Addressing personal changes and attacking dated social stereotypes - an open diary into their whirlwind last four years
By Tom Adams December 2022
"With our generation there's a community for everyone where people can connect and not feel alone... I'm trying to be more open about that"
NEEVE have always been fearless when it comes to doing things slightly differently. Whether that's using the power of social media to create a safe space for their fans at gigs, being vocal in the fight to eradicate toxic masculinity or simply in their own unique indie-rock image, the Stuttgart-born quartet show no signs of backing down anytime soon. Composed of two brother pairings, the South German band has experienced a big surge in popularity in recent months including the release of their debut album chaos of my mind which essentially appears as an open narrative into the lives of each: Felix Seyboth, Alex Seyboth, Marius Spohrer and Philipp Spohrer that make up NEEVE.
In addition to the release of their debut record back in September, NEEVE went on a small UK tour shortly after and are now set to tour Europe in their first headline tour due this Spring. It's fair to say it's been quite the ride for frontman Felix and his three bandmates. "It's been unreal! We’re a band that aims to drive forward and are always thinking about what comes next. Looking back, especially with Spotify Wrapped, we looked at 2021 and I think we had around five or six thousand monthly listeners and now we’re settled at around 175,000 without big editorial playlists. We try not to focus much on numbers, for us it’s more the fanbase and support around the band that I’m really proud of this year. Due to COVID, it all felt like a bit of a glimpse through social media which was fine because a lot of progress was made online, but to have people back in front of the stage and chat with them after the shows again - that has been really special! It meant we could really get a feel for how much the band means to people and then how much that then means to us. People were coming to shows hours before to queue, and for a small band like us that felt mental to have people waiting for us and buying merch", he exclaimed.
"Then coming to the UK… it was huge! Brexit was a huge fuck-up because it’s so stressful to register equipment and it makes it so difficult for artists now. We were supposed to be supporting The Snuts in Paris and Belgium back in September but they couldn’t make it for these troubles so it makes things very difficult because it costs so much and it's such a bureaucracy in a way. But there’s been so much going on and I’m super proud of what we’ve achieved as a band and how much work we’ve put in for years, so seeing us get something from it is huge. We’re really looking forward to next year too so we’re in a good state of mind right now."
Coincidently, Felix was chatting to me from his Grandma's basement - a location the band have often used when it comes to making their music. "We use it as our studio in the same house we’ve been making music these past few years. We’ve come a long way as we had a different band that made different genres of music, but as the same four guys, we decided to find a new name and concept of a band, and our style changed to a more synth pop sound. But now we’re going back to our roots with more alternative indie rock music with real instruments. We started when we were teenagers, then you go through periods of growing up, listening to different music and your character develops but the four of us always developed together. It feels like it has taken forever for us to get to this point, but it has only been four years with two or three during COVID so it’s great to see huge progress."
And their progress really has been huge! The release of their debut, chaos of my mind, was a record that encapsulated the band's work since they began, and trying to fit four years of work into approximately forty minutes is unsurprisingly easier said than done. "It was a natural process because we’ve always just been these four guys that make music together, so it just came together naturally. Plus my brother (Axel) has been mixing and producing everything bar one song where someone from outside co-produced it, so apart from that one everything on the album was done basically from my bedroom. We used to release a lot of singles, as everyone does, then one day I said “we have so many good demos, let’s write ten more and put an album together”, and we wrote some more and my brother produced it all which makes it really special!"
"We also didn’t want an album to sound like just twelve singles so of course you have to release four or five singles and then add songs to the album that really feel like album songs. For example, when you buy a vinyl or record you listen from front to end - although I know many don’t do it like that anymore - whilst thinking many of these songs will be overlooked. But there are songs on the album like ‘pieces that she broke’ or ‘i’m so cold’ that don’t sound like ‘where I wanna be found’, as our strongest song number-wise. But as an artist I enjoy having those kinds of songs that aren’t as catchy but have a deeper meaning. So when you listen from start to end, it brings a complete contrast of sound and vibe, but people can still hear the NEEVE sound behind it."
During my conversation with Felix (that lasted almost over an hour over Zoom) the more I became inspired by his confidence to openly feel comfortable sharing so much about his personal life. "Around the time of writing the album COVID was still going on and I’m also not much of a socially outgoing person so I don’t write songs about partying or taking drugs so it gave me a lot of time for self-reflection. When I found out I had ADHD, and there was some other stuff going on, I just wanted to write from my chest because it was a tough time. There was a lot happening before COVID then suddenly we were all stuck at home so it was getting worse and it was hard to get stuff off my mind. I was trying to put things together in my head but I’m not a poet or writer, I’m more of an observer as someone who reflects because I’m super sensitive and think about how I’m perceived by others, and of course many relate to that. I started to be more open about things in songs or online which I think helped build a community because fans felt seen and I felt seen because of them."
"People always curse about social media but I’ve found, with our generation, there’s a community for everyone like an ADHD bubble on Tik Tok where people connect together and don’t have to feel alone. I’m trying to be more open about it and people seem to appreciate that, and the boys just let me go with stuff like that in the lyrics. The album is literally my mind and perspective so it’s obviously mostly about all the stuff going on in my head. But also there are songs on there like ‘pieces that she broke’ which is about someone incredibly close to me that has been struggling with an eating disorder, and is one of the few songs I wrote that isn’t about myself" he shared.
It's refreshing to hear an artist I'd met around an hour ago for the first time speak so openly about incidents in their own lives, but his honesty to do so just makes it more obvious he is someone who truly cares for people. It reminded me of the 'gig rules' NEEVE posted about on their official social media pages before touring back in October with the intent to make their fans dress how they wish, feel more comfortable within themselves, and to provide a safe space for all in attendance.
"We actually had group chats set up for every city on tour because we knew they’d be people that didn’t want to go to a show alone and we wanted to prove there are people that care about you because of course we want them to still come to our shows! We just want fans to be okay and have a good time. I remember one show when I was onstage I asked people working at the venue if they could put more water at the bottom of the stage because we know people aren’t always mentally comfortable or people could panic in a situation or get anxiety so we try to take regular breaks between songs and throw water bottles out... Although, I once threw a bottle in somebody’s face accidently. I asked her if she could catch it and she said yeah but she didn’t."
"But yeah we want to create a good environment and I think this is why some people came to several shows, it was crazy to begin to recognise people in smaller venues that you’ve spoken to on social media before. Previously, it’s always been like why would anyone care about our shitty band but it’s so nice to have that back-and-forth relationship that we care about them so much and they care about us."
Thinking back to the opening track on chaos of my mind named 'piece of art', the track acknowledges themes of identity and attempts to break down old fashioned beliefs that encourage toxic masculinity. It reminded me of one of NEEVE's older songs 'BYE BYE' for possessing a similar message, and as Felix went on it further proved how much the band value the importance of calling out dated expectations and topics.
"It’s really important! ‘BYE BYE’ is actually the last song we play live on tour, and then I do this short speech about how anyone can love anyone and we don’t ever let anyone tell us how we should dress so it’s a big bye-bye to toxic masculinity and gender roles basically. I’m really proud of this because it’s a really direct, in-your-face song. We all grew up in a small village and have a more arty personality and are not like the general nine to five working kind of guy with a girlfriend, then kids, then a house lifestyle so when you develop a different sort of character, you often get a lot of looks so the song is about that. I want it to be the ending of a chapter and that’s what I associate it with by letting go of a negative chapter of my life. It’s really hard because for our hometown show, our whole family were watching in the audience and it’s not easy to talk about that kind of stuff and open up a lot whilst already doing that with many of the songs. Our songs usually have a fun melody to them but then addressing themes more seriously in-between songs is very different but I’m really glad I get the chance to be an open book and to know that it’s hopefully helping people in the audience as much as it’s helping me work things out."
Ultimately, that's what it's all about for NEEVE. They don't care for performance numbers or social media activity, they genuinely care about their fans, about breaking old social perspectives on identity, gender or likings... and if that is incorporated in a outlook of chaos then perhaps we could all use a bit more NEEVE chaos in our lives.
chaos of my mind is available to stream on Spotify now.
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