Convenient, Trash surprise released their third album, N*VY BLUE, last week through We’re Trying Records. I caught up with vocalist Logan Boyle to discuss N*VY BLUE a little bit – how the writing was different from the previous LPs, the various locales name-dropped throughout, and why the title’s censored. You can check that out below, and be sure to give N*VY BLUE a listen when you do.
Obviously the first and last tracks refer to “N*vy Blue” in the titles – what is N*vy Blue, and why is it censored out?
So originally those songs weren’t going to be acronyms. It was going to be spelled out “F*ck You N*vy Blue,” and “L*ve You N*vy Blue” but after thinking about it I realized I didn’t want to be that vulgar and preferred the acronym version. The reason for the censor is because of originally using fuck. I just like the look of it still on the album.
What’s the relationship between “FYNB” and “LYNB”?
“FYNB” is a knee jerk reaction song. I pretty much wrote it in five minutes with lyrics and everything because what I was immediately feeling was just pouring out. That opening song comes from confusion and anger where as “LYNB” is more from a place of calm and understanding and just accepting things the way they are and being ok with it.
I would be tempted to say this is your most dynamic album. How was the writing of this one different from Pooch or the self-titled?
So Pooch was written when I was the only member of the band. A lot of the songs had been worked through a bunch to the point where, when I found the group I’m with now, only small changes were made and it wasn’t a full writing experience. With this new record it was totally different. From day one we worked on every song as a group and to have ideas more than just your own makes it that much better. Pooch wouldn’t be the record that it is without my bandmates but N*vy Blue wouldn’t exist without them. They all make it what it is and writing it was a real pleasure.
The opening line of “Haley,” “a stain of blood / from a 2 carat wedding ring my tongue,” is a line that really sticks out to me ever listen. Would you mind explaining a little bit about what that line means?
Yeah so that line is just simply I saw someone at the bar I work at had a cut right next to their wedding ring and I had been struggling with finding a line I liked to go with “My tongue can cut through anything” and that popped into my head and it was one of those, “That’s it!” moments. The rest of the song just kinda dives into how sometimes people with the best intentions of being a single parent can’t really find a way to follow through on that.
There’s a lot of references to specific places throughout the album, from various locations in Michigan to Tokyo to Chicago, and so on. What’s the significance of location or distance to the narrative of NB?
This record deals with someone I lost unexpectedly. Chicago was the last place I was really close with that person so I knew I wanted to throw that in there somehow on the record. Japan was a very important trip for me almost directly after everything happened. It really helped with my coping of everything and realizing that as unexpected as everything was, it’s okay. Michigan is something that is featured a lot through everything I’ve written. I don’t mean to do it sometimes, but it always just kinda sneaks its way into a record somehow.
How do you think the Logan of the self-titled era would feel about N*vy Blue if he heard it?
He’d tell all his friends about it and say, “this is some emo BS, but it’s not bad!”