Neon Choir interview

Amy Sutton talks to eGigs on Tue 8th Feb 2011

Neon Choir are everything except a choir: The Four piece hailing from London takes every genre and mixes it all together creating their own individual sound. eGigs caught up with them earlier this week:

Many People won't have heard of Neon Choir, so could you tell us how you formed and who is in the band?
First of all, hello there, and thanks for inviting us to talk to you.

Neon Choir are from London; a four-piece band comprised of myself, Amy Sutton, Matthew Moult and Catherine Pate. You happen to have caught us in the middle of auditioning new bassists so the regular fourth member is to be announced soon!

Matthew and I have been playing together for eight years now, first as an acoustic duo, and with different back-lines as different bands. Neon Choir was formed officially when our last drummer Adam Stanley (now in The Mariana Hollow) joined us in 2007, and we are now blessed to work with Catherine Pate on drums. She's a phenomenal addition to the band.

How would you describe your musical genre? [Especially as the Animal EP has different genres on it]
A reviewer once coined us "Indie-rock folk-tronica". I think that sums up the range of sounds and influences we bring to the music. Essentially we play whatever we like, having always admired bands that play a diverse range of styles above a one-liner genre. What holds our sound together coherently are the emotional themes, and my voice which is fairly distinctive.

The 'Animal' EP was released in August 2010 and is quite diverse ranging from slower paced rock songs to upbeat electronic tunes: Which track is your favourite off the EP and why?
Ice Cream Float. It's a highly personal track to me, and embodies everything the band is about; melancholy, nostalgia, innocence, passion and catchy, interestingly composed songwriting. If I may say so myself.

Why did you decide to release the 'Animal' EP, especially after releasing another EP previously, 'To Build and Fall Apart'?
We are continuously producing new music. At the level we are working it's better to roll out smaller packages more frequently to keep exposure up. That said, To Build And Fall Apart and Animal are 5 and 6 track mini-albums respectively which aren't shy products.

You seem to be well known in the London area after appearing at venues such as The Garage, Islington Academy and The Scala: Is there any intention to play further a field than London?
Thank-you, yes our fanbase is growing ever more supportive which is obviously great news and makes for better and better atmosphere at shows. But hey, we are still an unsigned act and we have a lot of hard work ahead of us. We played in Dublin, Bristol, Cambridge and Amsterdam last year, and are currently booking for summer 2011. If you're running a live music venue in the UK and Europe, and fancy some Neon Choir on your stage then get in touch!

Can we expect an album from Neon Choir any time in the future?
Sure! We are intending our next release to be album length and already have a substantial amount of material in the writing stages. With the expanding team of people we have working with us now it's very exciting times for Neon Choir.

Are you excited about being on the line-up for GOGO Festival in June?
Absofrigginlutely. It was really exciting to be a part of the festival last year and we are very pleased to have been invited back. Get your tickets booked people, GOGO festival is the next big thing.

Who are you looking forward to seeing at the festival and what do you expect to gain from your festival experience?
Completely looking forward to sharing the stage on Saturday with Uh Huh Her. To play with artists you genuinely admire as fans is always exciting; humbling and simultaneously elevating.

It's going to be great exposure for Neon Choir. There are also a number of our friends in the music industry already billed, like Heads Hearts and Miri, that I admire and support. GOGO is providing a platform for acts that would not necessarily find themselves sharing stages elsewhere, and I'm just itching to party with them, meet new inspiring artists and all the fans and friends.

Who would you say has been inspirational in shaping the Neon Choir sound and why?
Love. Memory. Desire. Hope. An existential curiosity about the chemical composition of human emotions.

I think we're all inspired by quite different musical reference points, though we do like a lot of the same bands. Each of us brings something that matters to us individually. I personally love packages of art or creativity that are constructed with concept and purpose. It's about telling stories. Pragmatically we are certainly inspired by the passions and drives within each other, and other bands and artists we're friends with.

What can we expect from Neon Choir in 2011?
Smacking new tunes. As always, some pumping, some mournful. We are working with some new instrumentation, new songwriting styles and a new bass player! I'm really, really excited to get the new tunes on stage, and even more so to hear them recorded. We are also working with fresh artists and photographers, and we'd like to get a music video together, so if you are a filmmaker and up for it, get in touch with us!


You can catch Neon Choir and a whole host of other acts at GOGO Festival on the 17-20 June 2011 at Headcorn Aerodrome in Kent with a whole host of other amazing acts including Uh HUH HER, Jill Jackson and Heather Peace - www.gogfestival.com. For more on Neon Choir, click here.

article by: Michelle Owen-Williams

published: 08/02/2011 11:08



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