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Photos by Deven Sukhdeo

“You know this feeling of wanting to be missed, but not wanting to leave the room for fear that no one will miss you?” asks Kenzo Repola, lead singer of New York band Nautics. Alongside his bandmates Kitt, Levitt and Van, they have just released their debut album People Only Like Me When Im Leaving, a rock project that encapsulates the dynamics of loneliness in a party crowd and the hope that that very feeling can be empowering.

The band has been playing together since high school, which means New York didn't just influence them, it literally raised them. Their sound is inspired by rock and post-punk classics like Bloc Party and The Libertines, but is also semi-unconsciously influenced by the likes of Charli XCX's Brat which was playing all over New York at the time of writing the album. "There's a lot of emotional resonance from all those different club remixes and party anthem songs that was pretty prevalent through our experiences in the last few years," Kenzo tells me. The result is an album that sounds like a 2000s house party seen through a very modern lens.

But underneath the excitement, People Only Like Me When Im Leaving is asking a harder question. What does it actually feel like to be surrounded by people and still feel completely alone? "I came into this world that felt a little fake and uncomfortable," Kenzo says of the Post-COVID indie sleaze revival that backdrops the album's making. Leather jackets, cigarettes, bathroom conversations that evaporate by morning — the album captures that very specific New York loneliness of wanting to connect in rooms that make real connection almost impossible. "These people will probably forget they even spoke to you the next day," he says. "And you might forget that you spoke to them." 

And yet, ironically, the antidote to all of that is what Nautics have gradually built on stage. Their live shows are the epic and explosive version of a conversation the club makes hard to have, the place where the masks come off and something real happens. "I never ever want it to feel any different than I can look every single person in the eye and be with them in that moment," Kenzo says. "For it to feel like we're doing the show together." 

Their music may be a byproduct of New York's rock and party scenes, but their concerts are its antithesis, creating the kind of intimacy and pure excitement that we need now more than ever.

OnesToWatch: I was reading that the name you chose for the band, Nautics, it kind of just came up randomly. I wondered if over time it's gained some sort of meaning or if maybe some of your fans have given it a sort of symbolism.

Kenzo Repola: Indeed, the name kind of came from this just random us coming up with it when we were teenagers. We kind of hated the name for a little while and we had a ton of arguments over changing it, but basically we couldn't come up with a better name that we all agreed on, so it just consistently stuck. I think that there's a lot of elements as to why we chose it. 

It sounds a little bit old school, but it also sounds kind of futuristic and it also could be very in the present. I think we've all kind of fallen in love with how universal and timeless it sounds. I guess it's like any other word where if you say it long enough, it kind of just loses meaning - almost like your name. I probably say it more than my own name at this point, which is funny (laughs).

I feel like your music in a way has that old, but new feeling. When I was listening to the new album, I thought of a 2000's house party, but then there's certain things you do with electric intros to some of the songs that feel modern.  

I don't know if necessarily there's sort of an intentionality to how timeless or genre manipulating we're trying to be, but I do think that going into this album, we sort of were blessed with a task to create a large body of work and take all of our influences into it. I think you kind of hit it on the head with the kind of early 2000s party, but also the electronics and the early indie rock influences. We're big fans of Bloc Party and the Libertines, but we're also kind of influenced by a lot of new pop. Like Charli XCX`s Brat, which was at every New York party and there's no way that didn't slip into our unconsciousness. 

Absolutely. It just seems into what you are creating too.

Yeah. The sort of emotional resonance of all those different club remixes and party anthem songs was pretty prevalent through our experiences in the last few years. and I think that definitely webbed itself throughout the album. 

What would you say is emblematic of a New York band?

I think being from and spending a lot of time here is important. I think a band that dips its toes into all sorts of different art forms, not just music, is important. If the band members allow themselves to learn from a lot of different artistic mediums it manifests itself in the music that they make. I think there has to be a level of exploration and community in all sorts of art forms. I think that that's what I find very New York about what we do, how we are and how we approach being in a band. You have to introduce yourself, make friends and find yourself in all sorts of different things and also just flow with what the city wants from you. An openness to that is important.

Do you partake in any other art form? 

Yeah, I do a lot of painting. I’ve worked for some sculptors and painters. Everyone in the band is quite artistic - Van does lots of great photography and Levitt writes. 

If there was a neighborhood in New York that best represented this album, which one would you choose? 

My God. I don't know, probably the Lower East Side, for better or for worse. I just think there's a lot of activity around there that I was experiencing during the making of the album.

By activity you mean?

Parties and shows, people kissing and fighting, smoking and drinking and doing other stuff you're not supposed to do. So either being part of it or being witness to it or being invited to it.

I was seeing that one of your earliest band pictures was taken basically 10 years ago already. What would you say are some of the biggest changes you guys have been through as a band since then?

Besides height (laughs)? I think that it's really weird because if you go back to that first day of practice and you tell those people that they're going to still be together over a decade later, they wouldn't believe it. So, I think that the biggest thing that changed is our work ethic and how in sync we are with each other in a way that is like a marriage. We kind of know what our life goal is together and we understand what we have to sacrifice.

I was really curious as to why you chose the name People Only Like Me When Im Leaving for your debut album. I'm wondering if you guys have experienced that feeling or why you decided for this to be the capsule for all of these songs.

That name kind of just came to me. I like to write down random phrases and lyrics in my notes app and I think lyrically I do a lot of things in collage form. I wrote that phrase down while we were in the process of making the album and it just kept sticking with me. I get pretty obsessive about that and I think it encapsulated sort of this sense of desperate loneliness that I wanted to have throughout the album. There's a lot of themes of losing people or wanting to make friends and it not feeling genuine. Of a sort of vanity or vapidness to a lot of relationships especially in the New York party scene. 

That`s really understandable.

Ultimately I think the phrase sort of evoked this feeling of wanting to be missed, but not wanting to leave the room for fear that no one will miss you if that makes sense. I wanted to kind of create this kind of hopeful sense of loneliness throughout.

I felt that in some of the lyrics. Is it mostly you who does the bulk of the lyric writing?

Yeah, it would be me or Van (the band's bass player) who co-writes a lot of stuff with me. Sometimes the band will interject, but I would say the bulk of most of the songs are me lyrically.

What is it about the club scene that makes it feel like you're lonely or you're feeling out of place?

What I was experiencing during that time was sort of the Post-COVID indie sleaze revival - everybody's smoking a cigarette and wearing a leather jacket in New York - kind of thing. I kind of came into this world that felt a little fake and uncomfortable and I really didn't know what to do with it. It's hard to have a super intimate conversation with someone when they're asking you for a cigarette or you're in the club bathroom (laughs).

That`s very true, especially if there`s loud music (laughs).

Exactly. I think you desperately want to connect with people because it is a social environment and there's a lot of cool music, outfits and everyone's super cool and friendly, but these people will probably forget that they even spoke to you the next day, and you might forget that you spoke to them. I think there's a level in which I wanted to just explore that loneliness. 

The last song on the album is called “Everyone's Coming”. And I read that as an interesting last song title because if you're leaving, but everyone's coming, it's like you're going the wrong way.

Yeah! I mean I think that we always kind of wanted to end the album with it. We wrote it first actually, but intended it for the last half of the album. We wrote a lot of the more rock band songs first to add in the first half and the second half we kind of did as its own section. The song is about getting up in the sunrise and everybody kind of edging out and maybe not knowing where you are. There's sort of a hazy dance, dark wave vibe to it. I think a lot of it just felt kind of wrapping up the party and not really knowing who you're surrounded by. Strangers in your home at the end of the night, or start of the morning, and you really don't know what to do with them and you're not really paying attention to them. 

I get it, so many things have happened and moved throughout the night that it's weird to see who is left. Before you were on socials or sharing music you were already performing, a true live-first band! The live setting is one of the most important things and probably the best way to connect with people. So in this AI infused, Post-COVID era I wondered if you are feeling a shift in what people want from live performances.

Super good question. We've been a band for so long that I kind of have seen the ebbs and flows of all that stuff, at least in New York. The biggest thing for us is playing shows. We love touring and we're super excited for these tours that we have coming up. I think that the energy we get from being in a room with people is super important. I think our first show was to five people and it gets you hooked on it because you're in the room with those five people. I never ever want it to feel anything different than I can look every single person in the eye and I can be with them in that moment, and for it to feel like we're doing the show together.

How you feel like your live shows have evolved because I've seen pictures where you really go all out with really cool makeup and you're getting close and personal with people and I love that. So, how have you developed your style?

I mean again it's a long time getting super comfortable on stage. and engaging with people and that kind of working. The biggest thing is just making eye contact with people. I think a lot of people look at their feet when they play and I always tell them no one gives a s*** about your shoes. They give a s*** about your eyes. I think that was kind of the biggest thing that changed was that I got a little less nervous and I got a little bit more engaged and present with people. We all did. I think the whole band got very outward and now there's even fans who come to give us a hug, it`s great!

I wanted to ask how you hope people will feel listening to the album.

I hope that they have a great time because we worked really hard on it and I think it's really awesome. We just got the vinyl and I've been listening to it on a record player, it's beautiful. I hope people kind of feel like they're in the room with us, making the album with us or hearing it live in the room with us. And then on top of that, I hope that they feel seen and feel like they can relate to that sense of not feeling super comfortable all the time and feeling empowered by that.

Is there a gig, festival or venue that you guys would dream of playing?

I really want to play Madison Square Garden (laughs). As a New Yorker that's a huge goal for us, which honestly I think we can do it. I also hope we get to play Gov. Ball. That's a big one that I want to do.

I'm always really curious to ask you, what artists are watching out for?

Honestly, I really like this band called For Opal, the singer has a great voice. There's Trophy Wife that I really love. We're about to go on tour with this band called Telescreens, who are great friends. I also want to shout out Porch Light.

Listen to People Only Like Me When Im Leaving below: