Are you one of those people wishing there was an events calendar listing local shows and helping you navigate what’s going on in New Haven and beyond? Well, a new zine by the name of NHV Noise is coming to a performance space near you, full of writing, art, and yes, that calendar.
NHV Noise — the brainchild of singer, songwriter, musician, and now writer and editor Peter Omalyev — came about after Omalyev mulled the idea over for a good long while.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a long time,” said Omalyev. “I think there’s a need. I play music, and it’s really kind of hard to get people to notice you and it’s kind of hard to get editorials written.… I just wanted to be involved in that…give people more opportunities to kind of create a better scene.”
The first issue hit New Haven this weekend via Never Ending Books, where it will be available exclusively for the next two weeks. According to Omalyev, the next run will have an insert that includes a June calendar of events. The May calendar is currently available on the NHV Noise website, which he started back in April with the hopes of sharing show and album reviews as well as opinion pieces. He had been mulling that idea over for a long time as well.
“That’s the kind of person I am. I have to spend six months thinking about something,” he said with a laugh. “I haven’t really had anything but ideas in my head until very recently. Then it just felt like the right moment, as spring comes around.”
To start NHV Noise, Omalyev first put out a call through Facebook looking for contributors, as he hoped to set the foundation for the website and zine himself and then have others write pieces and make it more of a community effort.
“I definitely don’t want to do it myself,” he said. “I knew something I can do is organize groups of people, like having a band, so even though I know I can’t create all the content I want for this, I can connect with people and try to get people on board who are interested.”
So far, the connections he has made have been friendly and fruitful.
“It’s been going really well, and it’s also been an awesome way to meet a few people,” he said.
Omalyev wrote the first several pieces himself in blog form, including album reviews. He also posted a video of a live show, filmed by friend and fellow musician Connor Rog, who also makes videos as part of Kicker Pictures. Another friend and fellow musician Torrey Proto worked on the written review part of that same show. Since then, he has been connecting with more people through social media.
Omalyev chose the name NHV Noise for his website and zine for the “alliteration,” he answered with a laugh, but the name refers to what is going on around town rather than noise music per se — or any other specific type of music. Nor, for that matter, will NHV Noise focus on him and his own music.
“Honestly, I’m not even putting my name on the blog posts,” he said. “I don’t want people to think it’s like that, so I’m trying to avoid that at any cost. At the same time … it’s flexible. I don’t want to be stiff about certain rules. They say if something is too stiff it will break, and if it’s flexible it will go back. So I think there’s a certain amount of cynicism I’m trying to avoid, but also, so I don’t look like I’m self-promoting, I wanted it to be more open.”
Omalyev’s goals, besides to just enjoy himself, are “to get people involved and get people inspired to create and make connections.”
“The community in New Haven is so great and there’s so much out there,” he said. “I want people to meet other people who are doing similar things to them, and … build that community in a way where we can … make even more connections than what we have here in CT already.”
Per the mission statement on the NHV Noise website, Omalyev hopes to “foster inclusive and safe spaces, point out and destroy hypocrisy and elitism when we see it, and, most importantly, promote and raise visibility of small artists and musicians in Connecticut.” Omalyev did note that while the focus will be on New Haven he definitely wants to remain “flexible.”
“We’re a New Haven-based magazine, but there’s so much other cool stuff that I don’t want to just say I can’t write about that. I want to let myself do what I want to do and other people too.”
Omalyev’s plan is to put content on the website as it comes up and “basically let smaller bands get recognition,” as well as other creatives throughout the scene. He mentioned 77 Apes, whose new release he just wrote about, as an example.
“I’ve been in that seat,” he said. “You’re releasing something and really trying to get somebody to just write anything because it’s a sense of legitimacy when you have a blog. It doesn’t even matter if it’s a big blog or anything, it’s just someone took the time to listen to my music and actually digest it. It’s so hard to find someone to do that” and “there’s a big need.”
He also mentioned an Instagram account called ct.sets that shares flyers from shows throughout the state that he has found inspiring as he has pursued this current project. “I want people to hear about it because its beneficial to everybody,” Omalyev said.
Besides working towards a regular schedule of posting content on the website, Omalyev is planning a podcast through Discord on a regular basis. The magazine will focus on the event calendar, visual art, and shorter pieces of writing, while longer pieces will be published on the website.
“The main goal of the print is to bring awareness for shows,” he added. “And hopefully bring people to the website,” including anyone who wants to contribute
“I need artists, I need writers, and anyone who wants to get involved,” he said. “It’s 100 percent a community thing. It doesn’t work if it’s just me.”
Omalyev is looking to publish album reviews, live show coverage, opinion pieces, “anything that fits the theme DIY: music, art, local stuff, anything that fits in that realm. I want to help people find their audience.”
Originally from Danbury and currently residing in Hamden, Omalyev has been living his own musical life as the owner of New Haven Piano Services and as a member of the band Big Sigh and his own solo electronic project called Renee Zon. He also recently started another band; along with this new blog and zine, some may say he has more than enough projects on his hands. He, however, is enthusiastic about and eager to proceed with them all.
“When I was younger, I had all these ideas, and I would always go to people and ask them if they thought those ideas were good, and I was looking for their approval before I’d start,” he said. “Recently I was like, ‘no I’m just going to do everything I want to do and whatever sticks to the wall, that’s it.’”
“I love to do anything,” he continued. “Why shouldn’t I have six projects if I can juggle it, or do the best I can to juggle it, or get groups of people who are willing to prop it up?”
Omalyev told a story of one of his “huge inspirations”: a bumper sticker that he and his wife saw on a car while driving down State Street when they first moved here. The sticker read: “New Haven, so small even you can be somebody.” Onalyev keyed into the encouragement in the message. “I’m like, ‘that’s so good, that’s perfect.’ I think of that all the time,” he said. “Anyone can be anything. Be whatever you want. I love that.”
Print copies of the summer 2023 edition of NHV Noise magazine are now available exclusively at Never Ending Books for the next two weeks and then will be available at other performance spaces throughout New Haven and beyond. More info about the zine as well as updated writings, art, and the May event calendar can be found at the NHV Noise website.