We have been singing the praises of Belfast electronic pop duo New Portals for a while, since we’ve become suitably enamoured with the bands eclectically thrilling soundscapes. So, when given the opportunity to score some chat time with the promising newcomers, we leaped at thechance to discover the stories behind our current, favourite New Portals tracks “Stereo” and “Groove Boy” – and sneak in a question, enquiring about how the husband/wife team became the band that they are..
We absolutely love your song ‘Stereo’ as it’s a little bit more pop as opposed to your more downtempo, groovy tracks. Tell us a little bit about that track.
We collaborated with a new producer for that song. To be honest it was a little bit of an artistic risk for us because of the little drop section which can be a little marmite for some people. But in the end we liked it and thought we’d go with it because it worked and it blended really well with our EP.
We actually wrote that song quite awhile ago but chose to not use it for New Portals. We thought the song was a little too teenage for us so we gave it to a teenage girl artist to sing on another label back home. They played around with it and after listening to it, we were never really that happy with it as it was a strong song. So we asked the label if we could have it back and they agreed.
I think it was an artistic risk that paid off though – I absolutely love the record.
There have been a few write ups saying ‘it’s a bit weird’. There is a part in the song with some interference and distortion which sounds like another window is being opened on your computer – and that’s what we thought when we heard it too, but we like it.
I’m very curious about how you guys came to be the New Portals because you both are a husband and wife team – so how did this happen?
We met a gig like many moons ago and had one of those relationships based on music at the time. We’d like play guitar in our bedroom and write songs for leisure. We were like a harmonizing couple and a bit much for other people – like who would want to hang out with us? It was just like a hobby/leisure thing – we were always hanging out with each other.
Ruth has an identical twin sister and a brother and they were always writing songs together. So when I met Ruth at age 15, I kinda joined the family. It’s just been really organic and we’ve been doing that ever since.
Another song I really enjoy of yours is ‘Groove Boy’. Tell us a little bit about that track.
Ruth and I have friends who we spoke to about ‘affairs’ and things and in movies that’s quite commonly portrayed. So when someone is having an affair, they will grow more and more distant from their partner and become more resentful towards them. But in ‘Groove Boy’ we talk about how it might be different. So the idea of the song is that if you have a one night stand and your partner might be more nicer to you – you might feel like ‘what’s up?’ What’s going on? The song talks a little bit about the grey area. The moral of the story is if your partner is being nicer to you, something might be going on…
Since the release of their gorgeous, sonically adventurous debut EP “Stereo”, New Portals have now headed back into the studio to work up some new material. Whilst, they are busy cooking up some new otherworldly, audiolicious beats we thought it would be fitting to round up by giving the video to “Groove Boy” a feature as it hasn’t made an appearance on the pages of EQ Music before. It’s sensually, dreamy tones and evocative lyrics are brought to life with moody and mysterious footage. A cover up for illicit trysts? Since we’ve already quizzed the duo about this, we have no need to search for answers!