London, United Kingdom; Friday, 15 May 2020 – Iconic music tastemaker, NME is inviting the world to connect with music’s most influential artists as they perform intimate stripped-down acoustic sets from their own homes, exclusively for NME’s Home Sessions video series.
The new series kicks off with this week’s NME Big Read feature artists, Biffy Clyro. From the music room in his Ayrshire home, decked out with tour souvenirs and a couple of NME Awards on the mantelpiece, frontman Simon Neil treats us to acoustic renditions of ‘Instant History’ and the fan favourite ‘Spanish Radio’ from 2013’s ‘Spanish Radio’.
Holly Bishop, UK Country Director for BandLab Technologies, says “For nearly 70 years, NME has connected artists with fans through the best and (as now) worst of times. As the industry adapts to our new normal, we’re excited to be using our platform to create a closer, authentic connection between artists and fans. There’s no setting more intimate than an artist’s own home, and through stripped back versions of tracks, both old and new, NME Home Sessions will bring fans raw and honest performances from some of the most respected artists in music right now.’
Check back at NME soon for more Home Sessions from music’s biggest and most exciting, rising artists in the coming weeks. Logo, screenshots and images can be found here.
THE BIG READ: FEATURING BIFFY CLYRO
At the same time, NME has released a Big Read and its accompanying digital cover featuring Biffy Clyro. The Scottish trio’s album, ‘A Celebration Of Endings’ should have been released today (Friday, May 15). The band’s ninth album will now arrive in August due to the widespread “turmoil and anxiety” of coronavirus. NME’s Andrew Trendell previewed the album earlier this year and said: “It was another adventurous sonic departure for the mad-cap Scottish trio, but scratch beneath the surface and there’s a fire, a curiosity and a yearning that make it.”
Frontman Simon Neil on his songwriting process:
“I can write a song so quickly these days, but I don’t want to do that. The challenge now isn’t to make a record – the challenge now is having a reason to make a record. If I take a song to Ben and James I want them to say, ‘Are you sure this is worth doing?’ That’s what keeps me excited and motivated – the shock of the new.”
On the upcoming album:
“The album is about hitting your lowest point, where you have to battle and reset your values. And now [coronavirus] has happened – it’s an exaggerated version of what I was talking about because it’s an end to all our realities. So, because nobody has heard the album yet, it’ll probably seem like the record was written during COVID. I know that I’ll sing these songs in a different way once I come out of the other side.”
On “those Tory fuckers” and the “heinous lump of beef” Boris Johnson, the coronavirus crisis and neglect of the National Health Service:
“The NHS should be untouchable now for generations and generations. Make no mistake – Boris was a few months away from selling it off. After he was ill [with coronavirus], he was like, ‘I owe them my life – I can never repay them’. Yes you can, you bastard: you owe them millions. Hopefully he’s a man of his word and does something. We need the NHS more than we need the fucking government.
“We need food, we need our health, we need a roof over our heads – those are the essentials. Key workers are not ‘low-skilled workers’; we need them. I don’t know if it’s to do with me turning 40, but when we come out the other side of this I don’t think I’ll have an awful lot of patience for people who are selfish and fucking self-obsessed. If you don’t know your place in society at the moment as one of many, then you’re probably a psychopath.”
Neil leaves us with a positive thought out of all this and says he’s discovered:
“That we shouldn’t be scared of change. People can adapt to anything.”
See the full Biffy Clyro Big Read interview here, watch the first ever Home Session here and check back at NME.com soon for more Home Sessions from music’s biggest and most exciting, rising artists.
Links and Assets
BIG READ: The piece is live now. If you quote from the article, please attribute the quote to NME with a linkback to this page.
Cover Image: The cover image can be downloaded here.
Cover Photography: Francesca Pieroni Neil
Writer: Andrew Trendell
NME HOME SESSIONS: Logo, screenshots and images can be found here.
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About BandLab Technologies
BandLab Technologies is a collective of music brands with a vision to connect the world of music. The company integrates the physical, digital and social supply chain, to enable better experiences, opportunities, and connections for all music lovers. Established in 2016, the BandLab Technologies portfolio of brands continues to rapidly expand and diversify. The growing media division currently includes the popular titles NME, Uncut, Guitar.com and MusicTech. For more information visit https://bandlabtechnologies.com
BandLab Technologies is a technology company that designs and develops innovative tools and services for the next generation of music creators. With a mission to break down the technical, geographic and creative barriers for musicians and fans, the group develops global social music creation network BandLab, digital audio workstation Cakewalk, artist services platform ReverbNation, and beat marketplace Airbit.
For more information and career opportunities, visit BandLab Careers.
NME Networks is a global, next-generation media group that views pop culture through the lens of music.
The group takes audiences on a lifelong journey, from finding their first guitar via Guitar.com and discovering new artists in NME, to deciphering the latest creator tools and technologies via MusicTech.
For more information and career opportunities, visit nmenetworks.com.
Vista Musical Instruments is an innovative, global collective of music-related brands dedicated to building meaningful products and experiences for the music community. Brands include MONO, Harmony, Teisco, Heritage Guitars, Swee Lee and Dawsons.
For more information and career opportunities, visit vistamusic.com.