Balloon Ascents have been reborn as neverlnd. Thomas Roberts tells Tim Hughes why they changed their image, but not their love of pop

In the past couple of years Oxford indie-pop collective Balloon Ascents have soared, acknowledged as one of the city’s best new bands.

So, with the lads at the top of their game, why have they decided to change their name – and start giving away their music.

Have they gone mad?

As the newly minted, and deliberately misspelt Neverlnd release the first of a series of free monthly tunes online, I asked frontman Thomas Roberts what the big plan is?

“It feels like we’ve always been a band,” says the singer, pianist and guitarist, who fronts the band with Cheney School mates Robin Christensen-Marriott (bass, guitar, French horn, backing vocals), Jonny Vickers (guitar and backing vocals), Henry Soothill (guitar) and Otto Wolf (drums and backing vocals).

“We’ve dipped in and out of different ideas and sounds and I think we never really stopped to have that conversation.

“So that’s what the last few months have been about.

They have also been busy on other projects - Robin producing and recording with homeplanetearth and Puppet Mechanic.

Thomas goes on: “We got to the point where we could have released an album and kinda thought ‘is there a different way of doing this, to make people feel as close to the band as possible, like they’re part of the band?

“I think it also took us a while to realise how much of a big deal the internet is. It’s so much more than a record store now. There’s no distance between artists and fans anymore.

“Everything is instant and personal and we want to embody that idea.”

The lads, who all met at school, have played music in various forms toghether since the age of 13, all benefiting from a formal musical education – French horn for Thomas, classical guitar for Jonny electric guitar for Henry, jazz piano for Thomas and violin for Otto.

Their sound was shaped by their Oxfonian predecessors Radiohead and Stornoway, and wider influences, including The Beatles, Neil Young, MGMT, The Beach Boys, Tame Impala, Mogwai, Bert Jansch, and avant garde

composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass.

So why the new name and image?

“A big part of everything we do over the next few years is about making everything exist under one roof; for the themes and imagery to tie together” says Thomas.

“So it made sense for us to change, almost to let people know this is the start of one big idea.

“And while we don’t want to abandon our past we didn’t want it to be a distraction.

“neverlnd is an idea that appealed to us, almost in a clichéd rock & roll way of not growing up and feeling like you belong. But we had to make it our own, so it’s 2016, we bit the bullet and dropped the ‘a’

“I know it’s a bit cheesy, but we also quite like the imagery of the balloons ascending and never landing.”

So does this mean there will be no physical album?

“It’s not that we don’t believe in the album,” he says. “Albums are amazing things, but I think we just thought in terms of how we can create something people can really feel part of.

“I want people to live us and our ‘album’ every day through our music and everything that makes up our social media. That’s where we focus our energy; tying those things together and building an idea that grows.”

The first song to be released is Where Do I Start – available on Soundcloud – a song will follow each month until they run out.

“Everything’s been written over the past two months and I think that’s important,” says Thomas.

“We started working a lot quicker and that was quite refreshing, to really get into the vibe of the track and to record as we wrote everything.

“But we’re not rushing, we can still obsess over every tiny detail, it’s just the ideas are fresher and more coherent I think.”

So how has the band’s sound changed – if at all?

“I think we were conscious with the first tune to not depart drastically from what we released before,” he says.

“A big part of this change is it feeling like a natural progression, for us and for everyone. We want it to be the step we were always meant to take.

“So I think while we have much more of a desire to sound like 2016, this first track almost looks back as much as it looks forward.

“It’s the sixties and it’s the noughties, it’s guitars and it’s computers. I think what’s cool about the way we’re releasing things is that people will get to see our sound develop. So this tune, in a very big way is just the start.”

And, he says, it’s heartfelt stuff – based on his, and his bandmates’ thought, hopes and desires.

“I want to be in the band I wish existed when I was 17.

“Now, more than ever, I think we need to discuss the things people feel they can’t talk to their friends and family about, to let people know they’re not alone in how they feel or what they think

“I now feel a much bigger obligation to let people know what happens inside my head because I know it can make a difference. It’s about bringing more honesty to pop music.”

But, he says, it is still ‘pop’.

“Most definitely. If anything we’re more pop now than we’ve ever been,” he agrees. “I think in the past we’ve been a little reserved and sometimes even thought things were too poppy! That seems like a crazy idea now.”

So where do they go from here? What are their ambitions?

“I think the best pop music reflects the world it exists in and so ultimately our aim is to extend that idea to everything we do - whether it’s the sound, the lyrics or the way we release things,” he answers.

“We want to reach people and there’s no limit to how far that can go. But that’s what the ‘dot dot dot’ is all about, whether it’s in the artwork or just a tweet, it means there’s always something coming next, there’s no time frame, there’s definitely no end in sight and I’ve definitely become totally obsessed with that idea.

“I think what’s nice about us is that everyone brings something different,” says Thomas. “We share a desire to sound like the Beach boys, Radiohead and Rihanna - all on the same song."

Oxford Mail:

neverlnd play the the jacqueline du pre music building on April 22. Tickets from tigmus.com

Listen to the new tune here... 

Mailing list sign up here...