When it comes to shoegaze, the Pittsburgh-based music writer—and occasional Nina contributor—Eli Enis knows ball. And it’s not just shoegaze. The Chasing Sundays creator keeps a close eye on a plethora of contemporary guitar music styles … and way beyond. He’s the exact kind of music expert we love to tap in with here at Nina Protocol. We can’t wait for his forthcoming book on shoegaze; in the meantime, we asked Eli some questions about how he listens to and discovers music. Read our interview with the writer, and listen to his Nina hub right here.

What was your entryway into becoming a music obsessive? 

Eli Enis: Music became my primary interest in early high school, when I began deep-diving all of the metalcore, pop-punk, and other Warped Tour-adjacent music that was coming out at that time (2010-ish). I've long since left the scene kid covenant, but I retained my fixation with genre, lineage, trends, and subcultural scenes, and applied that obsession to other forms of music in college and beyond. Although I disavowed 85 percent of my high-school music taste by the time I turned 20, I'm glad that my music nerd foundation was laid in a world as silly as metalcore. I think it made me a more open-minded and curious listener, and I have kind of a unique perspective on "cooler" genres that most people who grew up liking "good" music don't have. 

Could you describe your taste and listening habits?

I feel like my taste is ever-evolving. I'm not a very loyal fan, and I'm willing to dump something I cared deeply about once my interest shifts toward another sound or vibe. Hardcore and shoegaze are kind of my homebase genres, but I'm just as interested in music on the fringes of rap, pop, and electronic music. I think I'm less interested in conventional "indie-rock" and "punk" than ever, but there're always exceptions (the Geese record is staggering, like c'mon). I listen to new music every day and typically don't get stuck on a record or song for more than a week or two. I'm in my 30s now and don't relate to some of my peers who are tapping out or reverting to what's familiar. I feel like my lifetime of discovery is only just beginning. I want to hear it all. 

What is your preferred way to surf around the internet and look for new music?

I'm a little old-school in that I'm always looking for human recommendations from people whose tastes I trust. Twitter and Instagram still feed me a lot of good recs, whether by discourse or via links to articles/songs. I peruse Pitchfork and Stereogum every day and will keep tabs on what my favorite writers are publishing. I'm not on TikTok and don't really use Discord, so I know I'm missing a lot of stuff there, but I think I'm pretty good at supplementing by seeing what's popping on Rate Your Music, Reddit, and various corporate streaming platforms. Honestly, I've found a lot of great shit on Nina this year in particular. Any platform that cuts against the algorithm is where I'm looking.

Could you talk a bit about Chasing Sundays?

Chasing Sundays is my blog/newsletter where I post most of my writing these days. Every Friday, I publish a column called Chasing Fridays that includes a mix of album/song reviews, live reports, trend-watchy essays, and then a Q&A with an artist I'm into. Sometimes, I write standalone essays or other longform interviews, the most "famous" one being my Q&A with Whirr guitarist Nick Bassett. My goal with the site is to cover a wide range of music and write with a strong voice, whether I love or hate something. I think good music criticism requires a strong perspective, and I do my best to provide that at a time when music journalism is more boring and sycophantic than ever. 

You have played a big part in the discourse around the ongoing shoegaze renaissance. Where is the genre heading? 

I've been thinking about that a lot lately as the "shoegaze revival" seems to be dying down in some ways (bands starting to pivot from shoegaze, fans beginning to feel the exhaustion of shoegaze overload) and ramping up in others (MBV coming back, giant festivals like Slide Away taking place, and so much amazing shoegaze still coming out). What I've wanted more than anything from this "renaissance" is for the genre to develop its own generational identity, and I think we've seen that over the last couple years in so many ways. 

In the next year or two, as artists begin shifting from traditional shoegaze and/or using shoegaze as a springboard to explore other sounds, I think we're going to continue hearing lots more shoegaze-ish music, which is where there's ample potential for radical sounds. After shoegaze's initial wave in the early 90s, the immediate "post-shoegaze" years gave way to bands like Bowery Electric, Seefeel, Swirlies, and Starflyer 59—some of the best bands in shoegaze history. I'm so curious to see what the 2020s version of that evolution will sound like, and I think we're going to find out soon enough. 

Is there a release on your Nina hub that is particularly close to your heart?

I think ear's The Most Dear and the Future is one of the most invigorating albums I've heard in a long time. Everything that band is doing is so strange and refreshing, and getting into them earlier this year helped open me up to a whole world of emerging internet music that's going to reshape the "indie" landscape in a big way over the next couple years. I love listening to ear, but I almost have more fun thinking about them, and their music has inspired a lot of writing and discovery that has been so rewarding for me to take part in. Shoutout Nina contributor Madeline Frino for putting me onto ear before anyone in my orbit knew who they were. 

What is exciting you the most about music in 2025?

Genre barriers are gone. Rap, electronic, indie, off-kilter pop, screamo—all of these previously separate scenes and sounds are blurring together in a really organic and creative way right now, both in terms of mixed bill shows (see: And Always Forever fest 2025) and through hybrid "genres" like cloud-rock and laptop twee. Music from the 2000s is being reinterpreted in a really modern way across the board right now (metalcore, electroclash, twee) and it's really interesting to hear someone who was wearing diapers in 2005 try to put their own spin on a sound from that era, but through the reference points that they've picked up in the 2020s. The tagline for Chasing Sundays is "tap in or die." That's how it feels to be a music fan right now: life or death, wither or thrive. I'm livin'.