Issue 84 / Dec 2017/Jan 2018

Neil Grant is an affable, down-to-earth bloke; for the
past four years he has been producing music under the
name LO FIVE, a strain of downbeat electronica that is
as likeable as his own easy-going character. He is one
of the current crop of electronic artists that fully embraces and
explores the new breed of emotive electronic music – one that is
tangible and tactile, that has an acoustic sensibility and emotional
connectivity in contrast to the often detached, cold and robotic
compositions of its formative years.
Every couple of months, Neil hosts a night called Emotion
Wave, where he gathers together some of the most exciting,
original electronic artists and producers who share his passion
for ambientronica. Together they entrance the small, dedicated
and growing number of people drawn to the Emotion Wave vibe,
people who seek out the more human-side of electronic music.
When starting out as Lo Five, Neil explored and embraced
the more tactile and expressive forms of electronic music. From
these beginnings, Lo Five and Emotion Wave evolved. “I tend to
be drawn to people who are doing quite melodic stuff,” says Neil,
“but that’s not just in electronic music, it goes across everything
that I listen to. I’ll listen to instrument-based music as much as I do
“Your life is basically like
a collection of memories
and experiences and
relationships and they’re
the things that matter,
not the material things”
electronic music, so I think a lot of the stuff that I do is informed by
quite a few different strands and not all of them musical.”
Striking out as a solo act provided different challenges to
having played in bands previously. “It was around 2013, I started
noodling on my laptop and coming up with different things and
trying different things out. It was a bit more sample-based, there
were more guitars, more acoustic drum-sounds. I wanted it to
sound almost like it was a band playing, but I’d put it all together
on a computer.” He continues, “I guess it’s got that one common
thing running through it, that there’s a melodic sensibility to it. I
quite like coming up with melodies and chords, that traditional
song crafting approach; I think that’s a hang-up from being in a
band, [being] probably more melody-driven than beat-driven. I’m
also interested in creating an atmosphere or a sense of space, I
want to give the impression that there’s a human behind it.” It is
this human aspect that so clearly informs his music and vision for
Emotion Wave.
In December 2016, Neil pressed the growing band of
likeminded artists that he’d met through Emotion Wave into
action on a compilation album. Blankets was a charity project, the
proceeds of which were donated to Liverpool-based homelessness
charity The Whitechapel Centre. Buoyed by its success, Neil
has asked the same producers and musicians to contribute to
another charity album, Daffodils, which is due to be launched at
a special Emotion Wave show on 9th December, at the night’s
spiritual home of 81 Renshaw. All of the proceeds from the sale of
Daffodils, as well as any money raised on the night, will be donated
to Merseyside Domestic Violence Services. Bringing together 25
artists from Merseyside, the North West and further afield, the
Daffodils album stretches over two cassettes and features an array
of Emotion Wave guests and regulars: Phono Ghosts, Mark Peters,
Afternaut, Melodien, Loka, Jean Michel Noir. 11 of the acts featured
on the album will also be performing live sets on the night, the lineup
reflecting perfectly the eclectic mix on the double album.
“I’ve kept it quite varied because the music on the compilation is
varied,” says Neil. “There’s a mixture of experimental, ambient, some
techno and some more electro-band-type stuff in there. It’s a mixed
line-up that I’m trying to schedule so that it starts off mellow and
ambient, moving into more band-territory, then into the pounding
techno.”
Excitingly this year he is teaming up with Preston-based
Concrète Tapes for a limited release of the album on yellow double
cassettes (priced at £10 each, with the option of a £4 digital
download). “[They] are part of an electronic scene in Preston that
I’ve got to know quite well – so it’s nice that everyone’s chipping in
and working together on it.”
Naming the album Daffodils was a result of Neil considering his
next musical project, exploring themes around mortality. “Daffodils
are a symbol of premature death for me because they bloom in early
spring and they seem to die before the summer. After reading these
really grim domestic violence statistics, funding cuts to women’s
refuges, people being turned away leading to deaths, it seemed to
fit with this whole concept. It was just a powerful symbol for me.”
Neil continues: “Women’s refuges and domestic violence
services have been hit particularly hard by austerity cuts and I
wanted to do something different, plus it seemed like a timely thing
to do. There’s a poster campaign in town to raise awareness of the
issue by Sisters Uncut Liverpool. They speak a lot of harsh truths
that really brought it all to the fore. I got in touch with MDVS and
Jacqui Nasuh was really keen for us to do this and to get involved.”
Jacqui Nasuh, Project Manager at MDVS, echoes this: “Domestic
violence is on the increase in Liverpool and this support from local
musicians is invaluable to our charity, as it will enable us to provide
additional support to local women and children.”
Without his bi-monthly electronic night Emotion Wave, none of
this would likely be possible. Having started just over two years ago,
the night has grown steadily in both numbers and reputation and
is now considered, as Neil jokingly describes, “Liverpool’s premier
sit-down electronic night.” Inspired by a frustration at the lack of
suitable venues for him to showcase his own particular lo-fi brand
of electronic music, Neil identified a gap, and once he found the
perfect foil in 81 Renshaw, he immediately looked to fill it up with
like-minded artists and producers.
“Traditional gig venues just weren’t cutting it for me to play in. I
can’t play club nights because you can’t dance to it. So, I was trying
to figure out what would be the ideal setting for someone making
music like me to play in – that’s not too late so you can get the bus or
train home afterwards, that’s comfortable and you can sit down and
enjoy as opposed to having to get up and dance. And playing in front
of a receptive, open-minded audience. That’s what Emotion Wave
turned into, really; this all-day thing is just an extension of that.”
Keeping it low-key and showcasing talent seems to be the aim
of Emotion Wave, focusing on the music rather than big-names,
established acts and flashy shows. “I’m happy to carry on like it is
for the foreseeable future. Other people are starting to get more
involved in it now so it could come to a point where I hand over
the reins to someone else. I’m fine with that. It feels more like a
cooperative. It’s cool that people want to get involved in it. Maybe
there will be a point where I just step back a bit. But for now, I’m
happy with it.”
Earlier in 2017, Neil’s activities as Lo Five took centre stage as
his debut album When It’s Time to Let Go, released on Patterned
Air Recordings, drew a raft of critical acclaim. Utilising assorted field
recordings, he infused the record with a sense of natural evolution
and familiarity and, as such, elicited warm and emotional responses.
It is also an album that’s intensely personal.
“There are loads of different sounds from my past and my
family’s past on that album,” says Neil. “Every year my mum and dad
record themselves playing guitar and singing happy birthday and
they’ll send that to me. I think that’s on there; there’s also a recording
of my dad playing Paul McCartney’s Junk, which I reversed and
chopped up. There are sounds of my daughter saying her first few
words. There are recordings of me in a band at 16 and bits of that
went in as well, so it’s like this weird patchwork quilt of memories.”
The title of this album is no less symbolic than the Daffodils
release as Neil explains. “The main kind of meaning behind that title
is it’s about all of the things that you accumulate throughout your life
– your life is basically like a collection of memories and experiences
and relationships and they’re the things that matter, not the material
things – I think we try and cling onto them a bit too much? Despite
all of our efforts to try and immortalise ourselves with these photos,
videos and electronic albums, we will have to let go of all of it one
day, and then when we do we’ll be free.” !
Words: Mike Stanton / @DepartmentEss
Photography: Andrew Bates / @oscillik
lofivemusic.bandcamp.com
mdvs.co.uk
The Daffodils compilation album is released on 9th December, with
a launch event at 81 Renshaw. When It’s Time To Let Go is available
now via Patterned Air.
FEATURE
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