Nero Turn Their EDM Hobby Into a Job, Develop Into a Band With Alana Watson
- Posted on Apr 12th 2012 5:00PM by Kia Makarechi
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Facebook.com/NeroUK
You've said that you started producing together because you were going to Fabric and other clubs and decided to get into the music you were partying to. Now that making music is the full-time gig, what other hobbies do you each find yourself interested in?
Good question. It's weird when a hobby becomes a job. We've found it really important to try to get the same enjoyment we used to when we started making music, just messing around in our free time with no big plans. Anyway, I love cinema, old and new art-house films. I'm trying to get back into reading. I just bought a Kindle. Hopefully that'll help.
Your Calvin Harris remix was one of the biggest of the year. How do you see the balance between remixes and original releases? Is there any artist who you'd especially like to remix?
For a while, we became known as remix artists, which is something we had to shake off by not doing any for ages. To be honest, we like doing both. Remixes are fun because there's less pressure on them and it's cool to start with someone else's original parts. We've remixed a lot of the people we set out to. Maybe Justice would be a good one to do.
Incorporating vocalist Alana Watson into your live shows proved to be a great decision. From her involvement to the dubstep symphony, you've managed to branch out a little bit from the traditional DJ/producer show. Do you have any upcoming collaborations that continue this vein?
Alana's definitely become a part of Nero. We don't really consider working with her as "collaborating" -- it's got more of a band feel now. No upcoming collaborations as such, just concentrating on getting some new material together.
Your dubstep tracks are steeped in vocals and/or melodies. Is this because your primary influences, growing up, were rock groups?
Yeah, I think so, and the dance music we liked was often the stuff that incorporated vocals and was slightly song-based, from Un-Cut's "Midnight" to Daft Punk, "Digital Love."
In the wake of harder and harder dubstep releases, do you feel a responsibility to keep focusing your music in cohesive melodies, as opposed to more uproarious break sounds?
Yeah, it's definitely our thing to try and make people dance and "feel" through melody, song structure and so on rather than trying to get the hardest bass sounds, as pretentious as that might sound.
Aside from making people want to dance, what are the primary sentiments you want your music to inspire in the listener? Does having those emotions in mind play a part in the planning and production of your live shows, or is the live show an experience that's distinct from that of fans listening to your music at work or home?
The same sentiments non-dance music aims to inspire, really everything! In tunes like "Guilt" and "Innocence," there's a kind of euphoric rave vibe that we felt when we were first going clubbing that those tunes try to emulate. The live show is to us kind of trying to bridge the gap between the cinematic visual elements in our music and the dance floor. We want it to be a journey.
You've said that in putting together the Welcome Reality album, you had to refine the number of songs. Will that unreleased material see the light of day?
Probably not! The tunes that didn't make it we still worked loads on and it's hard to go back to them and start again.
How do you like playing the States? Has the crowd matured in its appreciation for your music?
We love playing in the States. There's definitely a real excitement towards EDM over here. We definitely felt that the audience knew most of our tunes and really appreciated the musical elements, not just the rave.
What was a huge memory from the past summer tour season, and what's your biggest resolution for 2012, musically and non-musically?
Loads of memories, Glastonbury and Global in the UK, loads of DJ gigs and then a live tour over here in the states as well. Resolutions, umm, to make sure we still write new material and not get lazy!
- Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Exclusive, RPM, Q + A
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