Interview with Neon Wolf

Interview with Neon Wolf

Kilkenny band, Neon Wolf are certainly one of the busiest groups in Ireland at the moment. Between organising a mini tour, releasing a new single and playing numerous different festivals, I was surprised they even had the time to chat to me!

But nonetheless, I managed to catch up with band members Rob Grace and Stevie Cullen as we talked all things Neon Wolf-y, in order to give you a better insight into the life of this incredible group.

The band was formed back in 2010 as Joe Glynn, Lee Shanahan, Liam Doyle and of course Rob and Stevie all pooled their musical tastes and knowledge into one project. But with five different inputs, was it difficult to create that perfect sound? 

"Well the first rehearsal when we got together was pretty funny because we weren't really sure what we were doing and we just went for it! But after a while, we all just fell into our new roles and it felt right."

The lads have undoubtedly came up with their own unique style that makes them very different to a lot of other groups within the country, but what exactly is that style? I'll let Rob explain!

"I don't think we can be necessarily pigeon-holed, I don't think we're completely original but I do think we have a unique sound. When the songs were coming together with the last producer we were working with, we were kind of going 'where do we sit?', asking him in order to get an outsider's point of view and he said 'you kind of don't really sit anywhere!' and we were thinking 'Shit is that bad?!' but he told us that the bands that stand out are bands that aren't identical to others and we were happy with that."

And the band's sound certainly hasn't gone unnoticed in the industry as only two weeks ago, they were invited to play on the main stage at one of Ireland's landmark Summer festivals 'Longitude', something that humbled the guys a great deal.

"It was absolutely amazing. It was by far the biggest stage we had ever played on. Like, we were getting our gear all set up to perform and looking around us there was like 20-30 people working around us, which is something we had never experienced before. Also, the stage itself was massive! Sometimes I (Rob) like to jump off the stage if the crowd are into it, but I knew if I tried that at Longitude I would never get back up! But even after we performed it was still so surreal because we were watching Alt J and couldn't believe that we played on that exact stage."

And one of the songs that the guys played at Longitude was their new single 'A Place To Call Home' which was released on the 3rd of July. It was a long road to get the song perfected but the band feel it was worth it in the end.

"The general idea for the song came about roughly around two years ago, the bones of it were there. I mean, we have a bulk of songs that we wanted to record but we were just waiting for the right time. We were taken on by Big Life Management in February and that was really the start of us getting our music out there. Also a single's label in the UK called Killing Moon released the song for us across the water which was amazing because it was the first time we had ever released anything in the UK. And we've had an amazing reaction to it, which we are thrilled about."

Fans will have the chance to hear these songs live in the coming weeks as the band take off on a little mini tour playing at the following venues:

Saturday 1st August - Indiependence Music Festival, Mitchelstown, Co. Cork
Saturday 8th August - Eddie Murphy's, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny
Friday 14th August - Koko, London
More dates TBA.

As you can see from the dates above, Neon Wolf will be returning to their home town to play a gig in Eddie Murphy's in Thomastown, something the guys are truly excited about.

"We only play in Thomastown about once or twice a year but this time it's different because we are playing in the beer garden which is a bigger area and we will have a couple of support acts too, so we are trying to turn it into a cracking night and we really can't wait! The locals at home have been incredible and their support is always 100% so that's why we are looking forward to giving something back!"

So with such a hectic schedule, you would feel the guys would be looking forward to some down time after all the gigs have been completed but when I suggested that, I was almost laughed at by Stevie and Rob! These guys don't want a break!

"Oh God no, we have literally just gotten the first taste of releasing our music and we loved it. We have a couple more tracks to record in the studio as soon as possible over in Manchester and this is all gearing towards our debut album, so hopefully that will be half our album done!" 

So no respite for the lads, but it seems as though they like it that way! They are certainly a group to keep an eye out for.

Twitter @neonwolfmusic
Website www.neonwolfmusic.com
Facebook /neonwolfmusic

EOIN!