Exposed Vocals Interviews Neonsphere

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

Neonsphere: I grew up in the North East of England near the town of Darlington, I lived on a average council estate with my family, friends and enemies all around me, it made me a very resilient character. At the age of 9 i started to learn the Cello at my school (to be honest i picked this instrument because it was the largest out of all the choices and i liked the only other Cello player at the school and saw this as a way to get to know her, it didn’t work!). Around about the same time an Irish family moved into a house a few doors away from mine and the Father and Son were in a touring club band, I got to know the Son (John) and we became good friends with him. When John found out i was interested in music he invited me to see his Fathers synth collection, Wow, just Wow. We are talking about 1983/4 here folks, Roland Juno 106, Roland Jupiter 8, Yamaha DX7, Tape to Tape Reel recording, A huge Mixing console, PA System a few other smaller synths that i simply can’t remember the name of and all of this was set up in his Fathers small Dining area. John powered the lot up and asked me if i wanted to have a go? Do you think i said no! I fell in love there and then, have never looked back and still get as excited by a new sound as i did back then.:

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

Neonsphere: I have had some very bad band names, I mean really, I won’t put you all though the pain. The idea behind Neonsphere is fairly straight forward, ‘Neon’ largely associated with the 80’s, ‘Sphere’ a never ending cycle. as one word it made it a very easy name to remember and also internet friendly.

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

Neonpshere: I don’t particularly like giving my work away for free (who would?) of course there are exceptions like promotional work but on the whole selling what you create is was funds the venture. Its a really poor state of affairs, the music industry today, there are hundreds of thousands of new artists out there with countless more emerging daily but because of reality TV shows, Pressures from big music corporations to earn big with minimal risks the way in to this industry is harder than ever. The only positive i can see is that the internet has given people like me the opportunity to share their work independently and allows us to have total control of the content, so from an artistic point of view its great, but, and this is a quote i read recently, “Everyone loves your work until they have to pay for it”.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Neonsphere: Be yourself, have a vision and keep it, Play your own stuff and keep pushing it. Playing other peoples stuff live is cool but you have a flow inside of you so let everyone hear it. Become friends with DJ’s, ask nicely and they might play one of your tracks during a set, be there when they do and gauge the reaction of the crowd, its a pure Acid test. Learn to accept rejection, take criticism and don’t rely on Friends and Family for a true answer to the question “Does this sound good to you?”, they won’t want to hurt your feelings but ultimately they will. Look at your local radio station website, see if they have a “NEW ARTIST” forum, submit three tracks and a short Bio and ask them to review your work. You have nothing to lose. Look for local gig guide websites, they usually have someone who writes reviews of bands they go and see, invite them along and get them involved. Charity work, there is no shame in helping out a charity while spreading the word of your tunes. Start small, think big, be realistic and stay true.

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

Neonsphere: I’ve had equipment failures, lighting disasters, forgotten my own lyrics and had things fall off stands, if it can happen it sometimes will so be prepared for that. Backup your music files if you are using digital tech, I was once midway through a set using video synched to music on a screen behind me when the whole thing froze, it literally stopped mis song. My first reaction was one of panic, but i switched into logic mode and worked through it, communicate with the audience while this is happening, they will be feeling just as awkward as you during this time ad its important to show that these things happen and that its no big deal. I finished the set to a good round of applause.

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

Neonsphere: I have never embarked on a tour, i’m sure it would be fun though.

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

Neonsphere: It can happen absolutely anywhere at any time. I can wake up at 3am with a melody in my head and I capture it on my iPhone voice recorder then off back to the land of nod. I get a lot of ideas while driving and listening to the radio or music from my playlist. Things jump out at you and you have to capture it anyway you can because no matter how much you think you’ll remember it later you most probably won’t and then it’ll drive you crazy. I am lucky enough to have a piano at home, when the house it quiet i sit down and just mess about, just play what comes into my head. I record all the ideas on the phone again and when i’m sat in the studio when ideas are thin i refer to these recorded ideas and that usually gets things going. I don’t have a specific songwriting process but i do tend to start with Piano. I have a template set up in my DAW that consists of 1.Paino  2.Drums.  3.Bass. 4. Strings. using those four elements i can get a structure together fairly quickly. The instrumental work i do is different though, for these recordings i work around sounds and textures, I spend a lot of time in the synth settings playing with filters and timings. one piece of advice though, edit everything, Drums, strings, Piano, bass, synths, vocals everything, play with the sound, don’t accept the first things you record as the finished article, go away from it and return the next day or week. Revisit tracks and listen to them to see if they match your original concept, only when you are 100% happy with a track should you post it online.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

Neonsphere: I do have my own website, www.neonsphere.co.uk. I’ve used soundcloud, reverberation, and alonetone but now i have my own site i have everything on there including links to other social media. the site is still growing so have a look.

Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

Neonsphere: Some people might say everything i have on there is embarrassing but I do have a wide taste in music. I have a lot of Kylie Minogue on there (guilty pleasure) but i just scanned through quickly and i found Betty Boo Doin the Doo! its going right now.

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

Neonsphere: I’d buy new kit, upgrade the studio, invest in my music and do my best to make sure i got another half a million the next year. Then have a large holiday with my family.

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

Neonsphere: I’m always changing what i work with, When i started I had a Yamaha YS200, Yamaha SY77, Yamaha DX11, Yamaha MT100, Yamaha RY30, Roland CR80.  I then moved on and sold everything apart from the Yamaha SY77, I then got a Yamaha A3000 and a Yamaha AN1x. I then moved from Darlington area to Leeds and thats when i bought my first PC and started recording onto hard disk. I’ve been using Cubase since the year 2000. In 2004 i got my Sure SM58 Mic,  in 2005 i bought a Roland Fantom XR and my M-Audio Pro Keys 88, in 2007 i got my harman/kardon speakers, I then had a very quiet time in terms of purchases. My recent boosts came in 2014 when i bough my iMac and Roland Quad Capture and 2016 when i bought my sE Electronics sE2200a II Mic, a friend recently gave me a novation nocturn that i have yet to use. I have a Sony minidisk player/recorder that i use with a Sony condenser mic for capturing sounds outside. I also have an AKAI MPKmini for desktop recording (i tend to use this for bass riffs and fast synth riffs due to the small keys and light action). I plan to buy more plugins, the Mac has had a RAM upgrade to 32gb.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

Neonsphere: I use Twitter @neonsphere  Facebook @neonsphere and my own website www.neonsphere.co.uk  in fact any social media site is good, i’m on Instagram (neonsphere) basically just have fun, share and keep sharing. Drop the name into as many posts as you can without becoming a pest. Oh and this interview may help too…

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

Neonsphere: Jean-Michel Jarre on tour. Been a fan since 1986 and he completely changed the way i thought about music, I’ve been lucky enough to meet him and have seen him in Manchester 1993, 1997, 2008, Paris 1995 and will be seeing him once again on 13th October in Leeds UK. The guy is a genius. Air: another french band who i came to know in 1995 while in Paris for the Jarre Concert, I bought Moon Safari and never looked back, I’d really love to work with those two. Jim Morrison: Reading about him, watching him, understanding him really helped me through difficult times in my life, whenever in Paris i go and say hello, it would have been so great to have had the opportunity to have worked with this troubled man. John Lennon: Legend, just astoundingly great, I dare anyone to disagree.

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

Neonsphere: I’m caught at a crossroads right now, I find myself writing both Song’s (lyrically) and also Instrumental tracks, If you visit my website you will hear some music playing on the home screen: This is something i am working on for my next project, I also have a bunch of songs already complete but I want to revisit them with a fresh approach before unleashing them on you all. I have completed remastering all of my back catalogue (some great some, er, not so great) but all done.

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

Neonspher: Rocking uncontrollably in a chair in a corner of a darkened room.

Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

Neonspher: My first Album was bought Christmas 1984 and it was Madonna: Like a Virgin, I loved the overall sound, I still do, synths, raw vocals, youth, energy, oh and she looked hot on the cover.

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

Neonspher: With great difficulty, You need to become a little selfish in order to get projects completed. I have a family and its tough trying to please everyone all of the time. In short you can’t. Sacrifices have to be made but please remember this is nothing else: ( and this applies to me too): when the music fades and your looking back on your life one thing will matter the most: Love and the love of your family so treat them with respect.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in the next year or so?

Neonspher: one if not two albums, an instrumental studio album and some new songs. More interviews and hopefully some live work.