Nero made more of an impact with their debut album than they knew what to do with. When Welcome Reality dropped in 2011, the duo (now trio) was able to sustain a consistent touring schedule for the next three years. Dan Stephens says that it was difficult to make a second record, considering they weren’t expecting the success of the first.
“Alana [Watson, Nero’s vocalist] was working as a midwife at the time, and she quit her job for it. We toured for three years for that record,” he says.
But that didn’t stop them from taking the time to release Between II Worlds just a couple months ago. They admit that, in the time that it has taken them to finish the album, they’ve somewhat switched gears. “We’re really a band because we’ve got a full-time frontwoman,” Stephens says. “We’re more of a band than producers, because while most EDM acts are featuring different singers, we have Alana.”
The band element is reinforced by their live show, which features Dan Stephens and Joe Ray on drums and synths in front of their stage, with Alana on vocals, for a portion of the performance.
Stephens goes on to speak about albums in the electronic music genre, and how he feels that it’s been somewhat lost as an art form.
“I think electronic albums are dying as an art form,” Stephens says. “A lot of bands are just putting out singles and not even whole albums. Our whole album can be listened to straight through, and we’re very proud of what we’ve done with it. It’s just about getting the music out there to people.”
While he’s true to some degree – many artists, like Doctor P, for example, prefer to release singles and EPs – there have been many releases in 2015 alone that would aim to prove him wrong. Comebacks from The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy, for instance, are attempts to reignite the art form of an electronic album. Nero’s, too.
“It’s about getting people more interested in Nero again,” Stephens says.
via OC Weekly
