By Tatiana Krisztina

 

The green room at Elsewhere isn’t what you’d expect.

 

It’s green, of course, but it’s only big enough to fit two couches, a table and a mini fridge. NXCRE sits there, waiting for everyone else to grab a piece of pizza before he does. Surrounding him on the couch are his bandmates, Jay Sambuco and two other men who are only identified as Loyalty and Coqui. Sambuco plays guitar, Loyalty is their drummer and Coqui is the bassist. Together they named their band The Villains. It’s their first time playing a show together live and the excitement is palpable in the small room.

 

NXCRE is pronounced like Zachary but with an N. The name is a play on the British word “knackered.” About the name choice, he said, “the definition of that word is broken or tired. And at the time, where I was with my current living situation and how I was mental wise, that was really how I felt.”

 

Weary to say his given name, NXCRE refers to himself as his stage name believing it to be more true to himself. “More people call me NXCRE than my real name,” he said. 

 

Previously a solo performer, NXCRE, 22 years old, NXCRE knew something was missing in his performances. “It’s cool if you do it right,” he said, talking about performing solo, “but there’s something just different about having every person who’s a creative mind bringing something new and unique to the table.”

 

He believes his bandmates and him were brought together by fate. While searching for the cheapest studio to record in, NXCRE found one where Loyalty was producing. 

 

“When I told him my inspirations and my dream of having a band, he said, ‘all we gotta do is play together and everything’s gonna work out.’” NXCRE said. NXCRE and Loyalty created a song called “Conceded,” now on NXCRE’s solo album “Twisted” that was released this past August. They started rehearsing together in a studio named Funkadelic on 40th Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan.

 

Sambuco was working at NYC Guitar School, which held its summer camp at Funkadelic. He heard drumming and assumed it was one of the campers sneaking into a rehearsal room. Instead, he found NXCRE, who invited Sambuco to rehearse with him and Loyalty that day. “That is literally how a musical journey that I could never imagine took place in the most random way possible. Because what are the chances that one of the best guitarists I ever met in my life would walk into the one room that I decided to play in?” NXCRE asks incredulously.

 

Their bassist, Coqui, joined soon after. “You were homies with my homie,” Coqui adds when NXCRE couldn’t remember how they met.

 

He’s visibly embarrassed that he couldn’t remember, obviously holding his bandmates in high regard. Throughout the interview, he directs the questions to them before answering them himself. The respect stems from NXCRE’s amazement that they believe in him. “Time is very valuable in this world. So if somebody can give you their time, I’m really thankful for that,” said NXCRE. Sambuco flew down from his dorm room in Boston to play for the night before getting back on a plane to make it to class tomorrow.

 

NXCRE was born in Israel. His mom was a singer and when he was young, his mom would take him to performances. “I would watch her perform in front of hundreds of people every day and just absolutely command a stage and have people near tears,” he explains. 

 

When NXCRE was 14, his mother took a piece of paper and ripped it in three. She wrote a city down on each - New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. She crumpled them up, shook her hand, and told him to pick one. Wherever he picked, they would go. So they packed their bags and headed to New York. “We knew we didn’t have anywhere to go. We didn’t have anywhere to stay, but we just took the leap of faith,” he says.

 

But he’s come a long way since then. As a self-described shy kid with little social skills, “it made me nervous to go outside,” he said. Until a fan of his music invited him to a show and he saw how his music had an effect on people. It was the first time he heard his music played in public and even saw people dancing to it. “Many of the songs on there have connected with people in ways that I can never imagine,” he adds.

 

NXCRE explained that one of the songs he was most excited to perform was “Fean,” a song he released in 2018 before the band was put together. It’s the song he built his fanbase off of, and even calls his fans Feans. “Regardless of how many songs I write, it was the one that brought new light into my life and brought me to the ears of a lot of people.”

 

NXCRE’s eyes light up when he talks about how a month ago, he saw the band Waves in concert for the first time. It was the band he listened to when he was 14, headphones glued to his ears, and using music for the escapism that so many teens do. “I’m forever grateful for those types of music where it hits you right where it needs to hit and you can tune out of the world,” he says. “Now I get to be the person who’s making music for some kid out there who needs it, so I’m very happy about that,” he said. “If 14-year-old me saw where I’m at today, doing what I’m doing, he’d be the happiest kid in the world.”

 

He keeps a notebook of specific dates, like the first time he heard his song played in an apartment or the first time he had people singing his lyrics back to him. The show tonight will definitely be added.