Nion Abeo

Hopefully soon you will be far more familiar with the name Nion Abeo. The three piece rock band from Bournemouth have been around since early 2008, mostly gigging around Southampton. The Company Expires is their first release.

The first thing that struck me about The Company Expires is the quality of the recording. You definitely would not be able to tell that this is their first effort. It has clarity of production that is often lacking in many debut releases from ‘local’ bands. Each instrument is clear in the mix and the vocals do not dominate, as is sometimes the case with a band’s very first release.

But enough about the production, what about the songs and style of the EP? The songs are an excellent kind of condensed post-rock. Think of a cross between Mogwai, a more up beat and direct Sigur Ros, combined with the song writing craft of Biffy Clyro and you’re somewhere close. Stand out tracks for me would be opener I Get Where and closer Smoke Against the Air. The former being a bubbling number that never rams itself down your throat but grabs your attention in much more subtle ways. The latter, an excellent piece of post-rock that builds up to an excellent crescendo – all in under four minutes!

I had been looking forward to a release from these guys since I saw them a few months ago. They blew me away then and I have seen them a couple of times since, each time they’ve been equally as good, if not better. This EP is very good (I’d imagine I will listen to it a good few times more) but doesn’t quite capture the passion of their live performances, I think this is possibley due to the vocals being a bit more fragile on record than live. Whether this is what they were going for is not for me to say, but the EP is still excellent all the same. If you’re looking for something new, exciting and a bit different from your standard rock band, buy this EP, learn the songs and go support them live! - Dorset Rock Online

BOURNEMOUTH, UK – Nion Abeo’s first EP ‘The Company Expires’ is a blend of alternative, melodic rock. Although fairly unknown in the music scene, Nion Abeo has the potential to make it big with their unique crunching guitar melodies and evoking vocals.

The band has come a long way since it was formed in 2008, and continues to play at small gigs around the southeast of England. Looking into the future, the band has many aspirations and has plans to perform in mainland Europe by the end of 2010.

In conversation with Nion Abeo

How did the band come together?

We all originally come from the same town in the middle of nowhere…It took years of playing in bedrooms and firing each other to realize that as musicians, we’re obviously meant to be. The best thing about us coming together was that we all knew each other and understood that no member would be happy unless we were doing exactly what we want to, no compromises, getting it right!

What are your plans for an album?

We want to play the hell out of our new EP, The Company Expires, whilst working on a trickle of new material. Some of our new music is really shaping up and we are increasingly confident of our sound. So at this stage it’s all about promotion. It’s clear today more than ever that bands and artists need the support of their fans to do what they love. We live by the ethos that if one person likes what they hear when we play, we are truly happy. ‘The Company Expires’ has worldwide digital distribution, and our previous EP ‘FYI’ can be downloaded for free from a few selected sites as an introduction to our music.

Can you give us an insight into the life of an indie band from Hampshire, UK?

Difficult. It’s hard work and stepping up to that mantle is daunting. Throwing all you have at something you love, that is judged upon by many merits outside of what the music means to yourself. Music has become a business more complex than many realize. You have to believe in what you’re doing, which can be hard if you don’t sound like popular genre specific music. We’re still learning and there is so much more we can, will and should do. You have to be reasonable with your targets also. The hardest part for an indie band is tackling the question of whether to chase a pay cheque, without losing your integrity.

Sadly due to the recent recession many of our local venues have closed and it is hard to entice people out of their homes. In addition the huge number of unsigned bands in the UK has not diminished so we really have to push our way to the front of the queue so we don’t get ignored by promoters. We all hold down jobs around what we do and normally rehearse 3 or 4 times a week so the support of our friends and family is invaluable.

Where do you get your inspiration?

We all have pretty different tastes in music and we write songs together at rehearsals so this goes a long way to giving us a fairly original sound. We strive to play the music we want to hear, to be proud of what we produce.

Any desires, gigs to play or people to go on tour with?

We’re really looking forward to playing some festivals over the summer, a lot of fun can be had as well as meeting many musicians from all corners of the industry.

A band we’d all love to play and tour with is Oceansize, a ground breaking experimental band that people should look up if they’ve not heard of them. In the main though, being busy playing packed venues as often as possible is our biggest desire.

What kind of gigs have you got coming up, and where can we see you play?

We are currently taking some time out to work on new material but while we do so one of our representatives is in the early stages of scheduling a tour to further promote our EP. This will be stretching across the whole south of England. We also hope to play some shows further north as well as in mainland Europe later in the year so listen out!

In the meantime though, we can always be found playing in Bournemouth at Champions Bar, The Green Room and Room 6 and in Southampton at Hamptons and one of our favorite venues, The Joiners. - Film Industry Network