How married indie pop musicians spend their Sundays
Ian Devaney and Aidan Noell, the married couple behind the indie pop trio Nation of Languagehave been going strong since asking friends and family to finance their 2018 debut record in lieu of wedding gifts.
They played “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” sold out shows Brooklyn steel, headlined a concert at Rockefeller Center and released their third album, ‘Strange Disciple’, this year. The band, which also includes Alex MacKay, is currently touring the East Coast.
All that doesn’t leave Mr. Devaney, 33, and Ms. Noell, 30, much time to hang out with their cat, Loaf, in their one-bedroom apartment in Prospect Lefferts Gardens on Sundays. But whether at home or on the road, “Ian and I live very connected lives,” Ms Noell said.
DISTRIBUTION OF LABOR
Devaney: Usually our cat wakes us up at 5 am, looking for breakfast. Aidan doesn’t normally get out of bed for that. I sleep closer to the door, so that’s fair. Hopefully I can fall asleep again. When I do fall asleep again, Aidan wakes up first.
Noel: That’s my favorite thing to do when I get my Sunday morning going. I make my instant coffee and then go straight back to bed with a book I’m reading or a crossword puzzle. It’s a quiet time, with Ian sleeping next to me. Bread comes and sits on my stomach. I don’t feel rushed. I’m happy.
REGULARS
Devaney: I sleep until 8 or 9 o’clock, sometimes until 10 o’clock. I think I really like to sleep. But when we’re home, something that gets me out of bed a lot lately is going to a coffee shop in our neighborhood. Hamlet. It’s our favorite place. That’s what I’m trying to shake up. I have a cortado or an Americano or sometimes an espresso.
Noel: I always get black coffee. They know our orders quite well so every time I ask for something else they forget and give me black coffee.
Devaney: Do not say that. It sounds like they don’t know what they’re doing.
Noel: No, it’s endearing. They know us so well there.
INSIGHT, INSPIRATION
Noel: Sometimes we take our coffee to the communal garden around the corner and listen to the news of the day on our phone or read something.
Devaney: I have a wonderful habit of starting books but not finishing them. Sometimes I have 10 at a time. Right now I’m rereading “The Lord of the Rings.” It’s very reassuring. Not long ago a friend gave me ‘Down and Out in Paris and London’ by George Orwell. They’re stories from when he was in trouble and doing all these jobs, trying to get his life together. It’s really entertaining.
Noel: I feel like Ian’s reading habits include a lot of semi-autobiographical books about artists. He gains insight into the life of another artist, and after ten pages he says: I have to go home and make music. I think that’s why he never finishes a book. I think they are a source of inspiration.
Coercion BUSTING
Devaney: Sometimes I just have an urge, and I don’t want to stop working. I feel like there’s always something to be done, in the sense that maybe a synth sound needs to change for the live show, or maybe I’m just inspired by something I’ve read or seen and want to start writing music.
Noel: I try to get Ian to relax on Sundays. I’m trying to get him out. I think it’s important to give yourself some time off like that. One of the things we can do is go to Prospect Park with a picnic blanket. We have a very specific tree next to all the turtles in the pond. There’s always room to sit there, and there’s nice tree cover, which is good because Ian is super pale and burns very easily. We take the blanket and shift it into the shade every 30 minutes.
BLADE, LISTEN
Noel: When our attention span is at its maximum in the park, we usually take the Q train across the river into the city. It’s my favorite train ride because you get to see the skyline. We land on the Lower East Side, where there are a few stores I like to go to. One is Aeon Bookstore, an incredible used bookstore with lots of independently published books, subversive fiction and lots of art books. We will spend time going through it.
We also go to Academy records and CDs, which has a very large selection of used records. I like DJing, I do vinyl. We get a bag full of new books and records, and then it’s time for another coffee. We live on caffeine.
Devaney: When I’m out in the world, when we’re looking at books and records, I can usually put my brain in ‘okay-to-relax’ mode and embrace it. Although I will say that visiting book and record stores makes me want to go home and make things.
SUNKED
Noel: When we’re really confused, we take the Q home. We often take the opportunity to do some shopping for the week on Sunday Lincoln Marketa small store near Prospect Park.
Devaney: For me, the relaxing part of the day is when I’m at home, and just trying to learn things that don’t have to do with music. Usually it involves some form of natural science. I think my interest arose because a friend of mine is a marine biologist. He started working at a center in Maryland where the goal is oyster reef restoration. If you can get all these coastal habitats going, it’s a kind of compound interest; they have their own direct benefits, and there are many downstream effects. It really appeals to me, so I’ll read through a lot of wormholes on the internet.
KITCHEN COUNTER
Noel: I’m the cook for dinner. If I don’t feel like cooking, Ian is in charge. He makes frozen pasta.
Devaney: I don’t like cooking at all. It stresses me out.
Noel: My second favorite part of the day after being in bed with Ian is sitting in the kitchen and starting cooking with a glass of wine or some Negroni. While I’m cooking, I watch football or a dirty reality show on a laptop.
SPLIT SCREEN
Noel: After dinner Ian does the dishes and I sit on the couch and decompress. Sometimes he goes back to writing music, and when he does, that’s my solo time. I take a bath with some low-level classical music and candles and read a book.
Devaney: Before going to sleep is usually time to watch some videos. I either watch more science-related things, or I get sucked into social media. We show each other stupid videos. We sleep around midnight or a little later.
Sunday Routine readers can follow Nation of Language on Instagram at @Nationoflanguage and X at @notion of fear.