"Pay close attention, things are moving forward fast....."
They are from pluto and they make synth populated music toons to mess with your noodle. Actually I'm lying, well they are lying, they are from the Midlands (the best part of England) and they are named Newislands. If you enjoy a spacey atmosphere with your brain and some easy going lyricism then these guys are your thing, and came up with an island called Raifetown - take from it what you will and try and Google search it, it doesn't exist. 'Out Of Time' is a great little song and is worthy of a listen whilst reading this interview with them.
Altsounds: Your music is very spacey and outlandish, do you find you get lost in your own little worlds when you play your music? Or are you completely focused?
NI: Its mixture of both really, we are focused on getting lost in our own world. We get a buzz from coming up with new ideas, and with every song we get lost in the creation of it, bouncing ideas off each other until we've created something we're proud of.
Altsounds: Creatively you seem to gel with each other, do you make your own music separately and bring it to the band? Or just sit down and write it all together?
NI: The writing process is predominantly David and Luke working together from a simple keyboard melody, and then building on that. At the core of everything we do we always make sure there is a strong melody, and then we use sounds and beats to build the song into a NewIslands track.
Altsounds: Your Myspace location says the Midlands, where abouts? I'm a fella Midland chap myself, we are discriminated against and always lumped into Northener, or Southerner, it sucks right?
NI: Well, we're actually from Pluto, soooo...
Altsounds: That is an impressive shirt you are wearing there on one of your Myspace pics, you shop at Oxfam?
NI: Yeah, second hands stores and markets too. Beyond Retro lend us the shirts in the pics.
Altsounds: Would you call yourselves an un-fashionable Synth band?
NI: Un-fashionable band if you like, but we're not limited to synth pop music.
Altsounds: Why can you not describe yourselves in 10 words?
NI: Succinctness is an art form we are yet to master.
Altsounds: So 'Out Of Time' has been released alongside seven remixes, which do you feel is your favourite remix track on the release? Go on, be honest...
NI: The Breton remixes are great because they use really masterful studio techniques, and we generally love a bit of that.
Altsounds: Why did you decide to release so many?
NI: We really liked all of the remixes we got in, and wanted to get them all out there.
Altsounds: If you could have a remix by one of your hero's - who would that be and why?
NI: We'd love Tiesto to do a massive remix for us, thats when we will know we have made it.
Altsounds: Number ten in the Amazon chart huh?
NI: Actually we peaked at Number 7. It felt good, it was nice to be one above Kings Of Leon, and one below the Glee Soundtrack, those Glee folk are doing mighty well aren't they!
Altsounds: The video for 'Out Of Time' is very simplistic, did you guys have any input into the production of that?
NI: We did the video with Roman Rappak from Breton atBRETONlabs where they live, record and film most of their work. We built up a strong working relationship with him. The filming took an afternoon, but it was the editing that really made the difference and took time to get right. The final product is a combination of ideas from our side and his, He did a great job at realising them.
Altsounds: So "how does it feel to be in love with someone you can't touch"?
NI: Pretty painful I imagine. Its like being in love with your hot cousin.
Altsounds: If you could create a New Island, what would you call it and who would live on it?
NI: It would be called Raifetown, and only genuinely nice people would be able to live on it.
Altsounds: Anything else you would like to say to your fans and readers of Altsounds.com? You can put pretty much anything here ....
NI: Pay close attention, things are moving forward fast.....
Altsounds: Your music is very spacey and outlandish, do you find you get lost in your own little worlds when you play your music? Or are you completely focused?
NI: Its mixture of both really, we are focused on getting lost in our own world. We get a buzz from coming up with new ideas, and with every song we get lost in the creation of it, bouncing ideas off each other until we've created something we're proud of.
Altsounds: Creatively you seem to gel with each other, do you make your own music separately and bring it to the band? Or just sit down and write it all together?
NI: The writing process is predominantly David and Luke working together from a simple keyboard melody, and then building on that. At the core of everything we do we always make sure there is a strong melody, and then we use sounds and beats to build the song into a NewIslands track.
Altsounds: Your Myspace location says the Midlands, where abouts? I'm a fella Midland chap myself, we are discriminated against and always lumped into Northener, or Southerner, it sucks right?
NI: Well, we're actually from Pluto, soooo...
Altsounds: That is an impressive shirt you are wearing there on one of your Myspace pics, you shop at Oxfam?
NI: Yeah, second hands stores and markets too. Beyond Retro lend us the shirts in the pics.
Altsounds: Would you call yourselves an un-fashionable Synth band?
NI: Un-fashionable band if you like, but we're not limited to synth pop music.
Altsounds: Why can you not describe yourselves in 10 words?
NI: Succinctness is an art form we are yet to master.
Altsounds: So 'Out Of Time' has been released alongside seven remixes, which do you feel is your favourite remix track on the release? Go on, be honest...
NI: The Breton remixes are great because they use really masterful studio techniques, and we generally love a bit of that.
Altsounds: Why did you decide to release so many?
NI: We really liked all of the remixes we got in, and wanted to get them all out there.
Altsounds: If you could have a remix by one of your hero's - who would that be and why?
NI: We'd love Tiesto to do a massive remix for us, thats when we will know we have made it.
Altsounds: Number ten in the Amazon chart huh?
NI: Actually we peaked at Number 7. It felt good, it was nice to be one above Kings Of Leon, and one below the Glee Soundtrack, those Glee folk are doing mighty well aren't they!
Altsounds: The video for 'Out Of Time' is very simplistic, did you guys have any input into the production of that?
NI: We did the video with Roman Rappak from Breton atBRETONlabs where they live, record and film most of their work. We built up a strong working relationship with him. The filming took an afternoon, but it was the editing that really made the difference and took time to get right. The final product is a combination of ideas from our side and his, He did a great job at realising them.
Altsounds: So "how does it feel to be in love with someone you can't touch"?
NI: Pretty painful I imagine. Its like being in love with your hot cousin.
Altsounds: If you could create a New Island, what would you call it and who would live on it?
NI: It would be called Raifetown, and only genuinely nice people would be able to live on it.
Altsounds: Anything else you would like to say to your fans and readers of Altsounds.com? You can put pretty much anything here ....
NI: Pay close attention, things are moving forward fast.....
