We caught up with The Nevers before their latest gig, to talk about the band’s origins, their songwritting process, how they stay true to themselves and more.
If there’s something The Nevers want people to know before reading all this, they aren’t media trained (yet). Disclaimer done, let’s get into it.
We caught up with the band — Joe (lead vocals), Stanley (drums), Lucas (guitar), George (bass) — before their show at the famous O'Neills in Soho. With only a half-hour-long set, they have to focus on their heavier tunes, a kind of a sound they’ve been exploring more lately. Fans can expect “A nice and loud performance and mostly in tune vocals," according to the band, who are visibly enjoying throwing their singer under the bus. He takes it well. Mostly.
“The music gives meaning to the name”
Every band has an origin story. The Nevers' involves a pub, roughly ten hours spread across three separate sessions, and a lot of shouting made-up names at unsuspecting locals to see what stuck. The shortlist was, by their own admission, rough. Cosmic Spunk made it disturbingly far. District Sound Academy, abbreviated to DSA, got vetoed for being, in their words, "terrible."
© Amandine Charles Hotz
To be honest, nobody is claiming “The Nevers” means anything. As one member puts it, the music is what builds the meaning behind a name, nobody's showing up to a gig because the words on the poster are deep. Somewhat fittingly, the two-year-old lineup came together almost as randomly as the name, one met the singer at work, another met him in college, and a gig was booked three weeks before the final member joined. No time to overthink it, apparently.
“The story presents itself afterwards for us”
Don't ask The Nevers what their songs are about, chances are, they don't know either, at least not at the time of writing. Verses and choruses are built separately, mashed together, and only afterwards does a story reveal itself. Take their latest single: written with zero grand concept, it only started to resemble the shape of one too many messy nights ending in a cab ride home in hindsight. It's a very "vibes now, meaning later" process. One person brings a riff, someone else hums a chorus over it months down the line, and the lyrics might not show up until everyone's sure they're not embarrassing. Puzzle pieces, one of them calls it. Open to interpretation, whether they intended that or not. “A lot of people do write from their own experiences, but the story presents itself afterwards for us”, lead singer Joe explains.
© Amandine Charles Hotz
Like every DIY band, they are faced with the necessity of creating social media content to promote their music. Albeit “fun”, being consistent on TikTok and Instagram is a lot of work. “We try to share the load as much as possible. So I'll create a slideshow every day, Lucas will make a video and Stanley will do promotional content”, bassist George says.
“There will always be the pub”
Ask where they see themselves down the line and you get equal parts joke and genuine hope: nicer clothes, a bit more money, hopefully backstage at a festival rather than loitering outside the pub (and potentially media training). But scratch the surface and the real goal is simpler, staying mates. They've all heard the cautionary tales about bands that stop talking off-stage and split not long after. That's what they want to preserve, their little post-show pub ritual. Keep it a laugh and don't let it get too "businessy.”