If for whatever reason you’ve yet to experience an emo night-type festivity (we’re guessing you’re either too cool or too young), today’s your lucky day to see exactly what it’s like to drunkenly sing along to some of your all-time favorite songs with 500-plus strangers as The Noise is premiering a brand new music video from Emo Night Brooklyn.
Yes, that’s right. Today we’re premiering a music video from Emo Night Brooklyn co-founders Alex Badanes and Ethan Maccoby for their original, emo-rific, Ryan Key-produced track “Back In Time.”
When asked about the song and their star-studded video which features members of New Found Glory, Silverstein, and Yellowcard (bet you can guess who), Maccoby said: “Emo Night Brooklyn is all about celebrating music and the artists that created it [while] surrounding yourself with the people you love and making new, lifelong friendships. So we wanted to incorporate all of these themes when we made the video for ‘Back In Time.’”
“The video is a compilation of a few different shows that we’ve done,” adds Maccoby, “and includes a few cameos of artists we’ve worked with like Jordan Pundik of New Found Glory, Shane Told (Silverstein), Ace Enders (The Early November), Kenny Vasoli (The Starting Line), Anthony Raneri (Bayside) and more. It also includes Alex and I hanging out in our neighborhood with some of our oldest friends, partying and having fun, which is why we started ENB.”
Maccoby continued to touch on the inspiration for “Back In Time” saying, “Throughout middle school and high school, Alex and I used to hang out after class and do covers of our favorite songs, so we also wanted that to come across as well – our friendship is still strong and not much has changed over the last 20+ years! I think the video gives viewers a pretty good idea of what it’s like to go to an ENB. We’re stoked to share it with everyone and hope it brings more friendships even closer, just like it has with ours.”
To check out the new video for “Back In Time” plus our extended interview with Maccoby talking all about their new song and the future of Emo Night Brooklyn, be sure to look below. Afterward, make sure to grab tickets to see Alex and Ethan out on tour bringing you the best emo hits here.
How nervewracking was it to step out of your comfort zone DJing events to write and record your own original track?
Ethan Maccoby: Honestly, it wasn’t nervewracking at all. Alex and I have always been very musical people, so it felt pretty natural to us. Alex went to Berklee College of Music and is a very talented guitarist and songwriter. I’ve been singing my whole life and did a mixture of informal bands and a cappella groups. Growing up together we would always be jamming out to our favorite songs, so it was amazing being able to write a song we were pumped about and release it on a bigger scale using Emo Night Brooklyn as a platform.
Working with Ryan Key must have been a dream come true. What was that experience like?
It was literally that – a dream come true. Yellowcard has always been one of our favorite bands, so it is unreal that we had the opportunity to co write with Ryan and have him produce the song at his studio. Over the past few years, Ryan has become a really close friend, so it worked well. It was like three great friends just writing a song that we loved. It was also really cool to get inside Ryan’s mind of his writing process. Of course at first I was a bit nervous that my voice wouldn’t be up to Ryan’s standard, him being such a great vocalist, and I think Alex felt the same way with the guitar. Ryan was extremely positive and encouraging through the whole process though, and we were stoked on how it came out.
For Emo Night Brooklyn to continue growing, how important is it for you guys to pursue new ideas whether it’s original music or added ideas to your already established events?
Our goal for ENB has always been to make each party and each day more epic than the last. To have fun and make the most of what we are doing. I think it’s definitely important to keep building upon it, because we don’t want anything to get stale. The original music was kind of a huge bonus – we are extremely lucky to have access to such amazing musicians, so it was a no-brainer for us to ask Ryan to write a song with us.
Where do you see the future of Emo Night Brooklyn headed?
It could go a lot of different directions, some of which Alex and I are still hashing out. One thing that is clear though is we just want to keep creating amazing experiences for communities and ourselves. I think people can expect us to visit more cities with bigger parties and more guests. We want to keep doing things that continue to celebrate and support the music that made us who we are.
When you think back in time, what is your all-time favorite emo-related memory?
One of my favorite memories is my first concert ever. It was at a tiny venue in England (where Alex and I grew up). The show was Underoath and Silverstein. Underoath had just come out with “They’re Only Chasing Safety.” We were with all of our best friends and we were just amazed. Today it remains one of my favorite concerts ever.
