Utah rock-pop group Neon Trees, are loud and proud about about being Mormons and as frontman Tyler Glenn and bassist Branden Campbell explain, it’s their faith that’s kept them straight and narrow on the rock 'n' roll road.
“Bands like Paramore are very clean, they only have chocolate milk on their rider. I know for us it’s given us a ground to stand on when things get crazy. Things do get crazy, we’ve seen a lot,” says Glenn sitting at Sydney’s Universal Music headquarters, his tooth still chipped from falling offstage last month. “Maybe I should keep it, my badge of honour,” he laughs.
Campbell is very diplomatic and makes it clear you don’t have to love Jehovah to be in the band. “Neon Trees has never set out to be a Mormon or Latter Day Saint band, we’re a rock n’ roll pop band and in our lives, music is just one thing that we do.”
Named after the sign that sits atop the US hamburger chain In and Out, Neon Trees have already garnered a #3 spot on the TMN Top 100 and a #30 placing on the ARIA Charts for their track Animal from their forthcoming album Habits, out on February 18. They may seem like overnight sensations here, but Habits has actually been out in their homeland for 11 months. Campbell says the hold up is due to the bands’ big break, a support spot on The Killers’ national tour.
“We were gonna come sooner but when things started to happen in the US which is hard to do in such a big territory, [the label] didn’t wanna lose that momentum,“ he says.
“It’s very rare. It scares me. I want to be able to have that success everywhere,” adds Glenn.
Neon Trees have learnt the hard way that along with success often comes ostracism. Glenn admits to losing both friends and family whilst struggling to make it with the band.
“You lose friends, I’ve lost friends through the years and peoples’ belief in you, family also. Because you say ‘I’m gonna do this, we’re gonna do this’ and it’s exciting and then you kind of fall apart and they stop believing because they think ‘how long?’”
It's clear Neon Trees isn’t just some hobby for Glenn and Campbell, the pair share the same values, beliefs, a love for Bruce Springsteen and interestingly, the same heart disease. “It’s more like a heart defect, it’s a mutated heart valve,” explains Glenn. “I faint a lot when I don’t take care of myself nutritionally…I think I’m supposed to get heart surgery when I’m 35.”
“It’s something that we have to watch out for,” adds Campbell.
After the bands’ visit here, they’ll jet to London and Paris before heading home to touch base again with their long-time fans. It’s these devout followers who keep the group grounded in the wicked world of rock.
“None of us have ever done this to be famous and I think the concept of fame is totally different now than the old days,” says Glenn. “It’s such a dead lifestyle now, I think people can go and be famous for...” Campbell finishes Glenn’s sentence, “for so many things, and not the right things anymore. So many people are famous for doing bad things or even doing tacky, embarrassing things. It’s not associated with talent.”
Where some artists refuse to speak publicly about personal opinions on pop culture and of their faith, Neon Trees are refreshingly honest. The biggest dose of religious iconography can be found in the final track on Habits, titled Farther Down, with lyrics like “Your eyes, they ate my soul, begged me to come back down," it's reminiscent of the epic poem, Dante's Inferno.
“It’s about seeing both the God and the devil and the effects of that," says Glenn. I think I’ve seen that in my life extremely, maybe not physically but there are scary moments that you have.
“You feel that darkness, you feel that sense of loneliness and I know that doesn't come from a good place. There are good things and there are bad things in life and as much as I’m a dark tormented poet guy I want good and that’s what I strive for.”
Habits is out February 18 through Universal.
Habits is out February 18 through Universal.
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