Neil March is a composer and champion of new music. His latest four-track EP ‘Alternatives To Despair’, is a real treat and something that stands out amidst the similar-sounding shades of pop out there. No stranger to the avant-garde, Neil March prefers to go against the grain.
‘Alternatives To Despair’ has already been featured on the Tom Robinson Show (BBC Radio 6 Music) and shows on Resonance FM, Amazing Radio, Exile FM and RKC. March has also garnered a lot of support from BBC Introducing over the past few years, and was invited to perform on their stage at Latitude 2017 and at four subsequent festivals. This is an artist who we imagine is a real treat to see live; his compositions create such an atmosphere that it would be nothing short of wonderful to experience that alongside others, all in one space.
March is no stranger to pop, it's just that these days he prefers to do something a little off-kilter. Here is an artist with a broad knowledge of genre and musical arrangement. Interestingly, March's pop music career included recording deals with Unicorn Records, Bluebeat Records (then owned by Bad Manners vocalist Buster Bloodvessel) and others. Among his collaborators have been members of bands like The Specials, Dexys Midnight Runners, Wham, Maxi Priest, Sleeper, Levitation, Julian Cope, Courtney Pine’s Jazz Warriors, Ace, Ultimate Kaos, Jools Holland’s Millionaires, Helen & The Horns, Mainframe and Moving Pictures.
These days, March is known for converting everyday environmental sounds into instruments of melody and harmony playing alongside actual instruments. ‘Alternatives To Despair’ sees him use vocals for the first time, multi-tracked to create the aura of a Welsh Valleys choir. As for the meaning behind the EP?
In The Artist's Own Words
"I wanted the music to have resonance with three key stages of my life. They are – growing up on a new town estate near London adjacent to the town’s large and noisy industrial centre; spending long periods of school holidays at my grandparents’ home, a mining town in the heart of the Welsh valleys and my current life as a long-time resident of South East London involved full-time in new music."
A Passion for All Things Music
Neil March has studied and performed music for many years now, and has also managed bands as well as supporting emerging acts via his online Arts Council-funded online radio show, TV and blog Trust The Doc. All in all, March has a deep-rooted passion for all things music. He has also written a book on the topic of the music industry which you can buy HERE. Let's support Neil March just as he supports so many others in the industry.