Music
The band Nightly gains social virality for creative sounds
Chatting with the soft indie pop band ahead of their second headline tour.
Creating a musical experience that’s unparalleled is just the way Nashville-based soft indie band Nightly rolls. Their experimentation, community service mindset and innovative style started in singer Jonathan Capeci’s and bassist Joey Beretta’s homes, then blasted off when they met drummer Nick Sainato. It’s only natural they’d be serving up the best to their fans — whether that’s in person or streamed online.
“Whether it’s the shows or the songs or how we release songs, we try to think about them and think about ourselves as fans, and what we want in that experience,” Capeci said.
The band makes music with a lot of unusual instruments. As producers, the three band members mix beats and sounds all the time. Sainato, normally on drums, helps capture some of these spontaneous moments on the band’s TikTok page — like a recent clip that went viral and features a seemingly random inanimate object. Sainato lets out a loud yell, then uses editing software to loop it into a beat.
Nightly
© Zach Pigg
Probably 50 percent of the songs we’ll do something weird.
“Any little thing we can find to bring new sounds we use,” Sainato said. “Probably 50 percent of the songs we’ll do something weird. Sometimes it works out — sometimes it doesn’t.”
The group even used an empty Red Bull can in that same clip, and the unusual percussion/scream combo worked well enough to score more than two million views. With the sounds looped together, Sainato’s creation sounds a lot like a typical drum machine.
Standing out from the crowd and trying something new is par for the course for Nightly. As Sainato said, the band isn’t limited in its exploration. Other videos and experiments showcase candles, water, and other everyday objects as instruments. In addition, Nightly makes a completely different type of soft, electronic and lyric-heavy pop music while living in a city best known for country music and very large cowboy hats.
Nightly
© Zach Pigg
Capeci said the scene in town is diversifying, but that it’s been an uphill battle to get noticed — especially since Music City tends to breed prodigies and virtuosos.
“There’s way more everything happening in Nashville now,” Capeci said. “When we first moved here it was a huge challenge. The musicianship and songwriting is incredible here. It was inspiring because people really hone their craft. You’ll see the best guitar player you’ve ever heard in your life on a Tuesday at noon on Broadway.”
Aside from Tennessee, though, fans can hear Nighly in their upcoming headlining tour, the second the band has done. All three members said they were excited to see their fans again, especially after the pandemic, because their audience is just as unique as their music. It’s the band’s first tour since the 2020 lockdowns began, and much like the payoff for making the uphill Music City climb, there’s a positive side to everything. Although the COVID-19 pandemic made things even more difficult for musicians, Capeci said it made artists more willing to help each other out.
Nightly
© Zach Pigg
“Everyone is incredibly collaborative now,” Capeci said. “People want to work together, which is super cool.”
If you can’t make Nightly’s next tour, which you can purchase tickets for on their site, opt in for a dose of the same creativity and positive vibes on their social media or in their music video for the single “hate my favorite band.”