It's not often we have a band from Caithness pay us a visit in the studio for a LIVE session... in fact this could be the first time! Neon Waltz are a 6-piece outfit fusing psychedelic and indie influences into their pastoral, widescreen sonic palette. They came to my attention earlier this year with the slow-building, atmospheric 'Sombre Fayre', a demo they popped online and emailed to me. It piqued my interest, I duly gave it a spin on air... but I wanted more. With a 7" vinyl single and download of 'Bare Wood Isles' made available, and wonderful performance of 'Sundial' at Freswick Castle, they are drip-feeding their fans and developing a grass-roots following for people looking outside of the current, electro-pop zeitgeist. Having seen the group 3 times across the UK in disparate locations such as Brighton, Edinburgh and Inverness, I can attest for their stage-craft and LIVE intensity as well.
The time was right for a Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Introducing session, so we invited the guys in. They'd been gigging loads and will soon head out on tour of England in December. So before they headed back up north to bury themselves in the rehearsal room for a month to continue writing for their debut album, we managed to secure the date, the studio and the cameras - it was a green light and GO. Young, focused and eager to do things right, the band arrived on time, chatted away with me, had a photo taken and then sound-checked away in the studio until they and our expert engineers were all happy. As you can see and hear, the results were excellent... They performed the aforementioned 'Bare Wood Isles' first, then a brand new tune 'Behind them all', getting its debut radio exclusive, finishing with a splendid cover of 'Last Living Rose' by PJ Harvey.
It's great to see a band hide away from the crowd, the hipsters, the industry and taste-makers to make their own music on their own terms. Neon Waltz are in no rush to convince or convert the public, but on a mission to do their own thing - quite right too. They're young guys with a shed-load of talent and ambition, and if the future is indeed bright, it might well be neon.
Listen back to the session and find out more about the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Scotland Sessions .