The Never Ever Interview

The Never Ever Interview

February will see Sydney four-piece power pop / synth band The Never Ever depart Australian shores, bound for New York to embark on the next exciting journey of their short career.

After viewing The Never Ever's Breathe video, multi-platinum music producer Shep Goodman (Forever The Sickest Kids, Mandy Moore, Aaron Carter) was impressed enough to reach out to the band and invite them to record their next EP with him in New York this February. Shep's list of accomplishments speaks for itself and includes holding the position of Vice President of A&R at Universal Motown Records for some time.

Having formed in 2010, The Never Ever has made a great impression on the Australian music scene in a short time, achieving a lengthy list of milestones in just two years including blowing audiences away on the Simple Plan tour. The Never Ever have also supported international heavyweights Yellowcard, We The Kings, Ivoryline and The Wonder Years. Domestic supports include Diviney (the solo project of Short Stack front-man Shaun Diviney), Owl Eyes and Sneaky Sound System. In their own right, they have embarked on two national solo tours, which has included sold out shows in Sydney and Perth.

The Never Ever have a Japanese release planned for July this year and have been hailed by Sydney's Daily Telegraph as one of the bands fuelling the explosion of the teen music market in Australia, The Never Ever – Dylan Nash (Vocals), Bradlee Smith (Guitar), Lanii Miller (Synth) and Pat Ortiz (Bass/Vocals) – have amassed an impressive fan base with over 336,000 YouTube views and over 30,000 fans collectively across their Facebook and Twitter networks.

The Never Ever's 2011 debut single came in the form of "Hey KT", which featured on the band's debut EP 'Dancefloors & Dinosaurs" and has had over 136,000 youTube views within twelve months and, at the time of its release, was the number one trending topic on Twitter Australia-wide and number six globally.

The Never Ever's second EP, 'Breathe" was released in March 2012 becoming an instant hit amongst the band's loyal and ever-growing fan base. The first single, 'Love's Got Me Tipsy" was launched to a sold out Sydney Harbour Cruise and was followed up by a successful national tour. The release earned the band appearances on television shows including Landed Music (Southern Cross Ten), Stay Tuned (ABC 3), Toasted TV (Channel 11), Studio 3 (ABC 3) and Saturday Disney (Seven) and graced the glossy pages of popular Australia's youth magazines such as Girlfriend, Dolly, DMAG, Blunt Magazine and more.

The band are excited about their New York adventure - "It makes a lot of sense to us to record our next release in the US. It's the heart of our genre's music-scene and we're ready to take our band to the next level. Shep's worked with some of our favourite artists and we can't wait share what we've been working on for the past few months with everyone."

Interview with Dylan Nash

Question: How would you describe your music?

Dylan Nash: Energetic, fun music that you can dance OR rock out to.


Question: What are you looking forward to most about heading to New York?

Dylan Nash: It's a huge milestone for the band; we have the opportunity to record with a multi-platinum producer (Shep Goodman) in some amazing studios that people such as Beyonce and Meatloaf have recorded in… And of course, all the fun touristy stuff!

Question: Do you write your own songs? What's your inspiration?

Dylan Nash: We sure do! Lyrically, I like to write about things that people I know are going through and issues that I feel passionate about, whilst trying to keep it as catchy as possible.

Musically, my inspiration comes from a love of a wide variety of music. I like to throw it all at the wall and see what sticks.


Question: What music/artists do you listen to when you are not playing your own?

Dylan Nash: Anything and everything I can to expand my music collection and writing influences- from pop-rock, to hip-hop, to folk and hardcore. Currently, my favourites would be: Ed Sheeran, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Enter Shikari. I also have a shameless love for Katy Perry...


Question: What's next? Tour/Album/Single?

Dylan Nash: After we return from New York, we'll be preparing for the release of our new CD and the national tour that will accompany it. We can't wait to share our music and play it to everyone!


Question: Was there a moment you contemplated throwing in the towel?

Dylan Nash: We've never contemplated breaking up; this is such an exciting time for us and in many ways I feel like this is just the beginning for The Never Ever.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?
Dylan Nash: That's so tough! My heart belongs to both areas as I work as a recording engineer and produce a lot of the sounds in our songs. That being said, there's no better feeling than hearing people sing your lyrics back to you at a show. I think I'll always be divided on this question!


Question: What/who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Dylan Nash: It's almost been a natural progression. I learned guitar in year seven and played in several high-school bands, so it's always been something I've wanted to do. The Never Ever is lucky enough to have a really supportive team behind us who have believed in what we do from the start. They're continually inspiring us to pursue this crazy dream of ours.


Question: What is the biggest challenge you have faced along the way to your musical success?

Dylan Nash: Time management. There is only so many hours in the day and even though I like to stretch that as fast as possible by not sleeping a lot, it's always a challenge to try and balance and fit everything in.


Question: What's a typical day like?

Dylan Nash: This can change depending on the time of year, as I work and also currently study full-time at University (final year, phew!).
Currently it's:
8-9am- Wake up, exercise and breakfast.
10:30am - Reply to emails and do (boring) band-business stuff
1pm- Work on songs, record demo's and speak to fans on the internet
6pm- Meet up with the rest of the guys and rehearse, write and hang out. 10pm- Continue to work on songs
2am/who knows? – Sleep


Question: What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?

Dylan Nash: The ability to travel the world and meet and play music to people that appreciate what we do.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Dylan Nash: I'd love to have a female vocalist sing on one of our tracks one day. Hayley Williams for Paramore would be awesome (or Katy Perry… just saying...)


Question: Do you have a website fans can visit?

Dylan Nash: www.theneverever.com


Question: What message would you like your music to say to your fans?

Dylan Nash: Everyone goes through some tough times but you come out stronger on the other side - life is awesome!


Question: What is the story behind the band's name?

Dylan Nash: We came across an art book, which had a painting that was bright, energetic and positive. We thought it represented everything we wanted our music to be and decided to name our band after it. It was called "The Never Ever".


Interview by Brooke Hunter