Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Neighborhood Goliath

Originally formed in Orlando, Florida, in 2011 and relocated to England in 2016, Neighborhood Goliath are bringing together their American and British influences and creating a sound that’s uniquely their own. The band, which features Trevor Dion Nicholas (singer/lyricist/producer), Andrew Cooksley (guitarist), Steve Gilbertson (drummer), Pete Hunt (bassist), Steve Corley (pianist), and J.S.T. Andrews (co-producer), is electrifying audiences around the world with their alt-rock sound and honest, vulnerable lyrics. Shining a light on themes of love, loss, addiction, and social issues, Neighborhood Goliath have proven they can strike a chord with any listener. Pop Culturalist caught up with members Trevor Dion Nicholas and Pete Hunt to chat about the band’s success and their new single, “Dark Stars.”

PC: How did you all discover your passion for music?
Trevor: As a kid, music was always a part of my day. I used to get up early before school and put the radio on. I would sing along to every word of every song that came on then have my headphones on from the moment I left the house. My dad was a singer, so watching him was this alluring mixture of pride and inspiration, even if high school-aged Trevor drove both parents crazy when my first alternative rock band turned their garage into our own personal cave of musical experimentation.

Pete: For me, it was probably the film School of Rock, to be honest. I started playing clarinet when I was younger, but that movie came out when I was about ten, and it got me into so much music. After watching that movie, my brother took up guitar, and my sister started playing drums after, so it felt only natural to take up bass.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your careers?
Trevor: My dad of course, but I love and am constantly in awe of artists who refuse to adhere to one path or one genre. Bowie and Prince have always been big for me, the way they refuse to be contained to one label. Songwriting influences come from all over the place: an early obsession with Ben Folds and Blur, carrying into a continued fascination with Muse and all of the genre-bending that’s happened with a lot of hip-hop and alternative music over the last couple years.

Pete: For me personally, the passing away of my twin brother. He was only eleven when he died, but a lot better musician than I was at the time. So playing music was a great outlet for me and a way I could still feel connected to him. For us as a band, I think our mutual love of rock music.

PC: Tell us about your new single, “Dark Stars.” What inspired the track?
Trevor: “Dark Stars” is my anthem of willful denial! It’s inspired by that intangible electricity between two people with a new love. The tepid approach of the initial discovery, that fear of letting another person under your skin to really see who you are. The paranoia we all experience where we wonder if to know us better is to love us less. But it’s also about the end of a relationship and being unable to acknowledge the deterioration. The repeated lyric “keep pretending we don’t know what we are” carries two different meanings at the beginning and end of the song. It’s about how love can be unique and extraordinary but ultimately doomed and the refusal to accept that.

PC: How has your time in the States and England impacted your career?
Trevor: It’s been wild! I’ve lived and performed all over the place: countless different states in the US, Germany, and Japan. So a jump to London was an exciting new step. I didn’t expect to fall in love with the acting/music scene here so deeply, but this city and its blend of cultures has taught me so much about my own creative processes and how to expand my approach to music, performance, and art.

PC: What’s been the key to the band’s success?
Pete: Escapism. It’s so nice to have an outlet and a chance to create something together instead of just playing something that has already been written by someone else.

Trevor: I agree: escapism. It’s so cathartic to create something together that no one has heard or experienced yet—to build something from nothing and the moment where we all look at each other in a practice room and share our mutual expressions of excitement. The joy in that is the success itself.

PC: Of all the songs that you’ve released, if you had to choose one that best encompasses you all as a band, what would it be and why?
Pete: “Entire Life.” It’s just a banger.

Trevor: “Dark Stars,” I think. It really balances the light and the dark aspects of our sound and our creativity.

PC: As we look forward, what does 2020 hold for Neighborhood Goliath?
Pete: We spent the majority of last year in the studio, so this year it’s all about gigging and sharing our new music.

Trevor: Exactly. 2020 for us is a year of show and tell. We have a lot of music and stories within us to share. This year is dedicated to getting into the ears of brand-new people.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Pete: Hiatus Kaiyote

Trevor: Tricot, an all-female Japanese math rock trio who are absolutely unbelievable!

PC: First album you bought?
Trevor: Weezer, the first self-titled blue album.

Pete: [laughs] Busted. I was seven when that album came out.

PC: First concert you attended?
Pete: Iron Maiden in Birmingham NEC.

Trevor: My god, I can’t remember. Maybe Jimmie’s Chicken Shack or Ben Folds or even something like the Gap Band—nothing nearly as face-melting as Pete’s first!

PC: An album that changed your life and why?
Trevor: The Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness! This double album took an already fantastic goth rock/alternative sound and created this stunning, sweeping, emotionally fueled grunge masterpiece. My obsession with this album is what made me want to create rock music that was difficult to classify and exciting to unfold.

Pete: Michel Camilo’s Caribe! This live album is unreal. It just got me into a new world of thinking when it came to my own playing and musicianship. The whole band is incredible in their own right, so it led me down another path of exploring new music and players.

PC: A venue on your bucket list to perform at?
Pete: The Royal Albert Hall

Trevor: Yep, Royal Albert Hall. I’ve performed there before, but we need to perform there with Neighborhood Goliath. Anyone in a band who’s watched The Killers: Live from the Royal Albert Hall or seen any band performance there and says they don’t have an overabundance of jealousy is only lying to themselves!

PC: A must-have on the road?
Pete: A portable charger for your phone. If you don’t need it, somebody else in the band will be very grateful that you were actually organized enough to bring one.

Trevor: Baby wipes! No matter who you are or what you are needing to wipe down, at some point you’ll wish you had a baby wipe handy.

To keep up with Neighborhood Goliath, follow them on Twitter and Instagram.