Northvale (from left, Chris Stroz, Keith Carroll, Mike Piacentini and Aren Milan).
“Once a pop-punk kid, always a pop-punk kid,” says Keith Carroll, lead singer and co-founder of the Jersey-based pop-punk band Northvale, which released its first full-length album, Where We Go When There’s Nothing Left, on Jan. 29, and will have an album release show at Debonair Music Hall in Teaneck on Feb. 8; visit debonairmusichall.com.
Northvale formed in 2019 when Carroll reconnected with an old friend from elementary school, Mike Piacentini, at a show at The Bowery Electric in New York. Initially, Piacentini was hesitant to start a band due to his busy schedule as a mastering engineer for Sony, but he quickly agreed when he saw how well they collaborated.
“He didn’t want to do anything because bands can be a little crazy,” says Carroll. “It’s a lot of work. But eventually we started to write some music together, and he was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ ”
During the pandemic, the band expanded to include Aren Milan as the drummer and Chris Stroz on guitar. After multiple rejected suggestions, Stroz came up with the band’s name. Since each member is from New Jersey, Stroz found a list of Jersey towns and chose one at random.
“He took his phone and he just swiped up really fast, then put his finger down on the phone; it landed on Northvale,” says Carroll. “We all laughed, and that was it.”
From left, Aren Milan, Keith Carroll and Mike Piacentini of Northvale perform at Racket NYC.
Northvale’s first EP, The Things We Used to Be, was released in 2020 with the first single, “Sleepwalking,” featuring Joey Fleming from the L.A.-based band In Her Own Words.
Due to quarantine restrictions, the band took an unconventional approach to creating music, at first. They only worked together virtually, sharing demos they made in their respective home studios.
“We laid the record down and started putting music out,” says Carroll. “It was such a weird time; we did nothing the normal way. We never played our instruments together until well after the EP came out. We booked a show and we were like, ‘Hey, everybody knows how to play, right?’ ”
Carroll believes collaborating virtually was advantageous because it forced them to communicate thoroughly, which helped prevent the kind of creative differences that might cause a band to break up in the first couple of years.
“We had to really talk, which is something guys don’t always have a grip on,” says Carroll. “We had to figure out how we want to make this type of music we’re into.”
On the new album, songs like “Better When I Can” and “Hang in There Kid” showcase serious subjects through emotionally charged lyrics and catchy melodies. “Better When I Can,” featuring Adam Blasi from Palettes, focuses on addiction: The lyrics describe alcoholism and the song’s video insinuates gambling addiction through visuals of adults gambling at a children’s Pine Derby contest. “Hang In There Kid” is a creative take on Carroll’s experience with depression and suicidal thoughts.
“It was tough to reopen that scar because it’s such an old wound,” says Carroll. “But it’s my own fault. When I got the demo from Mike, I heard something very depressing, and that’s what the lyrics were pointing at. That’s what I heard.”
The cover of the Northvale album, “Where We Go When There’s Nothing Left.”
“Already Dead,” featuring AJ Perdomo from The Dangerous Summer, denounces organized religion while encouraging listeners to pave their own path of belief. “Bright Lights” (watch video below) is a love song inspired by Carroll’s experience dating the woman who would become his wife.
Guest musicians from other bands perform on three of the album’s 10 tracks. “We started writing songs with features in our heads, which is a weird thing to do, but we didn’t really care,” says Carroll. “The whole feature thing is really just us fangirling out on these guys.”
The opening lineup of the Feb. 8 show includes 5ever, All Systems Go, and Jam Poetry. Band members chose a venue that is not only close to home, but feels like home because of how often each of them has performed there.
“We really wanted to be home for this, get that true East Coast camaraderie,” says Carroll.
A short documentary about the recording of the album titled “Wish You Were Here” will be released on YouTube on Feb. 5. The film highlights the creativity, passion and perseverance that went into making Where We Go When There’s Nothing Left.
“This (album) is where we go when there’s nothing left,” says Carroll. “This is where we go when we’ve exhausted ourselves completely. This is raw bare bones — truly who we want to be.”
For more on the band, visit northvaleband.com.
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