Q&A: Chicago Indie-Rock Sensation Neptune’s Core Releases Double Single “Box / Anyways”
CHICAGO-BASED ALTERNATIVE INDIE-ROCK BAND — Neptune's Core treated fans to a hard-hitting double single release, "Box" and "Anyway.” With each track, the band charts fresh sonic territory with gripping lyricism and slick instrumentation that complement one another.
"Box" and "Anyway" each scratch a new itch for the band, achieving a powerful, particular sound the band has yet to fully touch until this point. It wasn't until a late night studio session that Sofie Richter (vocals/guitar) landed on a specific melody that prompted the punchy "Box" to form, and in that moment, each bandmate knew it was something special.
"We all were beaming and screaming and we just felt so good,” Richter said. “The four of us all hopped in the vocal room and together, recorded the lyrics, 'over again, never be all yours.' Creating this part of the song is one of my favorite memories of being a musician."
Both tracks feature contrasting vocal parts that encourage listeners to really listen. For the first time, "Anyway," brought Richter and Jackie Cywinski (vocals/guitar) together as co-writers. Emotionally stirring and delicately dreamy, Hannah Richter (bass) says the track stands out from the rest of the band's music. "It's unlike any of our other songs in how subtly bold it is. We experimented a lot with this song and I think it shows in the breathtaking melody. The feeling this song evokes in me is one that is hard to put into words because I feel like the instrumentation does the talking, but 'Anyway' feels like space."
In August 2023, Neptune's Core shared their honest, dynamic EP Called Upon. The collection sees the four-piece at their most vulnerable and is true to who they are now–one that captures their growth, pain, joy and everything in between as they continually discover themselves.
“Called Upon is a beautifully diverse EP that truly shows how we work together in order to make music that is alive,” Jackie Cywinski says. “The parts all four of us play separately naturally intertwine into unique, dynamic songs that we are extremely proud of."
Neptune's Core, made up of two sets of sisters, is carving their own path with raw lyricism and their own expansive, genre-blending sound. Together, Neptune’s Core brings their heartfelt lyrics to life with their unique blend of rock, jazz and classical roots. Committed to being unapologetically themselves, the group cultivates a high-energy, warm environment with their captivating stage presence and ability to foster meaningful connections with their fans.
LUNA: Thank you for sitting down and talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar yet, what inspires your artistic style and creative persona?
NEPTUNE’S CORE: I think we see our music is like a melting pot for a lot of different genres, and we love to have fun with it and combine all of our different backgrounds. We're all either classically trained or trained in jazz and I think that has a big effect on how we work together. That theoretical background also has really helped how we write music and that whole process of putting some of that style into our music. As songwriters, Jackie and Sofie use it as an emotional outlet, and that’s helped us to put all of our feelings somewhere into lyrics where you can identify those feelings and give name to those emotions, and it’s really cathartic to play it.
LUNA: Say if someone hasn’t heard of your music yet, which song would you introduce your discography to and why do you gravitate towards that song?
NEPTUNE’S CORE: I would say maybe our song “Inside” or one of the songs on our new double-sided single “Box,” because I feel like those songs represent two different sides of us and our music. I think both are very powerful and what they expressed. I think they're both very mentally complex, but also the vocals are very powerful and it's very playful with Sofie’s nice vocals and harmonies, especially “Box.” I think that's a very good introduction to us.
LUNA: You guys are part of Chicago’s music scene, and for any readers who aren’t familiar with Chicago’s music scene, how has its community inspired or impacted your sound?
NEPTUNE’S CORE: I think there's no better place to grow as a band than in Chicago. I think we're just surrounded by inspiring musicians and mentors all around – especially female mentors. Finom is super inspiring and they’ve helped us in so many ways. Kiana is also a really inspiring artist. Even being at SXSW, it’s a really great example of the Chicago music scene. I think it's really special that so many of my favorite musicians and bands have come from a place so close to us, like there's an endless amount of music that you can hear. I just feel very lucky that it's in such close proximity that I can meet them, talk to them, see them as mentors and watch their shows.
LUNA: You just put out your double single release “Box / Anyways.” I love how you experimented sonically with these releases compared to your Called Upon EP and truly adds to the diversity of your discography. What is the inspiration behind the songs and how did the creative process look like?
NEPTUNE’S CORE: The creative process was less independent, but specifically in “Box,” Sofie brought a chord progression and Jackie would write vocal parts separately and not tell each other and see where they ended up. They ended up perfectly complimenting each other. The song worked out perfectly. I think that in both of these songs, we've done a lot more in terms of writing vocal parts separately and putting them together. I think it's been risky, in a sense, but it always pays off. Even in the studio, we've seen our studio time as a chance to explore and experiment even more. Kaitlin really got the chance to dive into a lot of stuff for drums. I think not only collaborating more while writing the song together in our basement, but in the studio, and constantly creating and forming the songs while recording it was really different and big for us. I feel like it's easy for some sound engineers to focus on one thing and then completely disregard another but with Doug from Jamdek and Scott from Trigger, they both did a great job of focusing on all parts and making everyone feel heard and have everything be elevated rather than just like one thing over another. I think they're both wonderful sound engineers and it was a pleasure working with them.
LUNA: “Box / Anyways ” is your first release of the year. Have you experimented or taken more creative risks, either lyrically, sonically or emotionally with this release compared to the Called Upon EP?
NEPTUNE’S CORE: I think a different style has been a huge change. As we played more and more music with each other, we became more of a unit which allows the writing process to be expedited and we can be a cohesive unit in the way that we go about songwriting. The sky’s the limit. We’ve been doing all sorts of cool things, and there’s a lot of unreleased song material that we still have we’re playing live but obviously not released yet. We really have been dwelling into the idea of sounding like one unit and having all of our parts flow with each other like Sophie and Jackie with their vocals. They're a lot more rhythmic and melodic than even the specific lyrical meaning. We’ve come together into this one piece and a unified sound, instead of four people playing music together.
LUNA: How was your experience playing SXSW?
NEPTUNE’S CORE: We’re about to play our last show today. We’ve had eight total throughout the week and there’s been so much support. We've met so many great people, and even though it was intimidating having three shows a day, it definitely felt like we just worked our asses off and had a great time. I couldn't ask for anything better, like it turned out perfectly and I'm really excited to play our last show tonight.
LUNA: What was the most memorable experience from SXSW?
NEPTUNE’S CORE: Hanging out together and walking around has been so fun for me, like we got really good like burgers last night and we were laughing our asses off at the restaurant on the patio. We were just cracking up and then after that, we were walking around and listening over the fences and gates as other bands played, and it's just cool to be in a space with so many creative people. It's very stimulating and inspiring. I think taking in our surroundings and being together, it's been a great time. SXSW has so much to offer. Honestly, no place like this on Earth and I'm so glad that we got to experience it. I think one of the most memorable moments for me is how on Wednesday, we had three shows and I could just feel how proud we all were, even though we were fucking exhausted and sweaty and out of breath. It really showed us what we could do.
LUNA: What kind of atmosphere or emotional space do you aim to create for listeners?
NEPTUNE’S CORE: I think we aim to create a space that is very open and honest. We never hesitate to let the listener in on how we're feeling, so I hope we can create a mutual space where there's just comfort in feeling. I think that our listener should feel heard and not judged at all. I feel like music is very powerful and we want our music to feed into the souls of others. We really like connecting with our listeners too, especially from a live aspect. We love when the crowd can dance with us, or if there's a sad or a more emotional song, when people are listening and reciprocating and you can just feel the flow of energy. We have fun and being able to dance and talk about the songs with our listeners after shows is really special to me.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would like to share with Luna?
NEPTUNE’S CORE: I feel really proud of what we've accomplished so far, especially in the last year. We've been really working hard and it feels like it's paying off. I think in the future, we're going to keep getting more passionate about what we're doing. I think we're all really excited about what's next, and we've gotten good feelings about it. I'm really excited to keep experimenting, keep trying new things sonically, keep meeting amazing people and exploring new places. I think there's a lot of excitement. We're hitting the East Coast at the end of March for our first East Coast tour, and that's something that's right on the horizon that we're really excited about.
