Neon Waltz are finally ready to hit the road for the first time in two years.
They are also mixing their new album, though fans at Dundee’s Beat Generator this Saturday will have to wait longer to hear more than the two or three fresh songs the four-piece guitar band from Caithness are ready to preview.
From his parents’ home near Wick, frontman Jordan Shearer explains this handful of dates provide a belated opportunity to bid farewell to the first phase of his band’s career, especially as they haven’t played live for so long.
“We don’t want to put too much new stuff in, because this tour’s come at a weird time. We see it as a full stop to the first-album period of the band.
“Once this tour is over we can put 100 per cent focus on our next album. By the time we tour again, you’ll be hearing a lot more of it.”
Over the years, Neon Waltz have learned the benefits of patience.
Formed by schoolmates at Wick High School, the band were quickly snapped up by Oasis’s former management.
They signed to a major label in 2014, but left to retain control of their output, eventually releasing debut album Strange Hymns three years later.
The past year especially has seen a lot of growing up for the quartet, something Jordan believes will be reflected in recent lyrics, for the which his bandmates chip in.
“Our minds were self-critical during lockdown,” Jordan explains. “The other boys maybe less so, but it’s been a mad year. A lot has changed since our last gig.”
Jordan and his partner welcomed their first child, a son, in January 2020, while guitarist Kevin Swanson and drummer Darren Coghill also became dads during the same period (Kev’s guitarist brother Jamie is the fourth member).
“[Fatherhood] put me in a weird headspace – I was a bit all over the place,” the singer admits. “But I wrote some ‘kid’ songs from that period, so I wouldn’t take any of it back.”
Now based in Edinburgh, Jordan is back home filming the Northern Lights arts festival. The subject he studied at university has provided a handy source of income when life in a band is no longer a shortcut to riches.
“Some people up here kinda assume we’re like minted because we’ve had a decent amount of success.
“They see that we’ve supported Noel Gallagher or whatever, but that’s not how it works at all. It’s probably be the most expensive hobby I’ve had being in this band,” he laughs.
Covering Kyle Falconer in paint
Jordan also directed the eye-catching promo for Kyle Falconer’s 2019 single ‘Kelly’, covering the former The View frontman in paint and immersing him in a bath, a project the filmmaker remembers fondly.
“We first met properly the night before the shoot and he was just an energy ball of ideas, so that was an experience; but he’s a great guy.”
Now, though, it is back to his own band, with lockdowns allowing Neon Waltz to focus on new material.
“The pandemic has probably been beneficial to us in some ways because we really needed to crack on with album number two and it forced our hand a bit to stay in the house and write.”
The band recorded last month in Freswick Castle, the building owned by the father of a school friend that has long been their refuge and a place to rehearse and record demos.
“It’s been an absolute godsend to us. We tried different studios and stuff and nothing ever feels as home as when we’re in Freswick Castle.”
Rightly or wrongly, Jordan suspects fans want to hear material they already know, hardly a problem given the response to numbers such as their anthem ‘Dreamers’, with its refrain “You should do what you love while you can.”
“It’s a bit of a chore to rehearse, but then when you play it live… We had someone in tears once because they said afterwards she had just recovered from what she thought was terminal cancer and that song meant so much to her.
“I’m buzzing for it. It’s just been so long, you know?”
Neon Waltz play Beat Generator Live! Saturday, October 23.
