InAir - Interview - PETE'S ROCK NEWS AND VIEWS.COM

Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (h9p:// petesrocknewsandviews.com)

PD: What type of artist are you?

InAir: We are a three piece alt rock band. Joe Conneely is lead vocalist and bassist. Aaron Iley plays guitar and does backing vocals. Connor Shortt plays drums and also does backing vocals. We write all the synth parts together.

PD: Tell us the brief history of yourself.

InAir: We all met at local shows whilst we were teenagers, we luckily had a great local scene at the time which allowed us to see bands like Don Broco, Deaf Havana, Lower Than Atlantis, Periphery and loads of other amazing acts in smaller venues. We all went away to different universities and pursed our own musical journeys developing various skills and experiencing life. Post university we all met up and decided to start a band, after a few initial line up adjustments we decided we were at our best as a three and haven’t looked back! We have released a couple of EPs and now our latest single ‘Same Skies’. We have also been lucky enough to tour the UK several @mes and support some of our favourite artists like Arcane Roots, Press To Meco and As Everything Unfolds and loads more cool acts!

PD: Who are your musical and non-musical influences?

InAir: Joe – Alexisonfire/ anything that has Dallas Green in it. He’s creatve lyricist, has beautiful vocals and is adaptable to various styles – something I would like to pursue myself. I’m also going for sport and to stick to sport with the boss Thomas Frank from Brentford F.C Nice normal guy who is honest and passionate about pushing a small club forward.

Aaron – Musically, I am a big fan of Bullet for my Valentine. They way they balanced the heavy guitars /screams and the delicate vocals captured my heart as a teenager and I still love listening to it now. I still love hearing contrasts of sounds in music now. Non-musical I am a big fan of Usain Bolt, champion, clean athlete always seems to have a good sense of humour.

Connor – I would say Matt Garstka from Animals As Leaders, he’s an absolute machine, always pushing himself forwards to find new limits in drumming, while blending genres. In terms of non- musicians, it would be Lewis Hamilton, an inspiration for hard work and resilience, and pushing for equality, all while branching out into fashion and music while being one of the world’s top sportspersons.

PD: What are your dreams and goals?

InAir: The main goal is to keep enjoying writing /releasing music and playing shows together. There isn’t loads of money in music for most artists so it has to be fun and/or fulfilling. Being from Reading, we would love to play Reading festival one day.

PD: Who writes your songs, what are they about?

InAir: Joe Conneely writes the lyrics and the bones of our songs. Aaron and Connor will help rewrite parts, add ideas, adjust structure, write new guitar / synth / drum / vocal parts as we collaborate for the end product!

PD: How do you promote your band and shows?

InAir: As with everyone, a lot of promo stuff is done through social media now – Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook and Twitter. Within that Connor, our drummer, is very good with video and photo editing so we try to put out high quality media on those platforms. In addition to this we have various music videos on YouTube and a tour video which Connor put together. Connor and Aaron also have day jobs in music so talk about our band to various musicians at work. We also still enjoy a bit of old school physical promo@on with posters and flyers in venues / record stores!

PD: What do you think about downloading music online?

InAir: There is two sides to every coin. Yes, it has reduced the income of a lot of artists which is obviously not desirable. There is also an argument though that some artists have failed to develop with the industry. A lot of bands now make more money through touring and as such have really high quality live performances with excellent production. The model has just changed now, and streaming/ downloading is the advert and the live shows/merchandise is the product vs. The old model where live shows were part of the advertising to sell the record. There are also lots of interesting and ever developing digital revenues with sponsorships and large social media followings that weren’t available to artists before. I’m not sure which is better, maybe neither, maybe it is just different.

PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?

InAir: Joe – If I could write anything it would be “Like a Stone” by Audioslave because it’s a great song with great lyrics, some cool guitar parts and Chris Cornell had one of the most unique voices. I was lucky I saw Soundgarden supporting Black Sabbath at Hyde Park a couple of years before he passed away.

Aaron – I think ‘One More Light’ by Linkin Park is beautiful.

Connor – Two Headed Boy Pt. 2 by Neutral Milk Hotel. I can’t write lyrics at all, and I think it’s a beau6fully sung song with wonderful metaphors.

PD: What are some of your pet peeves?

InAir: Joe – People who walk slowly or stop right in front of you. Supermarkets are the worst.

Aaron – I love tidy cables. Hate seeing them all tangled up. My cable bags/boxes will always be coiled and taped/velcro’d.

Connor – 25mph in a 60.

PD: What is your proudest moment in music?

InAir: Our review in Kerrang! Magazine was pre<y awesome, we all read that magazine in school so was awesome to see our names in there. Either that or supporting Arcane Roots in our hometown as they were such a large influence on us as a band!

PD: So what are you working on at the moment?

InAir: We are currently working on the videos/artwork/media needed to release two more single that we recorded alongside ‘Same Skies’ which we hope to release early next year.

PD: What music have you available online and where can we buy it from?

InAir: You can hear our new single ‘Same Skies’ alongside our back catalogue on all the usual streaming platforms. You can buy physical copies of our previous EPs from our website www.inairband,com