We're big fans of The New Union, and there one of a few bands that we've put on that are still going strong! Heck I even put them forwards for the semi-final of the Glastonbury Emerging Talents Competition! Here I chat to James about their early work, their influences and most importantly, what's next for the band!
How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn't heard of you?
After releasing two great singles in 2014, do you have another single in the pipeline?
Will we ever see "It's You" getting a release? It was one of your early tracks and I just have a complete soft spot for it!
If you could cover an artist who would it be and why?
Going on from the question before, who are your influences?
When creating new tunes how do you go about it? Does it start off with a riff/click/beat/lyrics or do you all sit in a room and jam?
What made you pick up the guitar?
If you could curate a gig of your own with an unlimited budget, who would be on the bill?
What bands are you currently listening to?
Last but not least, what are we going to expect from The New Union in the next 12 months?
The New Union are playing at Hackney's Sebright Arms on August 6th to celebrate their new single "Believe In Nothing", you can watch the video for it below!
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How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn't heard of you?
Emotive Pop music with loud instruments.
After releasing two great singles in 2014, do you have another single in the pipeline?
We've been lucky enough to release this single with the backing of a really great label, so we are definitely planning another single later on this year.
Will we ever see "It's You" getting a release? It was one of your early tracks and I just have a complete soft spot for it!
Thank you! It was probably one of the first songs we'd ever written as a band, so will definitely always a favourite of ours. The only reason we stopped playing it is because we felt we couldn't replicate the recording well enough live!
If you could cover an artist who would it be and why?
Personally speaking here, I’d love to cover a really soulful artist, just because I think it would suit Richard’s voice very well. Perhaps Marvin Gaye?
Going on from the question before, who are your influences?
Again, personally speaking , I take a lot of influence from good guitar bands such as Death Cab For Cutie / Local Natives / Bombay Bicycle Club . Richard loves the likes of Elbow / Radiohead / Coldplay. Leo loves lots of contemporary music alongside some rather worrying 90's / 00's metal (make of that what you will) , and Alex loves a lot of American punk bands .
When creating new tunes how do you go about it? Does it start off with a riff/click/beat/lyrics or do you all sit in a room and jam?
Going on from before, because we all have quite varied influences it really helps. Richard will normally bring part of a song to the rehearsal room, and we will spend hours/days/ normally weeks , playing around with different structures and parts. It's a really satisfying way of making music, even if it is time consuming!
What made you pick up the guitar?
When I was about 13 I started really loving Blink 182, and so I bought my friends guitar that he never played for £20, I never looked back!
If you could curate a gig of your own with an unlimited budget, who would be on the bill?
Jackson 5 Marvin Gaye - Bill Withers . We'll take the 7pm opening slot.
What bands are you currently listening to?
At the moment, I'm listening to loads of this guy called Francis Lung, who was previously in a band called Wu Lyf. He's amazing live and very good on record too. Other than that, I recently put about 3 suede albums on my iPod.
Last but not least, what are we going to expect from The New Union in the next 12 months?
Expect more music, more shows and better haircuts.
The New Union are playing at Hackney's Sebright Arms on August 6th to celebrate their new single "Believe In Nothing", you can watch the video for it below!
Follow / [FACEBOOK]
Listen / [SOUNDCLOUD]