Lots of people (including Dan Deacon) have described Air Waves, the project of Brooklyn’s Nicole Schneit, as something akin to a favourite blanket. We totally agree, but also think it’s amazing how well this warm and jangly guitar pop fits in with super noisy pals like Talk Normal or lo-fi mufflers The Beets. Also, it’s some feat for sure to give off similar tropical feelings to Ducktails or Real Estate while keeping lyrics clear and at the forefront and moods sweet and cosy without coming off hackneyed. Think family beach days, pizza times, Andrew Bulajski filmic sentiments. There are constantly relatable nostalgias in those guitar and vocal harmonies. We talked to Nicole of the rotating three-piece before their UK tour.

Dazed Digital: Do you envision landscapes at all when you’re writing? There's a lot of abstract imagery in your songs and general feel.
Nicole Schneit: On some of the songs, yes I do. A few of my new songs deal with scenes I saw over the summer. One is titled, “Ft. Tilden” and it's about these two children playing on the beach. I envisioned this beach to be more beautiful and mysterious then it actually is. In general though I have more of a relation with people than the landscapes in the songs.
 
DD: For me it combines a nice tropical feel with more corduroy/favourite jeans kind of vibe; are you interested in making a sort of homeliness via songs?
Nicole Schneit: Well, I want to keep it genuine and not too abstract. Occasionally I write about fantastical imagery, but for the most part I write about everyday occurrences. I don't really think ahead about it, I just write what's on my mind.
 
DD: What are the beaches like in Brooklyn?
Nicole Schneit: Ha, they are dirty! It depends where you go really. Brooklyn is so diverse. If you go out to Coney Island it's a mad house, always jam-packed. There are many Russian men in speedos, people selling beer and ice cream in coolers, glass in the sand, boom boxes blaring... Then there's a tiny beach in Williamsburg, filled with hipsters and local celebrities. Ft. Tilden is an old army base by Rockaway Beach, it remains one of the less crowded and cleaner beaches. It's kind of eerie over there, with abandoned buildings and a large gated community.
 
DD: Do you get annoyed about people applying a certain 'indie' cheesiness to your music i.e. talking about bike rides etc? Or is something you shoot for with songs?
Nicole Schneit: I'm definitely not shooting for that, but at the same time it doesn't annoy me. People are going to take different meanings out of the songs. If they want to enjoy it on a bike ride, while watching the grass grow, flowers blossom, and the clouds move, that's totally fine with me! The only thing that bothers me is when people tell me what the song is about.
 
DD: It’s nice how Air Waves is so lyrically focused yet fits in with many other tropical lo-fi acts like lots on the Underwater Peoples comp. Does this change how you work at all?
Nicole Schneit: Thanks. It doesn't change how I work, Brody and Ari (Underwater Peoples Records) liked us for a reason. I really respect their taste, and the fact that they went with us even though we are a little more hi-fi than the other bands on their label. I want to become a better guitar player but that's outside of whatever label we are on.
 
DD: Do you tend to prefer to listen to more structured/linear/word based songs than ambience/experimental?
Nicole Schneit: I listen to everything! I listen to a lot of stuff from the sixties and seventies but I am also really open to experimental music. I was just listening to Chick Corea last night. There's a band here called Talk Normal who are more on the experimental side, that I've been really into lately. I went through a phase where I mostly listened to Neil Young.   I think it was good that I went through that phase, to help me advance as a songwriter. Bad lyrics do turn me off to a song, sometimes I feel like an old lady when bands use a bunch of reverb, I'm like, what are they singing about?!