’ star that slowly fades from view. The interaction between two stars causes a flare up, perceived as a new entity that is much brighter than the stars involved. Similarly, this new project was also born from the destruction of Wagers’ previous project The Corridors.

“The songs I create through Nova Flares are supposed to be very cinematic and capture memories and feelings from situations I’d experienced in my childhood and adult life, but these songs are also meant to be left open ended so that the listener could have their own personal sensory experience as well,” says Jason Wagers.

Playing in bands and writing music since the age of 14, he eventually learned enough in the music sphere to start producing his own records, appreciative of the freedom and ability to record his own songs and release his own records. Growing beyond guitar to also bass guitar, drums and piano and also dabbling with vocals over the years. His Nova Flares project provided the perfect opportunity to develop his skills even further.