Photo by Ryan Biller

Golden Looks has been a unit for less than a year but singers and guitarists Nestor Diaz and Julia Nova have been writing songs together for nearly a decade. This long-lasting collaboration is obvious in the vocal interplay where despite the shout-sing nature of their singing, each sounds like they’re finishing the other’s sentences. Even in songs like “Cosmopolitan,” in which the two sing completely different phrases, it still sounds like more of a complement than two people trying to out-shout each other.

The growth in their sound might not be obvious to listeners that hadn’t heard the power pop of Friends of the Library or the ’90s influenced indie rock of Hiding Places, but the current crop of songs is their most unique offering to date. The angular but decidedly rhythmic guitar has echoes of some of ’90s post-punk acts like The Dismemberment Plan but the heavy influence of drummer Kristof Aldenderfer belies any easy comparison. It’s refreshing to find a sound that isn’t so obviously the sum of the songs on their iPods. We talked to Nova earlier this week about the band’s songwriting process and the genesis of their band name.

Find them online: On their Facebook page.

Listen to them: On Bandcamp.

See them next: Saturday night at the Rock and Roll Hotel with Snowden and Teen Mom.

What’s the lineup difference between Golden Looks and Hiding Places? I know that Golden Looks remains you and Nestor.

Yes. With Golden Looks it is Nestor, me and Kristof. Kristof we picked up along the way. I saw him at Fort Reno last summer. Nestor had introduced me to him half a year before that because he was in this other band called Young Ladies. Nestor was like, “These guys are awesome. Kristof is a really good drummer.” So, I took it upon myself to go up to Kristof during Fort Reno and say, “Hey, what’s up? How are you doing?” and ask him about his life. I asked, “Are you playing in any bands?” He said no. I said, “Play in our band!” even though there was no band yet. It was just Nestor and I being like, “We have no band. We should probably put a band together.” Hiding Places was Nestor, Javier and Brian and myself. That was two guitars, bass and drums. This lineup has Nestor playing guitar and baritone guitar. I play guitar and bass. Kristof plays drums. So, we have a handful of songs where we switch off instruments. So, when I’m playing guitar, he’s playing baritone guitar. When he’s playing guitar, I’m playing bass, but he’s the lead guitarist.

Were there other iterations of this band even before Hiding Places?

Yes. So, Nestor and I met in college. He actually booked my high school band when he was in college to play Third Rail at the radio station. Then we disbanded but I still wanted to play and someone was like, “Nestor plays instruments.” So, Nestor and I started playing music together and we started the band Friends of the Library. That was me, him, my friend Abe for like a minute, Miles for a little bit. We went through a lot of drummers in that band. We had four or five in like, a year. It was bad news bears.

That sounds like Spinal Tap.

So, I was the lead in that band and they were all my songs and Nestor was the bass player and he was singing backup vocals. But we were writing pop songs and both of us have a wide range of music that we’re into but we gravitate towards heavier music. We just didn’t feel like it was the music we would listen to. So we disbanded that, thought about it and rethought what we wanted to sound like and then we started Hiding Places. At the end of Friends of the Library, Javier had joined the band, so it was the three of us and we looked for another drummer—our billionth of a two year period. We found Brian who was awesome. Then we made almost all new music with him. What we had been doing with the other bands is that we had carried over a couple of songs from each band. We decided with this one we were just going to start fresh and see what happens and the songwriting is a lot more organic. Nestor will come to band practice with a riff or something interesting and intricate and then we write a song. We’ve been together for less than a year but we already have over an album’s worth of material. Almost every band practice we have a new riff or a new song that we work on. So we’re going to have a new song for Saturday. We still need to figure out lyrics but the song is there.

The two of you used to switch off vocals. Does that still happen?

Yeah, I sing when Nestor’s like, “My guitar part is too complicated for me to sing so you can sing this part.” Or I’ll come to band practice and be like, “I have a really good vocal part! I’m singing this!” And then I sing it and it’s great. So, I sing lead on two songs. The rest, Nestor sings lead and I sing backup or what we’ve been doing which I think we want to do more of is just have a lot of dual vocals. I think it’s a lot more fun. There are only three instruments so to have two vocals on top of that is a lot more interesting. I think that’s the direction we want to go in.

So you’ve both written together for many years. How has your songwriting grown over time?

I think with Hiding Places, I would come with an almost finished song or Nestor would come with an almost finished song and then we’d work on that. But, the vision, the end product would already almost be there. With this band it’s a lot more natural. Nestor will really come with just a small piece and Kristof and I really complete it. I feel like we’re actually writing songs as a band as opposed to being in a band with a songwriter. I think we’re all part of the team, which is pretty awesome. I haven’t been in a band like that and Nestor hasn’t been in a band like that. I think it’s always been that one person’s kind of the mastermind. Though, I still say Nestor’s the driving force, we’re a team.

Where did the name come from?

We had a lot of ideas. So, with Hiding Places, let me just tell you, it took almost a year to come up with a name. We had a Google Doc that we kept and then we’d make snarky remarks like, “This sounds like a pop punk band!” “This sounds like a twee band. This is horrible!” So, it took us forever to come up with a band name. So with this, I was like, “We are not messing around. We need to figure out a band name.” So, we came up with a shorter list and our song titles were going to become the band name but then we somehow came up with this. So, Nestor’s a librarian or a librarian associate and he said, “What about Golden Books?” I was like, “I don’t know.” It was associated with the kids’ books with the gold binding. So I said, “What about Golden Looks?” So, we kinda went there. So, it was a collaboration. It means nothing and it’s not meant to be vain at all either. I think it sounds good. I don’t think we wanted to have a super long name. I really thought our band name was going to be Charmed, I’m Sure. Who knows, maybe that will be the name of our first EP or album. It’s the name of one of the songs that’s up on bandcamp.

Have you played enough shows to have had a favorite show at this point?

We haven’t played that many shows. We played with Tera Melos and This Town Needs Guns which was an awesome show because we actually fit in with the bill. This has been the only time that we’ve been like, “These are bands where their fans would like our music.” So, that felt really good playing that show and I think we were pretty tight. This was at DC9 about a month ago. We brought demo CDs and we didn’t pass them out — we just had them there. We were like, “If people like it, they’ll pick it up,” and they were all gone. So, it was awesome. We got friends on Facebook. It wasn’t bullshit. People went home and were like, “We like you. We’re going to listen to it. We’re gonna friend you.” I feel like Nestor and I have played enough shows and been in enough bands to know the empty love that fans give you so this is really cool. Also, it was a younger audience and the energy was really high. Our Black Cat was really fun, too.

Who is your show with on Saturday?

Teen Mom — who are awesome. Even if I were not friends with them, I would totally be into them. That is music I like, I’m into. I think everyone should like them. They’re awesome. I don’t know how they’re not already blowing up everywhere. And then, Snowden. They played not too long ago with our friends, Mean Season. I remember playing that one song on our radio show back when I was in college, the “Anti-Anti” song. So, I’m excited to play with them. It should be good. We want people to come out and see us. I feel like in D.C. there aren’t any bands that sound like us. I feel like we offer something new to the scene and something exciting. We have the longevity factor. Nestor and I have been doing this for awhile and it’s really exciting when people come up to us after the show and talk to us and ask, “How long have you guys been together?” We’re like, “Six months. But Nestor and I have been playing together for awhile so we kind of have a mind meld thing.” We can communicate. I just feel like bands are breaking up in D.C. or moving away or they’re getting big but it’s not that authentic new sound. I want to hear new stuff and I feel like we’re new.

Do you think you sound pretty new?

Yeah. I mean, it’s indie rock but it’s a little mathy and noodle-y and proggy. I know Nestor doesn’t like either “noodle” or “prog” but when we have people in the electronic/prog/Circuits coming to our show to support Nestor and they’re saying we’re kind of proggy…then, ya know. And I’m down with that because I’d rather be a little proggy or a little bland or a little commercial. I think we sound different and Nestor’s voice is unique. I feel like there aren’t a lot of male singers who sound like that. I compare him to Destroyer a little bit. I don’t think he likes the comparison but it is a high registry voice and I think that’s something unique. We also have the boy-girl dynamic. I like it and my bass lines are melodic, not just rhythmic, so that’s something unique. Kristof’s a sick drummer. He’s really into metal and stuff so he brings a totally different take. When we first started playing with him, we were like, “Do you like this? We don’t want you to be in the band if you’re not into it because you won’t be happy.” He said, “I like anything that challenges me and this challenges me.” I’m excited about this. I feel good about this project. There are songs that when I walk away from band practice, I say, “That shit was awesome!” We just wrote a new song and it’s stuck in my head for like a week. The other songs were melodic and catchy, too but this is hook-y but edgy. I’m proud of it.