1 April 2024
Every Monday I will be bringing you an interview with an independent band, duo or music artist. This week, I caught up with Cambridge band IONA SKY to find out more…
Who is in the band, how did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the name?
We are an indie pop-rock band based in Cambridge, UK. We’re originally from all over – Anna-Sophia is from Kansas in the US, James and Matt are from England, Simon is from Wales, and Scott is from Scotland! James and Simon were in an indie band based out of Cambridge but found Anna-Sophia online doing her EDM work. She posted that she wanted to join an indie band; to be the ‘yin to our yang’ she said. We had one rehearsal and we knew it was going to be magic! Everything clicked. Iona Sky is a name Anna came up with. She fell in love with the name Iona (and James used to live in Scotland and has been there!).
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
Everyone always says it’s very varied, and of course it is. But we do have some bands in common that we love – past and present. Stuff we listened to growing up – we all listened to bands from decades before like the Beatles, Abba, Fleetwood Mac, BritPop indie, as well as the current bands of the time. Right now we’re listening to a lot of FIZZ, Pheobe Go, Wolf Alice, Declan McKenna, Billie Eilish, Sam Fender, and the Last Dinner Party.
How would you describe your sound?
Incredible, please like and subscribe. A more nuanced answer would be it’s a combination of strong melody and guitar hooks with lyrics that tell a story. We spend as much time writing and crafting lyrics as we do the music itself.
What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
Our new EP is called ‘Homeschooled’ which feature 5 tracks. The theme is really ‘self learning and growth’ and the songs touch on that in different ways. For example, Never Be the Same Again is about being exposed to toxic conversations, Savior is about learning to break free from being a constant fixer for everyone else, and Locked the Door is about the brutal end of a relationship and what it teaches us. Anna-Sophia was homeschooled until she was a teen too, so it made sense to give that name to the EP!
What’s your local music scene like?
Cambridgeshire has really grown in the last few years. There’s a number of good music venues put on live music most nights of the week and there are a growing number of reputable bands peforming in the region. It’s not the biggest city so it’s always a surprise how much talent there is out there!
What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
We’re in the middle of our Homeschooled tour right now. We’ve just played a gig in Dublin and are playing London in April, as well as Brighton and Newcastle. We are in discussions at the moment about doing a tour much further away than the UK… but we’re not allowed to talk about that just yet! We’ll be going back into the studio in May to record our next two singles ready for summer release! And we are playing a few festivals across the summer. So lots!
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Lots and lots of people. James is a huge Declan McKenna fan and reckons he has songs Declan would love (he and Anna-Sophia went to see him play a couple of weeks back)! We’re fans of FIZZ and love their harmonies. We’d love a duet with Foo Fighters!
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
Most have gone to plan so far, though we did have a gig where we experimented with a backing track to add some the keys in that we don’t play live (not enough hands). Sounded great in soundcheck but come the live performance it came in about 50 times louder than it should and nearly killed us all. Then, during the next song James’ guitar string snapped and went out of tune and the vocal monitor was broken. We managed to keep it together though!
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
Anna-Sophia once convinced us she was related to Donald Trump so tempted to say that Anna-Sophia is an incredible storyteller (she is not related to him whatsoever). The main thing is that we are gigging all over the UK and Ireland so if you really want to see us let us know! We’re trying to reach as many places as possible as we love meeting up with fans of the music.
You can find out more about IONA SKY on their website or via Apple Music, Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, TikTok or YouTube.
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