The Return of Nuzzle: Forever Friends, DIY Melodic Noise & Throwbacks to '95: Follow, For Now 30 Years Later. An Interview. 

What comes to mind when we hear the name Nuzzle? Unfiltered honesty.

 

They formed in the early ‘90s and took the West Coast DIY scene by storm with their tunes. Fast forward to October 2025, Nuzzle re-released their album Follow, For Now, in celebration of the 30th anniversary.

When we first discovered the record, the overall vibe immediately resonated. It just clicked. It is full of genuine emotion, live-wire intensity, and is human to the core; to find music like that is rare. Nuzzle makes you sit there and feel with their melodic sincerity, proving that there can be perfection in the chaos. 

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We caught up with bassist Simon (Sam) Fabela, guitarist Nate Dalton, and drummer Ricardo Reano to take a look back on the initial release of Follow, For Now, and what it’s been like stepping back into Nuzzle after all of these years.

At the core of Nuzzle, they have always been about connection. Sam describes the band as “Four forever friends, family really, that love to make loose, heartfelt music together. Just get together, let it flow, and find a feeling.” Ricardo adds, “We are mind readers, but only to each other.” Nate channels the band’s sound by adding that they are “melodic noise,” which, in our opinion, is the best kind. 

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With the 30th anniversary of the album came something that we could have never expected: Nuzzle stepped back into the scene to play their first show in almost 25 years. They reflected on how it felt to be on stage again as a band after all this time. 

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Sam mentions, “Playing a Nuzzle show again after all that time was incredible, it felt so good! But I really felt all the feelings when we got together again for the first time in a long time to practice about a year or so ago. We've known each other for so long, since high school, that there is little in this world for me that compares to that feeling I get when I can telepathically connect with these three musically.” Clips from the show embody just that; you can tell that it was natural and that the connection never left. “It's like magic, it's the wildest thing. Like all those years together in high school, touring a ton in the DIY 90's, and sleeping in vans, on dirty floors and shitty punk houses all over the US kind of melded us. Spending all those formative years together, it's almost as if our DNA or fibers meshed in a way that'll connect us forever. And when we can light those fibers up and connect on that level, that other plane, we are almost as one. I love having that back in my life.” 

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Ricardo shares, “It felt wild, I was stoked to see our buddy, nervous Chris. In ‘23, we got together just for kicks. We ended up having a swell time, I think that’s what started us thinking about playing again.” Nate reflected on how the show brought on the spark that started it all for him. “It made me remember how much I loved performing and why it's all I wanted to do in my younger days. And made me realize how much I love my bandmates.”

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Looking back on the making and early touring of Follow, For Now, Sam admits some memories are a little blurry when trying to think back, because Nuzzle rushed to record the tracks right after a five-week U.S. tour alongside Fisticuffs Bluff in August of 1995. Ricardo reminisces on a moment during the making of Follow, For Now, “Dennis (Bunton) recorded us in his bedroom with the window open. The neighbor called to complain about the racket, so Dennis closed the window halfway.”  

 

The tour with Fisticuffs Bluff left an imprint on the band. Nate and Sam both mention how much fun it was to be out on the road during this time, Nate calling it one of the greatest summers of his life. “Even with breakdown after breakdown, there's nothing like touring the country with your best friends and playing music each night. We recorded the album right after the tour, so we were in top form. I mostly wanted to document this batch of songs that we knew so well at that point.”  

 

Though the tour was 30 years ago, Sam opens up about an interesting memory that will forever be engraved in his memory for valid reasons. “The tour was a blast, and my first time being on the East Coast and in the south during the summer. I do have this crazy memory of playing a show at a punk house in the south and staying the night there. Insane humidity that was mind-boggling for this California boy. I went into the kitchen and opened the freezer door to try and get a blast of cold air on my face, and was stunned to see an insane amount of cockroaches, both dead and alive, covering nearly every inch of that freezer! I think I went out and slept on the roof of the van.”

When writing Follow, For Now, the intention of creating the release was pure and all about sincerity. “When we recorded the record, I wasn't really thinking about what people would take from the music. I think I just hoped our friends would like it. Today I just hope people can hear the honesty & love we've put into it, enjoy hearing the tunes, and can connect with it on some level,” says Sam. 

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Even after all of these years, the album is still being discovered and played today. It is an album that will continue to keep striking a chord with existing listeners and will reel in new fans for decades to come. “I think Follow, for Now kind of captured a moment in time from that early/mid 90's DIY scene when the kids were kind of looking for something of their own, creating and making their own noise,” Sam reflects, mentioning how the diversity of the band’s tastes adds to the overall feel of Nuzzle. “We each have fairly different musical tastes, but there's lots of overlap, and I think you can hear that variation in the songs. Some, like ‘The Sorting That Evens Things Out’, are a loud, screamy guitar-heavy noisefest, and others, like the very next song on the album, ‘Bring the Leeches’, is a much more subdued, moody, mellower song. There are some straight-up noisy pop songs in there, too.” Their ability to create a sound that stems from different influences across genres is something special. You can hear the intention they put into every track; the album feels real, unforced, and is purely Nuzzle. 

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The emotion and noise of the band hits you right where you need it, all at once. In Nate’s opinion, the edge and authenticity of the album pull listeners in. “There's a rawness to punk rock and the DIY music scene that drew me in, and I think that rawness is what resonates with listeners.” Jumping in, Ricardo tells it like it is: “The songs are pretty catchy, some folks got caught. I’m just hoping listeners get stoked on the energy.” 

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So now that Nuzzle is back in motion, what’s next for them? We’re here to say it’s awesome news. They already have a show planned. Sam mentions that 2026 is already looking active for the band, “We'll be playing Noise Pop in San Francisco this year, supporting the Bay Area legends P.E.E. at Bottom of the Hill on March 1st,” and all three of them assure that there is more in store.

TOP8’s take? Nuzzle is one of those bands that deserves all the love. Their music simply makes you feel. With an edge and authenticity that keeps us coming back, we’re more than excited to see where this year takes them, and you know we’ll be supporting it all.

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Nuzzle’s final thoughts: “Keep an eye on our Instagram page, it's the main hub for all things Nuzzle right now. Go get them tix for the Noise Pop show, and you can grab the Follow, for Now reissue from Solid Brass Records or Zum Audio- the record is a split release from those two Los Angeles-based record labels.” 

 

Pull up in March, spin the record, and get stoked for more!