NOVO AMOR // INTERVIEW

Novo Amor has the extraordinary melodic ability to create music which draws on interesting inspirations to captivate the listener with wonderful melancholic instrumentals mixed alongside delicately crafted vocal techniques and beautifully collated lyrics. Latest release 'Carry You' comes in the wake and features on brand new EP 'Bathing Beach' out May 26th. Each music video tells a captivating cinematic story which is excellently shot.

I recently did an interview with Novo Amor prior to the release and this is what he had to say.

You tell some lovely stories within you’re music with strong imagery. The gorgeous melancholic instrumentals really heighten this too, Where do you’re musical influences stem from?

Thanks! I think it varies from song to song, lyrically the songs will usually be inspired by personal events or places.

I think a lot of different artists inspire different aspects of my music. The way that Keaton Henson bends his guitar strings as though he’s stressfully trying to pull the note out of the guitar has definitely inspired some of my guitar work. The finger picking styles and slide guitar of classic american folk artists, as well as more modern players such as Sufjan Stevens and The Tallest Man on Earth, have also played a big part in this. I found my love of playing through rock music, the heaviness and intensity of this style really stuck to me. I think some of this comes across in my music, mainly in the crescendos and distorted guitars, which I love.

You’re writing influences flow through the countryside and rural imagery of each track, is there a particular place where you like to write most, that inspires your creativity?

I grew up deep in the countryside of Wales, i’m not sure if this has inspired my use of natural sounds or acoustic instruments, maybe? There is a particular place though, ‘Woodgate, NY’, which I see as the birthplace of Novo Amor. My music was created by this milieu and still inspires me in hindsight, It’s romantic to me. This EP and my last EP ‘Woodgate, NY’ are, in a sense, a musical forgery of this place, both reflecting different views

You’re music videos are incredibly picturesque and beautifully shot, do you have visions of how you’d like certain tracks to be portrayed?

I’ve worked closely with Josh Bennett from Cardiff production company Storm+Shelter (http://stormandshelter.com/) on most of my videos, so you can credit them for that… mostly. We both tend to have the same ideas of capturing slow moving beauty and intensity in a video. I have a good idea of how I want the aesthetics of the pieces to feel, but i’m no film-maker.

You’ve played an incredible amount of shows around Europe, how do you find the audiences differ over there than in the UK?

The crowds at all of my shows have been wonderful, though the audiences seem to be a bit more attentive and quite in Europe most of the time. The hospitality of European shows is miles better than that of the UK, the UK could really learn something here! I think that maybe their venues and live music industry, in general, is better set up to accommodate bands. I’ve done few UK shows so I can’t make much of a considered argument on this though.

Have you found visiting these countries and different cultural places have influenced you’re writing and musical influences?

Time in different places is always inspiring. Returning home after time away will always make you look at your home in a different way, you’ll come home with different experiences and knowledge of the world. These sort of things might trigger a change in your life.

While i’m touring I’m too focused on my schedule and being healthy to really enjoy these places though.

You’ve very recently released ‘Carry You’ from you’re forthcoming EP ‘Bathing Beach’ (out May 26th) what have the responses been like for this particular record?

It’s the first compilation of songs that i’ve released since 2014, everything since has just been one-off singles. So it’s great to be able to let people hear more of what I spend my time doing. The reaction has been great!

What is the inspiration behind the song?

See answer 3, pretty much that. Memory is powerful, looking back on a time and how it makes you feel is what the song is, it’s not what the song is about, it’s just what that song is. I feel like that sounds really pretentious!

It’s a kind of wistful nod to a certain period of time.

The artwork is wonderful as well, is it representative of anywhere in particular?

The artwork is photo I took in Woodgate, NY

What has the writing and recording process been like for the EP, has their been any differences from you’re earlier releases?

I spent a lot of time over the past 2 years writing and recording lots of music, which most of it will never get used. I had interest from some major record labels and I feel like this disrupted my writing process and caused me to change the way I was making music. I found that I was trying to cater to what I knew they wanted. I never signed with any of these labels, stepped back and just made the music that I wanted to make.

I’d been making a lot of music with a collaborator of mine, Ed Tullett, so his influence and writing is present on these songs too. Sometimes it’s nice not to do things on my own as I can be very unsure of my ideas.

Can we expect some more releases from you this year and are there some album plans on the horizon?

Yes, more shows, more music!

Watch video for 'Carry You' below