NEØV – Dreamy indie pop-rock meets Finnish melancholy

(Promotion)* NEØV is a rising Finnish indie pop-rock band from Juankoski. Inspiration for their music are Eastern Finland’s green forests and deep blue lakes and the magic of Finnish nature. Most of their songs are about love in all its shades. Their music style can be described as a combination of dreamy and melancholic melodies. Moreover, their music is a modern combination of art rock and alternative pop, mostly from the UK and the USA and music elements of Scandinavian rock, experimental and ambient music from all over the world. I talked to band member Anssi Neuvonen about their new studio album „Volant“ and their concert tour across Germany.

Navigation

• Interview with NEØV band member Anssi Neuvonen
• More about the band NEØV
• Tour dates of the NEØV Germany Tour 2019
• Finntastic NEØV Music lottery

Interview with Anssi Neuvonen from NEØV about their new album „Volant“ and the Germany tour 2019

Finntastic:
Moi Anssi, so nice that you have time for an interview on my Finland blog. You are touring in Germany at the moment, but you aren’t in Germany for the first time. You have already excited the German audience last year at Hamburg Reeperbahn Festival. What do you like about Germany and how would you describe the German audience in comparison to the Finnish one?

Anssi:
Hei Inken, thanks for presenting our band and music on your Finland blog! Yeah, we have already visited Germany several times for festivals and showcase shows, but this is our first proper tour in Germany. I like the diversity of Germany – there are big differences between its regions. And as Germany is located in the heart of Europe, it’s a mixture of many cultural layers from every direction – that’s inspiring.

It’s been rewarding to play in front of the German audience. I feel that in Germany the people are more responsive compared to Finland. But it’s not a question of which audience is better – people just act differently in Central Europe compared to up north.

Finntastic:
In the media you are often seen as the “Finnish answer” to the British indie-pop rock band „The XX“. What do you think about that and how would you describe your music style?

Anssi:
Sure, it’s nice to be compared to The XX. And that’s because I like their sound and we have drawn some inspiration from it. But I guess anyone, who listens to our whole album, would agree that it’s over-simplifying to label us as “the Finnish XX” – our influences are diverse, and they are coming from multiple styles.

I would describe our music style as indie pop and rock with a floating feeling. We believe in “traditional” songwriting, where melodies are important. Our sound is also inspired by experimental and ambient music which adds depth to our music.

Finntastic:
That sounds inspiring! Tell me more about your band. Samuli and you are brothers. Since when are you playing music together? And when did your bass guitar player Ari Autio join the band?

Anssi:
Yes, Samuli and I are brothers and we have played together since our childhood. Our parents had records from Bowie to Moody Blues, from Irish folk music to classical, and there were also musical instruments in the house where we grew up. But I guess, we got interested in music because we weren’t pushed into it. Music was just one interesting thing among others.

We joined forces with Ari about ten years ago. We’ve continued playing together because we enjoy it so much and we understand each other musically. But that’s just one side of the coin: the more the things around the band are evolving, the more we have to face some non-musical activities, that we have to go through together and learn about each other – and that’s not always easy. But I’m not complaining!

Finntastic:
Volant is your third studio album after “Orange Morning” (2013) and “Dominique” (2015), which are both produced by a Finnish music label. What’s the reason that you decided to release your new album this time in cooperation with the Hamburg music label Clouds Hill?

Anssi:
After “Dominique”, we were looking for an international label and got offers from several parts of Europe. Things synced with Clouds Hill right away, and it felt right to turn a new page with them. I think that Clouds Hill is all about music – and that is a rare thing these days.

Finntastic:
What does the title “Volant” of your new studio album mean and what awaits the audience?

Anssi:
“Volant” means capable of flying. The album deals with themes of flying and passage of time. Everything flies in time. And our album is made with passion and love. I hope that people can grasp some of it while listening to the album.

Finntastic:
I really liked your song “Lost in Time” from your new album. What is the song about?

Anssi:
„Lost in Time” deals with feelings of being stuck in time. Time has a lot of power, we can’t touch or see it, but we can feel it.

(VIDEO: NEØV/Clouds Hill) The song „Lost in Time“ of the new studio album „Volant“.

Finntastic:
And what’s the story behind the song „Person I Used To be“?

Annsi:
In „Person I Used To Be“, someone travels from dusk to daylight and then back to dusk again. That’s just like being human and having conversations with persons we used to be, are going to be – and maybe wished to be but can’t.

(VIDEO: NEØV/Clouds Hill) Music video of the song „Person I Used To Be“

Finntastic:
Do you have any other plans for 2019?

Anssi
There are some exciting things coming up, and we’re announcing them later. Right after our Germany tour, we will have some gigs in Finland and some summer shows are coming up too.

Finntastic:
Thank you very much for the exciting interview. One last question: How was your opening gig at Göttingen Nörgelbuff. I studied in Göttingen, that’s why I really know the location very well.

Anssi:
We had a good time in Göttingen and at Nörgelbuff! We hope that we’ll have a chance to visit the city again in the future. Thank you for the interview.

About NEØV and the third studio album „Volant“

NEØV is an indie pop-rock band from Juankoski, Eastern Finland, consisting of the two brothers Anssi Neuvonen (vocals, guitar, songwriting, producing) and Samuli Neuvonen (drums) and the bass guitar player Ari Autio. The band has already released two studio albums called „Orange Morning“ (2013) and „Dominique“ (2015). Their music style can be described as tuneful, dreamy and sometimes a bit melancholic and combines melodic guitar vibes with hypnotic loops and beats as well as emotional piano melodies. Most of their songs deal with love in all kinds.

In 2018, NEØV already performed at the Tallinn Music Week in Estonia and at the Hamburg Reeperbahn Festival. Their Germany tour 2019 has just started with the opening concert at Göttingen Nörgelbuff on the 22th of March 2019. All tour dates are listed below.

More information about NEØV and their music you will find here and on Youtube.

Germany tour of NEØV 2019

• 22.03. – Noergelbuff, Göttingen
• 24.03. – Ampere, Munich
• 25.03. – Monarch, Berlin
• 26.03. – E-Werk, Erlangen
• 27.03. – Cassette, Düsseldorf
• 28.03. – Indienight, FZW, Dortmund
• 29.03. –  Bedroom Disco, Darmstadt
• 30.03. –  Cafe Galao, Stuttgart
• 03.04. – VagaBunt, Zwickau
• 04.04. – Uebel & Gefährlich, Hamburg

*This blog post is a cooperation with Backseat PR and the Finnish indie-pop rock band NEØV, who provided all the prizes for the prize competition.

Finntastic NEØV Music lottery

Would you like to win tickets for the NEØV concert in Hamburg on the 4th of April 2019 or one of three „Volant“ studio albums?

Then it’s your turn:

Answer the following questions „How does band member Anssi Neuvonen from NEØV describe their music style and what is the meaning of the album title „Volant“?“

and send the answer to info@finntastic.de and you will automatically participate at the raffle for the following prizes, provided by Backseat PR and NEØV:

• 2 x 2 tickets for the NEØV concert on the 4th of April 2019 at Uebel & Gefährlich, Hamburg
• 3 x 1 studio album „Volant“ from NEØV

Before participating, please read also the following terms and conditions of the prize competition (see below).

Good luck and have fun!

Inken

Terms of participation, competition guidelines and data protection and privacy policy

By participating at this prize competition, the participants accept the following terms of participation, competition guidelines and privacy policy.

Applicable Law for this prize competition is the law of the Federal Republic of Germany. If individual conditions of participation and/or competition guidelines be or will have become invalid, the validity of the remaining guidelines will remain unaffected.

Terms of participation

The competition is open to any person aged 18 years or older, who is primarily resident of the Federal Republic of Germany, another country of the European Union as well as the following countries: Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland, Great Britain and Switzerland.

The participation in the competition is only possible online via this blog post at https://finntastic.de. The participation is free of charge. The participants will not incur any expenses (not either for packaging and postage)! All lottery prizes due to the fact that they are not high-priced, will be send in general uninsured. Moreover, costs for arrival and accommodation as well as costs of food are not included in the ticket wins.

Each person may only enter the competition once. Multiple participations e.g. with different name profiles or e-mail addresses are not permitted and will automatically lead to an exclusion from the competition, in case it becomes obvious.

To participate in this raffle, all participants must answer the following questions and have to send the solution to info@finntastic.de:

„How does band member Anssi Neuvonen from NEØV describe their music style and what is the meaning of the album titel „Volant“?“

Prize/profit

These are the prizes, provided by NEØV, which will be raffled among all participants, who have sent a right solution to info@finntastic.de:

• 2 x 2 tickets for the NEØV concert on the 4th April 2019 at Uebel & Gefährlich, Hamburg
• 3 x 1 signed studio album „Volant“ from NEØV

Travel expenses and accommodation costs as well as costs of food are not included in the ticket wins. Material prizes are not paid out in cash and are excluded from exchange. Winnings cannot be transferred to third parties. There is no warranty or guarantee claim on the prize. Legal recourse is excluded.  

Competition procedure

The competition runs from the 28th of March 2019 until the 31st of March 2019 exclusively on https://finntastic.de. The closing date for a participation is the 31st March of 2019 at 11:59 p.m.. Subsequent solutions and comments, which will be send after this date, will not be considered for the prize draw of this lottery.

The determining of the eligibility of the participation as well as the prize draw will take place on the 1st of April 2019. The prices (see section: prize/profit), provided by NEØV, will be raffled among all participants, who fulfill the terms of participation. The winners will be selected at random. All winners will be notified by email.

In case of winning, Finntastic needs the correct first and surname and the postal address of the winners for sending the prizes to them later on. If a ticket winners does not respond during three days after being notified by e-mail, the claim to the prize will lapse. The winners of the signed CDs have time to answer within seven days. If one of them will not answer within seven days, a new winner for the CD will be drawn.

Exclusion of participants

Finntastic reserves the right to exclude or delete participants from the participation, if they fail to complete the task or violate the conditions of participation or the competition guidelines. Participants, who manipulate the raffle (e.g. by entering several e-mail addresses or name profiles) can be excluded from the prize draw, when noticed. If a manipulation is figured out later, prizes can even be subsequently withdrawn and prizes already delivered can be reclaimed. And also the misuse of foreign names will lead to an exclusion from the raffle too!

Cancellation/ Suspension of the competition

Finntastic reserves the right to cancel or interrupt the competition if she becomes aware of any manipulations or if it is no longer certain that the competition will be carried out properly. This applies for instance in case of hardware or software failures, program errors or unauthorized intervention by third parties (e.g. computer viruses, cyber-attacks) or if legal problems exists.

Data protection and privacy policy

As far as personal data of participants are collected for the prize competition (e.g. first name, surname or nickname, postal addresse and e-mail addresse), these personal data will be collected, processed and used by Finntastic only for carrying out the prize competiton. No data will be passed on to third parties, with the exception of Backseat PR, who need the address for shipping the CDs to the winners later on. Moreover, the first and second name of the ticket winners must be sent to Backseat PR in order to reserve the tickets for the winners.

The winners agree that in case of a win their first and last name or nickname will be published permanently on https://finntastic.de as well as on the social media channels of Finnastic (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). If the winners disagree with that, they have to announce it to Finntastic after getting the price notification!

A participation in the competition does not lead to a subscription of the “Finntastic Newsletter”! Those who wish to subscribe to the newsletter must do that by using the newsletter form on https://finntastic.de.

Person in charge of the competition

This is a private prize competition, organized by Inken Paletta, Josef-Brix-Straße 42, 65187 Wiesbaden, Germany, the site operator of https://finntastic.de (For more information: see imprint ). The price (see also section prize/profit) was provided to the site operator by NEØV. The raffle is not connected to any other companies or persons and even not to social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

The recipient of the personal data and information provided by the participants, thus the contact person and person responsible for this prize draw, is only the website operator of https://finntastic.de. All questions, comments and complaints concerning this competition should therefore be directed to info@finntastic.de.

Disclaimer/Exclusion of liability

The organizer (which means the website operator of https://finntastic.de) is not liable for the shipping risk. All prizes will be sent uninsured. In case of an uninsured shipping, Finntastic will pay the costs of shipping and packaging, which means this kind of shipping is free of charge for all the winners.

If a winner insists on an insured shipping, he must inform Finntastic after receiving the prize notification. In this case he agrees to bear the costs.

The organizer of this lottery (which means the website operator of https://finntastic.de) is not liable for direct or indirect damages resulting from participation or the inaccessibility of the internet server, unless these are due to gross negligence or wilful misconduct for which the organizer is responsible. Legal recourse therefore is excluded.