Get To Know... The Goa Express • Neu • DIY Magazine

Hello and welcome to DIY’s introducing feature, Get To Know… getting you a little bit closer to the buzziest new acts that have been catching our eye as of late, and working out what makes them tick.

Recently we’ve met Manchester’s Meadow Meadow, post-punk’s shiniest new star Fat Trout Trailer Park, Bristol’s INDIGOS, Brighton’s Chappaqua Wrestling, and now we’re introducing you to The Goa Express!

Hailing from Manchester, the group have been pals since they were teenagers, steadily making their name around the scene with their garage-rock sizzlers.

On recently released track ‘Be My Friend’, the group describe it as being about “taking a step away from those who’re always trying to get close to you and as both a shout out to individuality and an acceptance of rejection. It’s a dismissal of the modern world’s hyper-connectivity and a return to privacy, rather than the involvement of everyone knowing everyone’s business all of the time.”

With tons more exciting things on the horizon, we sent them over some qs to get to know them a lil’ bit better.

Describe your music to us in the form of a tinder bio?
Here for more than just a good time.

What’s your earliest musical memory?
When we were in secondary school, we used to get kicked out of the music rooms quite a lot as ‘non-music’ students. As we got a little older, to compensate, we would then go and kill a few hours in the record store. Lots of characters passed through the centre of Burnley and we spent a lot of time just people watching. On an unrelated note, they might have been missing a copy of The Cure’s Disintegration from a few years back…

Who were some artists that inspired you when you were just starting out? (and why?)
When we started out, we would listen to lots of different things, swapping records between ourselves. As for influences, they always come and go. The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Spacemen 3 and Velvet Underground, however, are somewhat of a backbone.
We admire inattentive attitudes and often music that stays below the radar. Music that exists for the sake of existing, without another reason or motive.

You’re from Manchester! What do you think of the music scene there at the moment?
The music scene in Manchester is now being appreciated by people further down south but has always existed. With a great community in the city, it’s small enough to know what’s going on but big enough for people not to know everyone else’s business. No one interferes with you, people get on with what they have to, and without drawing attention to themselves.

Are there any other artists breaking through at the same time that you take inspiration from?
Not really, but closer to home, bands like Blanketman and Document are emerging. We see them in and around the city quite a lot.
Inspiration manifests in a million ways, but not from anything in particular.

Who would be your dream collaboration?
Jason Pierce from Spiritualized / Spacemen 3

Musically or otherwise, what are you most looking forward to this year?
We are all looking forward to playing live shows again where we can, continuing on our onwards and upwards journey. God knows where we will end up, and no one wants to know. Another year in Manchester sounds fun though.
Who knows, we may even throw some DIY gigs… If anyone has the space, let us know.

If people could take away one thing from your music what would it be?
Don’t take anything too seriously.

Tags: The Goa Express, Features, Interviews, Neu, Get to Know