NEON PILGRIM
1. Welcome to All the Cores and More! Before we get into your music, would you please introduce yourself to the readers and give them a brief overview of your work in television?
Yes, I am a writer / producer for television and run a company with my brother Jack called Two Brothers Pictures; we’ve made shows like The Missing, Liar, Fleabag, The Assassin, The Tourist and some more…
2. Have you found any parallels between writing for the screen and writing music? What is your process like for each?
Completely different process-wise, but then also similar journeys. Like anything there are periods of difficulty and self doubt, especially when trying to find the core of the thing you’re making. Ultimately you’re trying to connect to people and share a feeling with them in both things.
3. When did the love affair with music start, and who were the artists that were foundational for you/most influential?
It started young with my dad playing Bob Dylan in the car. Bob Marley and The Beatles and who could resist any of them. All the ‘B’s. Then my teens full of grunge and Britpop and has continued ever since.
4. When did you start writing music, and what, at this point in your life, made you want to pursue music on a professional level?
Started writing around the age of 11 or 12 - I think for my 12th birthday present I got a day in a recording studio to lay down some (high pitched) tracks I’d written.
5. Your debut record is called Invisible Things. What was it like working with multi-time Grammy nominee and Grammy Award-winning producer Dom Morley (Morrissey, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Shakira, The Verve, Sting, Dionne Warwick, and many more)?
It was incredible, an utter joy from beginning to end. He really steered the shape of it all, found the musicians and the sound. Some of the songs I’d lived with for a while and had become stale maybe but he brought them back to life.
6. Talk to us about your vision for the record and how it came together in terms of personnel, fine-tuning tracks in the studio, and so on.
Came on a song by song basis really and Dom had the vision for the sound. For me it was trying to get a hold of the essence of each track and bring out a feeling. Some took a while and some left and right turns but ultimately they ended up where they needed to be.
7. What themes and topics does the album explore, and what sonic influences would you say most informed it?
It covers a load of significant parts of life - young love, fertility, innocence, fallouts, fall-ins and the rest.
8. Talk to us about the significance of the cover art and how that ties in to the record’s contents.
It’s an image you’d find in a child’s imagination. They sometimes say when they grow up they want to be an astronaut. And then they stop saying that. I’m trying to find those invisible things we look for as adults. Those things we can see in the emotions we experience every day.
9. Neon Pilgrim—where does the name come from?
I needed a name that wasn’t my name as that felt a little self regarding… also it’s a pretty bland name. Me and my brother recently wrote a movie called Neon Pilgrims and I thought it’d make a decent enough name for this.
10. A promoter with unlimited funds and artist access is putting together a one-night-only show with you on the bill. You get to choose the other four artists you’ll be sharing the stage with. Who are you picking?
Taylor Swift (because she’ll bring the crowds)
Velvet Limb
War on Drugs
Ben Kweller
11. Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions! Any shout-outs, plugs, or last words for the readers?
All good! Thanks so much.