Why The Neighbourhood Youth Are Adamant About Their Studio Time

When The Neighbourhood Youth hit the studio for their sophomore EP, it required a total shake-up to get the new songs together. "I think we were just enjoying changing our sound," singer and guitarist John Philip muses. "We used to make sure everything was gridded perfectly, and we'd do 1,000 takes to make sure there weren't any mistakes. But we're making music that's more dynamic and lively now, and the imperfections tend to just add character to the songs, so we leave them in."

The self-titled EP, which The Music streamed exclusively earlier this year, tracks an important evolution in the band's sound. Take, for example, the track Atlantic, which according to Philip "displays a lot more maturity in our songwriting and our recording style. It's much grittier, but still musically interesting and I think the song builds well throughout".

It's no surprise that the EP spans new ground for TNY, considering "some of these songs are up to two years old because the EP was recorded over a two-year period". Philip states, "We don't really have the capacity to spend three weeks straight recording, which is why it took a long time to finish this EP." Thanks, as well, can go to the band's rigorous gigging schedule, as Philip claims, "If we play a song a lot live without booting it then it's probably going on the next record."

With new music always on the way, TNY are ready for whatever recording woes may come up. "We book studio time in and whether it's working or not we have to do something. So far we've been lucky in the sense that we end up happy with the recordings in the end."