With a tight set an highly energetic performance, Your Name In Neon are rising to the top, separating themselves from the many talented bands in the South African music industry, and crushing everything left in their wake.

Playing over 50 shows in the first 9 months of their inception, and going on to win MK89′s ‘Battle vir Woodstock’ only 6 months after their first performance. If you can recall, there were over 90 bands competing in the battle, all for the oppurtunity to play main stage at Woodstock 9 ,

YNIN embraced this oppurtunity an put on one hell of a show. YNIN means business.

living on the edge…
YNIN’s music portrays every heartfelt emotion they have come across in life, and they manage to share those emotions with every single person in the crowd.

These guys are a live act not to be missed!

In may 2009 YNIN released their much anticipated debut album ‘THE ENDEAVOUR’, and has recieved nothing but praise.
Other noteworthy performances include:

A headlining slot at Woodstock 10

A supporting slot for UnderOath (USA) 2 successful coastal tours to Cape Town…

Your Name In Neon is:

Gavin van den Berg: vocals and guitar.

Daniel Herber: bass guitar and vocals.

Richard Oldfield: guitar, vocals

http://www.yournameinneon.com

Interview by:  Sean Routledge

HBT: First of all guys, thanks for your time:
Daniel: The pleasure is all ours, thank you for having us.
Gav: Thank you.
HBT: A brief history of Your Name In Neon?
Gav: The band started in 2005 after Richard and I decided to part ways with our old band, A Thousand Daze. At the time we had ex-members Justin Albertyn on bass and Rick Joaquim on drums. Owing to our concurrent love of the underground and the popular, we recruited Jake Helme on screaming vocals to supplement my cleaner vocals. We started gigging relentlessly in 2007 during which we recorded a two-track demo with JP DeStefani (Fokofpolisekar, aKing, Sugardrive) which we distributed for free at our shows. We gave away near to 600 copies of the demo as far as I can remember and thankfully it was pretty well received by a growing underground that was developing a keen interest in the singing/screaming thing. 2007/8 saw Your Name In Neon play more shows including two tours to Cape Town/Stellenbosch, Bloemfontein, Splashy Fen 8, Woodstock 9 & 10 and a support show with US-band Underoath. In November 2008, we decided to part with ways with screamer Jake Helme and drummer Ricky Joaquim. We released our debut album ‘The Endeavour’ in June 2009.
HBT: what do you classify your style of music as?
Daniel: We draw influence from across a range of musical styles and have taken a more melodic direction with our new material. Most of The Endeavour consists of our older songs that were written upon the bands’ conception. These tracks tend to be darker alternative electronica-infused rock songs.

Gav: I guess it would be easiest to call our music Screamo, owing to the interpendence between our singing and screaming vocals. We have started to venture toward a more melodic approach however as is evident in our new single, ‘The Endeavour’. Our live set incorporates programmed elements in the form of samples, so an Electronica element definitely has its place as well. We’ve been called hardcore before which I’m sure doesn’t hold up well with the hardcore kids.
HBT: Who are your main influences?
Daniel: Our songs tend to be about paying tribute to any music, art, media or human act that has inspired us. Musically we’re influenced in some degree by almost anything we hear, provided it is innovative and tasteful in some way. Personally I like the older stuff that set the standard for rock and roll: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, the pioneer musicians… their music seemed to be a lot more real than many of the bands I hear today.

Gav: It would be difficult to pinpoint our musical ‘influences’ as such, as our musical tastes tend to shapeshift on a day to day basis. Right now I’m in a nostalgic phase digging up old classics such as Foreigner, Donovan and Tears For Fears. Last week I was enjoying the new Closure To Moscow album. A month ago I was listening to Jim Croce.

Rich: As Cities burn, Brand New, Bloc Party, Manchester Orchestra, Mew, Lydia, The Dear Hunter, The Dissociatives, The Receiving End of Sirens, Ralph McTel.
HBT: You guys recently had a line-up change, two members left. What was that about?
Daniel: Our music just led to a more melodic direction and at the juncture when we were changing our sound, Rick left as he had academic commitments to fullfil- I’m pleased to see he’s back behind the kit playing for a great local band called Wrestlerish. Our screaming vocals had become a noted part of our live act but we were having difficulty integrating the dynamics of screaming into our more vocally-driven approach with the new material.

HBT: Tell us a bit about your coastal tour to the Cape and what is the worst part about touring?
Daniel: It wasn’t nearly long enough!

Gav: The worst part for me is that you often only have one opportunity to showcase your music, which doesn’t allow any room for technical discrepancies, poor sound etc. And as many people may have picked up on from earlier shows, we have the absolute worst luck live when it comes to on-stage technical issues. Fortunately, you learn to deal with these things and not get too hung-up on them during shows.

Rich: Arriving home

HBT: And the best?

Daniel: Getting to play our hearts out to fresh faces every night.

Gav: The best part about touring for me, is the people. It’s always great meeting people in different parts of the country, and having these people display an appreciation toward your music makes it even more special.

Rich: Music, friends and travel are my three loves.

HBT: You guys won Battle for Woodstock in 2007- that must have been an awesome feeling?
Daniel: That was my first show with Your Name In Neon. I was a long-time friend of the band and used to play guitar and sing for a band called Cellar Door Diaries with Etienne from Crash Car Burn and James and Nic from Danceyou’reonfire. After being out of the live scene for a while and changing over to bass guitar it wasn’t bad for a first show ’ pouring rain under a tightly packed and dimly lit marquee: it was intense and exhilarating to be on stage again with some great musicians. We were absolutely ecstatic when we heard we had won.

HBT: Then in 2008 you headlined Woodstock 10; did you ever think Your Name In Neon would get this big?
Daniel: We were one of the headlining acts on the second stage, it’s taken a lot of hard work and many live shows to earn a place on a festival stage. I still think we have a long way to go though.

Gav: As proud as we are to have played some bigger festivals locally, we have growing aspirations for our music and are of the belief that we can’t afford to get too complacent or too overwhelmed by any achievement.

HBT:If you were offered a record deal overseas right now, would you take it?
Daniel: Everything we’re doing now is funded out of our own pockets and there are very few opportunities for South African bands to tour internationally. If given such an opportunity I’m sure we would consider it. We love making music and ideally would like play to as many people as possible. Making a living from it wouldn’t be bad either.

Gav: I guess it would also depend on the terms of the deal. We’ve always been firm believers in an artistic independence, and retaining that would be important to us too.

Rich: It obviously depends on the ‘deal’ but if all sounds good then off we will go.
HBT: Do you guys have any sort of pre-gig rituals?
Daniel: Nothing yet but I’m sure we’ll develop one along the way. I like to drink lots of water before shows and don’t really like to be around too many people before going onto stage, some quiet reflection beforehand helps me to focus on giving my best when I’m due to be up on stage in the next few minutes.

Gav: Nothing aside from our usual vocal warm-ups.

Rich: Vocal warm-ups for those who sing and panicking about something usually sound related.

HBT: Any embarrassing moments on stage?
Daniel: We’ve endured playing shows in the dark, crowds breaking guitar necks clean off the body and many other strange occurrences throughout our travels.

Rich: We were playing a show at Rafters in Vanderbijlpark. The crowd was full of energy that night amongst other things. I was playing right at the front edge of the stage when an overexcited front row dancer managed to knocked the head clean off my guitar. I didn’t know what happened at first and tried to tune up a very obviously broken instrument. It was really funny and although it cost a pretty penny to fix it’s a memory I would not trade.

HBT: Why the name, Your Name In Neon? Who came up with it?
Daniel: The band’s first bassist, Jay came up with it. It pays homage to the diverse range of influences that inspire our music.

Gav: The name was conceived by our ex-bassist Justin and was centered around an old song of ours entitled ‘Your Name In Neon’. That song never made it to our set or our album.
HBT: Your perfect tour would be with whom? And where?
Daniel: With Silverchair, across Australia followed by the States.

Rich: With Mew and Brand New through Europe.

Gav: With Silverchair, Mew, Brand New and Copeland through Europe.
HBT: When’s your guys’ next gig?
Daniel: We still need to audition drummers, we’ll play live again towards the end of the year supporting our second album.
HBT: Any news on a new album?
Gav: We’re currently hard at work on our second album due for release toward the end of 2009.

Daniel: We have a lot more to work with than we ever have before, so our next album should be worth the wait. Here’s hoping.

Rich: Yeah, we are excited about the new sounds.

HBT: A day in the life of Your Name In Neon consists of?
Daniel: Gym, breakfast, promoting the band, lunch, vocal practice, bass practice, chill out, dinner, band practice, cycle, rinse, wash, repeat.

Gav: At the moment I’m involved in commercial music composition and production and juggling studies at the same time. Rich and myself are also doing a bit of session work for an up-and-coming pop-artist Elan Lea, who’s just signed to Universal Records. Days aren’t very routine for me. Much of my time involves sitting in front of a computer screen surfing the net and sending emails etc. (keep in contact with us then, will you? – ED)
HBT: Any advice for up and coming bands?
Daniel: If you think you have the talent to do it then work hard and follow your dreams.

Gav: Learn about the industry! There are a lot of good people out there, but a lot of shallow money-hungry thiefs at the same time.

HBT: What inspires you to keep on making music, in a country which hardly recognizes and encourages local music.
Daniel: The belief that good music transcends fictional geographic border lines. If you work hard and promote yourselves you will eventually be heard.

HBT: Bands that you’re currently listening to?

Daniel: The Beatles’ ’1967-1970 (The Blue Album)’ hasn’t left my car in weeks!
Rich: Manchester Orchestra, The Police.
Gav: Donovan, Depeche Mode, Foreigner, Jason Mraz. Still loving the Margot And The Nuclear So and So’s ‘Not Animal’ album. I’ve also been tuning into FM-radio quite a bit of late.

HBT: The best part about being in Your Name In Neon is?
Daniel: It’s what I love to do, create music and perform it for people.

Gav: Playing music with two of my best friends. Playing music with like-minded individuals. Playing in a band where everyone’s opinion counts. Surprising myself.
HBT: If tomorrow was the last day of your life, what would you do in your last hours?
Daniel: I’d knock up a bird so that a legacy could live on of course… only kidding ( i’m sure you are ;P -ED). Most likely I’d write a song that would resonate with people many years after my death.

Rich: Sit down and write a song? Ha Ha no! No! I would buy some girls, plenty of drugs, rent a room at the Hilton under a false name and then write a song.
A few words on..
If you were invincible for a day:

Rich: I think I would have difficulty believing that I was invincible. So guess my day would pan out as per normal.

Daniel: I’d skydive naked into the deepest part of the ocean and wrestle sharks and sea beasts of course.
Jacob Zuma:

Daniel: I’ve heard he’s got this great little tune that everyone knows, quite memorable from what I’ve heard about it… hmmm… perhaps we’ll ask our president if he’d make a guest appearance at our next live show, hum a few bars perhaps. I’m sure our minister of Arts and Culture, Lulu Xingwana, would be absolutely thrilled to know that we existed too.

Gavin: Turtle power!
*Editiors note : ZumaTello!! (LOL! -ED)
Religion:

Daniel: If it’s what you need to live a good and moral life, then do it. As long as it’s not pushed onto other people I don’t really have a problem with religion, everyone should at least have the privacy and security to make their own decisions and live by them on these matters.

Gav: Your choice!

Rich: Sounds good
Paris Hilton:

Daniel: If I ever meet her I’m going to find the nozzle and deflate all the helium outta that doll. She can’t be real surely?

Rich: Paris who?

Gav: She’s WAY overrated.

Slipknot:

Daniel: Joey Jordison is an absolutely incredible drummer, you have to give credit where credit is due, irrespective of genre. Corey Taylor is an amazing thinker, lyricist, frontman and singer- I also have a lot of respect for that guy. (AMEN to that brother… -ED) I never got the Slipknot vibe though, it just kind of washed over me, the insane music and theatricality of it all ’ it started with KISS.

Gav: Never really got their music either but I can understand their appeal.
The Backstreet Boys:

Daniel: They’re obsolete now, lucky for the pop charts. With the obscene amount of money the record labels poured into publicising their act it was hardly a shock that they sold so many albums. It’s sad that money has corrupted music to such an extent, whereas in the old days musicians were valued by their talent and not by their hair, clothes or their ability to dance like a prat.

Gav: I’m more of a New Kids On The Block kind of guy.

(Good luck with that positive note that you’re leaving us with, Gav! Thank you for the decent interview, you guys put the ‘so’ in ‘awesome’ -ED)