Neon Fields discuss their evolution as a band

By Dom Smith
By December 3, 2022 Features, Interviews, News

S] How are you doing today?

N] Well thanks. We have some exciting gigs coming up including the Amersham Arms in London and we’ve recently been confirmed on the bills of some great festivals next year. We’re also working on developing some new material which we all enjoy doing. So, all in all, we’re in a good place, we’ve enjoyed this year and we’re excited about what’s to come in 2023.

S] I love the visuals for your work – how much emphasis do you put on that aspect of the band?

Thank you. It is really important to us to incorporate visuals and themes into our brand. We have been lucky enough to work with some excellent artists and have tried to ensure that any material we’ve put out there is coupled with something that is representative of the themes we are trying to portray, whilst ensuring there is enough ambiguity so people can draw their conclusions on narrative. This is an aspect of our style that has been important for us to maintain.

S] How pleased were you with the reception to ‘Light Them Up’?

Light Them Up represents many landmarks for us. It was the first song we completed together and our first release, it was the first music video we did and it continues to be a fan favourite. The reception has been incredible. We met one another shortly before the lockdowns so most of the songs on the first album including Light Them Up were created and developed remotely, so it’s fitting that this song appears to appeal to people all over the world. People that we have engaged with and are willing to support us in this early and crucial time in our career.

S] What about your self-titled record as a whole?

The feedback we’ve had on the first album has been amazing. People have been very forthcoming in telling us how much they enjoyed it as a complete piece of work. Releasing an entire album that is varied, made a statement about who we are and is cohesive in that it could be viewed as a single body of work was something we were incredibly dedicated to achieving and were unable to ascertain before it was out there and couldn’t be changed. Fortunately, I think we did achieve that and we are very proud of our first release.

S] How do you define success as artists?

The answer to this question is very multi-faceted. We’ve been lucky enough to hear stories from fans who said that our music has helped them with aspects of their mental health or has inspired them to write their own music, which is extremely humbling and a great metric of success. All three of us love music and love finding new music, so it is important for us to feel as though we are positively contributing to what we feel is a very saturated environment, with something unique.

S] What about legacy?

As I eluded to in the previous answer, contributing to music as a whole with something that we hope is unique and meaningful is a huge priority for us but I would say that inspiring others as we have been inspired is a legacy we would be proud to leave.

S] What inspires you outside of music – think specific people, and places if you can?

There is quite a lot outside of music that inspires us. The themes of the first album focused on human emotions in times of discontent and above all perspective. This was something that fascinated us and the first album gave us a great platform to explore these concepts and tell stories. Speaking for myself for a moment, I am a huge sci-fi fan and enjoy sci-fi literature and films and I constantly find myself inspired by some of my favourite books and films including Dune, Frank Herbert’s original novel and Denis Villeneuve’s outstanding interpretation released in 2021, Blade Runner, and Aliens just to name a few. I also love the music that accompanies these films.

S] What are some wise words that stick with you?

I was always really encouraged with my music having started playing instruments and writing at a young age but someone once told me that no matter what you do, as long as your try to do it well then it can’t be waste of time. This is something that has always stuck with me and is an excellent motivator when it comes to writing music, even if people aren’t listening to it yet.

S] Is there anything you’d like to add?

Thank you so much for your interest and time. I hope that all made at least some sense and all the best for 2023.

S] Thanks for your time!

Thank you!