The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Neon Waltz take a tour on roads less travelled
While several homegrown acts are keen to take their music to less-visited areas, for Neon Waltz the drive is especially personal.
This anthemic four-piece grew up in John O’groats, so are familiar with being rarely visited by touring bands, plus the effort necessary to catch favourite musicians.
Early years travelling to Edinburgh to see The Cribs and The National or Angel Olsen in Glasgow has inspired the group’s Highlands and islands tour, frontman Jordan Shearer explains from his Edinburgh home.
“Being from Caithness, to see a band we’d have to at least travel to Inverness and, even then, any bands that travelled there were few and far between.
“Seeing a band in their natural habitat is the ideal thing to do and for people that don’t get much chance to see music in their own backyard, it can be quite special.
“It can turn regular fans into super-fans, but if you don’t bring your A-game, then that can turn people off you.”
So this weekend Neon Waltz pitch up in Dunkeld, on a short but expansive run of dates that takes in Kyle of Lochalsh, Inverness and Stornoway.
Jordan admits he is unfamiliar with Perthshire, apart from that regular standby for touring musicians, a service station outside Perth.
“When we’re going down the road, it’s the perfect place to stop and get a Mcdonald’s,” he says.
“I don’t know much else, but I could tell you about every nook and cranny of Broxden roundabout services.”
This tour provides a welcome return for the band forced to postpone a UK tour last year when Jordan lost vision in his right eye, due to a burst blood vessel.
It was a side effect of the singer’s type 1 diabetes, a condition that had until then impacted little on his music-making – and Jordan is determined to carry on.
“It’s all good now, man,” he says. “I had one surgery to fix it but that didn’t work so I got it done again. I’ll have to have reasonable check-ups but, fingers crossed, I should be fine for the foreseeable.”
This was another blow, though, for a band that has struggled through adversity. Second album Honey Now finally came out last September – six years after their debut Strange Hymns.
Having been picked up by the management company that once handled Oasis, the band had already been signed and dropped by a major label before recording that first album.
They were now reduced from a six-piece to four long-established pals – Jordan with brothers Jamie and Kevin Swanson, both guitarists, alongside drummer Darren Coghill.
Disrupted by Covid and starting families, they recorded in a variety of locations, including their rehearsal space at Freswick Castle, near their hometown, and the home studio of a more recent arrival in their region – former Orange Juice leader Edwyn Collins.
Ultimately, Neon Waltz made slow progress thanks to their own laboured decision-making, Jordan admits.
“Recording was a bit all over the place, but there’s four voices in the band that share the same power, so it’s quite hard for us all to agree.”
A brave move, then, to cancel showcases at industry festival South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, last month in protest at the Gaza conflict.
Several acts pulled out when they learned the initiative was linked to the American defence industry and sponsored by the US army, though having just completed UK dates, Neon Waltz failed to explain their decision, Jordan admits.
“The reaction has generally been positive, but some people assumed that we did play,” he says.
“I remember waking up the next morning and a few were saying they were really disappointed we’d done that gig.”
Jordan seems determined to bounce back from yet another setback, though the band take a longer view, the singer claims.
“As long as we believe, we’ll keep doing it,” he says. “Even if we’re not as big as we feel we should be or our fans feel we should be, it’s not really the point for us.
“And if our songs caught on in 20 or 30 years’ time, that would be cool.”
≤ Neon Waltz are at Birnam Arts Centre, Dunkeld, tomorrow.