Neon Musical Insight

Considering the name of this blog, it only became a matter of time before I got the chance to interview Alan Palomo — better known as Neon Indian, who is also a key figure in the disco house band Vega. Neon Indian received a huge amount of praise last year after releasing his solo debut Psychic Chasms from predictable sources like Pitchfork and Gorilla vs. Bear to not-so-predictable one’s, like Disney tween star Demi Lovato. In this interview, we got the chance to discuss how Neon Indian first came to fruition, Palomo’s obsession with New Order and Vega’s forthcoming full-length.

NMI: You just got back from overseas, right? How’d that go?

Neon Indian: Yeah, I did. I was in Australia for a week and a half. It was amazing. The whole country was an immense culture shock for the band, but I’d actually been there back in June. I don’t think I really internalized what Australia was like until I gotten there in the summer time. We had this blizzard here in Dallas before we headed to Australia, the when we got there, it was like the hottest place on earth. It was pretty amazing.

NMI: How was the audience?

Neon Indian: They were amazing. I mean Psychic Chasms doesn’t come out for another two weeks there, so it was really just kind of a testing grounds to see what the reaction was like in a live environment, but it was mainly festivals, so you had this brief show where you were leaving a resonating impression on a new audience. The only press we’ve really had in Australia was like Triple J radio. It was kinda cool seeing people get into it regardless of not having a tangible album.

NMI: Finding out the history of musicians has been something that I’m into has always been something of interest for me. You grew up in Texas, right?

Neon Indian: Yeah, I was born in Mexico and when I was around 5 or 6 we moved to Texas. I pretty much moved around all over there my entire life. I’ve lived in San Antonio predominantly, but I had stints in Dallas and Austin, places around there.

NMI: How was that? When did you first start playing music?

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