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Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with unsigned UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with unsigned duo New Arcades to find out more…

Who is in the duo, how did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the name?
We’ve been friends for many years now and are based in Herts/London UK. We met working in the same job together.
We formed New Arcades after being in other music projects prior. We’d decided that we wanted to go in a more 80s infused, electronic direction.
The name came from wanting something which identified with nostalgia but also was quite current. Also it looks great written down 🙂

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
Growing up was a mixture of all sorts of genres.
Initially it was primarily rock/indie and more recently it is much more varied (from all sorts of alt pop, electronic music and film scores).
Bands such as Jimmy Eat world, Taking Back Sunday, Sigur Ros, Brand New, U2, The Cure all played a part when when growing up.
Now it’s anything new that really catches our attention.
We’ve got our own playlist so that’s an indication of ‘current listening’.

How would you describe your sound?
Like a John Hughes film from the 80’s crossed with Blade Runner and current melodic indie-pop.
We’ve got a mixture of upbeat vocal tracks which contrast with some of our other more filmic instrumentals which sound a lot darker and more fitting for a soundtrack.

What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
Excuses is our latest single.
It’s an 80’s flavoured indie electronic track, juxtaposing layered, sparkling synths and Rhodes pianos with melancholic lyrics about anxiety, self doubt and regret.
On this track we have experimented with different percussion elements as well as taking a different approach with the production process by stripping a lot back and allowing the vocals and harmonies to shine.
We’ve been listening to a lot of alt pop and indie pop so wanted to write with a ‘less is more’ feel.

What’s your local music scene like?
The scene we are in right now is more about the overall sound and aesthetic rather than location.
We’ve got friends in the scene from all over – USA, Canada, Australia and all over Europe.
We have played local (in London) but the artists on the bill were from Spain, Canada and Australia.
The fan base is really passionate and support the artists (vinyl, cassette tapes and CDs are still sought after).

What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
We have just collaborated with Moonrunner83, so we’ve featured vocals on their album which came out last week.
We have another single out on Friday November 6th which will also be accompanied by a music video.
Then it’s concentrating on finishing the second album which is hopefully going to be out in the spring of 2021.

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
We are open to collaborating with many artists, always have our ear out for solid ideas to work with others on and maybe we will see some of that soon in the album. Within the genre we have collaborated with many friends already (NINA, Lost Outrider, Dana Jean-Phoenix, Moonrunner83, Timecop1983 and Futurecop). Outside the genre the dream would be ARIZONA, Jack Antonoff of “Bleachers”, and anyone who encompasses and compliments our type of sound.

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
There’s always the standard technical hitch which when we look back at makes us laugh, or when you sing something and you open your mouth and it comes out a little differently. Probably one of the best moments was in a former project though. Our drummer we always told to not have too much to drink preshow (we don’t drink before we perform), he had a little too much as the performance was really late. He broke his kick pedal in the first song by pressing too hard, so we went without the kick drum for our entire set, it’s pretty essential. 😂

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
We love to connect with our fans, new or old, we make time to chat to anyone where we can and will always know that they are the most important part of what we are doing. We love making music and put our heart and soul into it every day on top of everything else. We are always experimenting and pushing things and always open to ideas and collaboration with the right sound and person. We cannot wait to play live again and hope that when it’s possible we can have a big show to celebrate with all our listeners.

You can find out more about New Arcades on their website or via Amazon Music, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, Twitter or YouTube.