Never Ending Fall’s True Identity Emerges on ‘American Disco’

On their way home from tour, the band shares the making of their new album, creating a genuine sound, and connecting with their fans

Despite being their sophomore album, Never Ending Fall’s new American Disco feels like a true first introduction to the band. As they first gained a following online over the pandemic, the five-piece was playing jazzy funk, which they showed off in their first album Space City. But with some time to find what they truly want from their stage experience, and returning to some inspiration from their youth, the band has entered the next chapter of their career.

Though you may know the band—made up of Jack Miller (vocals, guitar), Conrad Boyd (guitar), Pearce Eisenhardt (guitar), Johny Hohman (bass), and Tommy StClair (drums)—from social media, American Disco is certain to make their identity in a new way. While their personalities often connect first with viewers, the band’s most resonant connection certainly comes through in their music, and listeners can know them just as well this way. 

Having released the titular single “American Disco” back in February after embarking on a headlining tour of the same name, NEF has had some time to feel early reception with their fans. And because the group is incredibly connected with their fan community, hitting the road and having fun with them is a top priority. 

But they found that having fun on stage meant going back to their roots and feeling like kids again, which in this case, meant making a rock album. The members have known each other since childhood, growing this love of music together—and their sonic synchronicity and unity is palpable because of it. On the 11-track album, NEF gives their fans dance-worthy rock jams (“Under My Skin,” “Walking My Way,” “Potential”), glittery synth-backed beats (“Just Want You,” “Taking It Slow”), and more sonic and lyrical variety than they’ve ever shown before. 

As they headed home from their recent tour with Sawyer Hill—literally, still in the van—gearing up for this evolutionary release, Pleaser had the chance to speak with some of the band. They told us all about what it was like to craft this next era for the band, from the moments that defined the writing process to recording in their haunted-garage studio:

Pleaser: What was it like to write with an entirely different sound as an end goal than your previous work? 

Conrad Boyd: It was honestly so much fun. It was kind of a long time coming. I feel like when we wrote Space City, we were kind of in this jazz era. But, right around that time, actually, we started getting really inspired by music we grew up on — especially Turnstile, [they’re] a big inspo. So then when we moved up to LA, we kind of made the transition, made the flip and just started.

We were playing music all the time together and just really getting excited about the type of music we're making right now. So it is really cool to release the project that we've kind of anticipated us making for a long time, you know? 

Do you think it felt more natural to make music with this new sound? Or was it a challenge to find your footing in it? 

Jack Miller: Definitely natural because, like Conrad said, growing up on that type of music is kind of in our DNA.  And even when we were just jamming at home, we started to really feel the energy playing live and forgot what that felt like.

You know, after years of playing jazz, not really moving around on stage, we forgot what it felt like to head bang and go really hard and let that emotion out. So it was honestly a great relief. And even when writing, it just felt super natural. We felt like we're like 11 years old again writing a rock record. 

I wanted to ask y'all a little bit about tour. Did you get to play some of the new songs? And how did that feel? 

Pearce Eisenhardt: So we did our American Disco headlining tour at the top of 2024, and that's when we first started playing the songs off the album. At the time, we didn't have anything released. But this [most recent] tour, it's obviously the whole album we're playing, but songs from the album. This one was cool, though because we got to go to cities and play venues we haven't played before.

So it was cool to sort of induct a new, not demographic, but like, area of people with the new music. But the one takeaway is, with the new music, everybody was getting down to it. So, it's cool because we're playing the heavier stuff and people are really vibing with it. So it was pretty f*cking sick, honestly. 

How was it to connect with the fans new and old? I have to imagine you guys have a unique relationship with fans. Obviously, you got a lot of them through social media, so they feel like they know you personality wise, but maybe the music is more new to them. So what is your relationship meeting your fans like? 

CB: Oh, it's so much fun. I think about [it] a lot. It's really interesting, because it's kind of different for everyone. So like, there are fans that we connect with daily on Twitch, we stream and we know their names, you know, engage with them constantly on Instagram, we have a Discord, you know, I play Minecraft with some of them. It's like a family bond.

And then there's fans that find us through social media, like you were talking about. And then there's also fans who, we're now realizing hitting new cities and stuff, have just been a fan of our music for a really long time, which we didn't really even know that existed. And it's really interesting to have someone come up and be like, “I've been listening to you since Space City, I'm so excited about the new record,” this and that.

But it's been so amazing connecting with the fans. And like you said, we have a very personal relationship with everyone. So even if you're a new fan, if you had never heard of us until today, if you've been following us for three years, we always hang out at the merch table afterwards and do pictures, sign things if they want it. And just try to, again, form that personal bond, because I feel like that's how we operate. And that's how I feel like we operate with our fans as well. 

Coming out of the new tour, what was the most fun song to play with your fans?

PE: Oh, that's tough. That is a really hard question. I'm not gonna lie…

CB: Oh, Pearce has an answer. 

PE: It was just funny, when we were like making the setlist, like two weeks out, we were like, let’s do a cover. This is just my takeaway. But we did like a cover of “Please, Please, Please” by Sabrina Carpenter. And you should have seen people's faces lit up when it came in. We had the tracks to it, so it has her voice at the top of the song. And then there's a guitar solo in it and Conrad always jumps into the crowd. Everybody just lost their mind when they heard us play it. That was really cool to play. 

CB: Yeah, I think one of my favorite songs that's off the album, too, is “American Disco” because it's been out for a long time. People have had enough time to learn it, listen to it, love it. And it was the third song on the setlist, so we kind of hooked them in with the first two songs and then by the time we got to that point, everyone's kind of loosening up a little bit. So people are like, actually willing to rock out.

And like, it's such a core rock song, with all the guitars and all the stuff that's in it. I feel like that's the one for me that I really enjoy playing. But obviously all of them have been so fun.

What are each of your favorite tracks off the new album? 

PE: Oh man, that's a tough one. I'm not gonna lie, I'm gonna say “Potential.” To me, it's so easy to listen to.

JM: “Slow Motion.” I just love that tune so much.

CB: I don't know. I think maybe “Every Single Day.” I also am a sucker for slow music, like the song “Forever,” which is the outro of the album, which you know, potentially shouldn't even be on the album. I just really love that song because I think it's just so weird and quirky. And I really like cinematic music. So it's almost just like a supernova’s happening, sort of. 

There's a lot of variation between the tracks on the album. Between “Under My Skin,” “American Disco,” “Taking It Slow,” they all really have a unique moment on the album. How did you choose which tracks made the album and what was going to be the arc? 

JM: I think we had over 20-something songs written on a board and we ended with the last 12 that we have on the record, but we wrote a lot of it super late as well. We just needed a record. Our biggest thing was we want to go to festivals, we want to go on tours, we're playing this music, but on Spotify the only thing that's released is Space City. So someone says there's this great indie rock band coming out, and they listen to our Spotify, they're like, no, this is jazz.

So we wrote like a majority of the album super last minute, just trying to get all the inspirations that we were having into one record. I feel like that's what the record is, it's a big conglomerate of everything that we were inspired by the last four or five months upon writing and recording. 

What was the writing process? Do you guys have a set flow, or does it come differently with every song? 

CB: Oh, I feel like every song is so different. I felt like there were certain songs that act as catalysts for the rest of the project. So one of the biggest moments, in my opinion, [was when] we were writing “Under My Skin.” Jack and Tommy came up with the first guitar part, and were messing around with it. And then later that night, we all just got drunk and we're listening to it.

And we're like, all right, let's plug in, let's go, let's record this sh*t. And we ended up cranking out most of the song. Me and Jack went back and touched up some of the lyrics and stuff later on. But it was a super fun process. 

And within the next week, me and Tommy and Jack were jamming, and “American Disco” happened. Except for when we played it initially, it was so different. And then I think a week later, Tommy and Jack took the idea and then just folded it into a completely different song. 

Some songs Jack will just write the entire thing. And be like, “Guys, what do we think?” And we're like, “Sick, run it, let's record it.” And then other songs take a little bit more nurturing, you know? 

What was the most surprising moment when putting the project? 

JM: “Potential” is one that actually surprised us a lot because it was like a really crappy demo. I think Conrad kind of sat down and hashed it out at the very end, if I'm not mistaken. It was just 30 seconds of the intro beat and we were like, this is cool, let’s just try to sit down for eight hours and finish the song.

It was like, “Is this good?” Like you can't tell. And it's ended up being one of the most popular so far. So that was a pleasant surprise because those are the hardest songs to write, when you have to sit down and back this song out, like put the puzzle pieces together. 

Do y'all record and mix everything yourselves? 

PE: Johnny went to school for audio engineering, so he's our live sound dude, but also does studio stuff too. Everybody has their own recording setup in their little like separate rooms. But when we moved to our newer house in Los Angeles, we just converted the whole garage into the studio.

And then when it came time to record the album, we got the drum set out into the living room. It's this big, super domed living room. So the drum set was out there. And then we had a buddy Adam come over and basically serve as the mixing engineer for the process. So the control room would be in the garage, where he's running everything, and then drums we recorded out in the living room. Vocals went down in the garage and guitars went down in the garage. 

Do you guys have a name for your garage studio? 

PE: It's barely even a studio. We made some homemade rafters and then got the others off Facebook marketplace. It's definitely DIY. But I mean, the album sounds, like, great. 

CB: We don't have a name for it, but it kind of probably has its own name because we think it's haunted. 

What was the most different about this process versus other albums? 

CB: It's interesting, because I feel like we're just finally in a mature place in our lives. I feel like we can finally see the vision. Like, it was always like trying to grasp something that wasn't real. We were playing reggae music, but then got really interested in funk and jazz. And then we were playing funk and jazz music and got really interested in rock.

I would say this is probably the most genuine process so far. I felt like we could all see the vision.

We all knew what we wanted to accomplish. There were end goals, there was a sound that we had all agreed upon, like indirectly. Just something about us being able to see the future and try to get there somehow, and kind of let the music speak to where you want to go. 

What's next for Never Ending Fall? 

JM: Playing live shows is definitely looking like it's gonna be happening in the near future. And as far as music, we're already trying to work on other projects and keep the ball rolling and keep getting new songs out there. We're just super inspired, obviously coming off of this tour right now. So, we just can't wait to get back home and work and keep it going. 

Check out American Disco, out now.