There are handful of bands that are pure gems in the UK and one of them is the almighty Londoner’s that are Neuronspoiler! These guys have been around for over decade and have put out a number of killer releases with their most recent effort being “Spoiled For Choice” in 2020! The band caught up with TheNwothm for a really insightful interview!

THE NWOTHM: Hey Neuronspoiler, can you introduce us to the members of the band and where you are from?

NS: We’ve got JR on vocals, David on lead guitar, Adam on lead guitar and Lukasz on bass. We’re Londoners but some of us have exotic origins, like Barnet. We are currently looking for a drummer after our previous drummer of 6 years Matt decided to leave.

THE NWOTHM: How did Neuronspoiler form and is there any insightful story surrounding its formation?

NS: David founded the band back in the Mesozoic era circa 2009. JR joined soon after and the full lineup recorded the EP No One’s Safe (2010). The band was born at the height of the global financial crash so an anti-establishment sentiment has always been a part of our ethos.

THE NWOTHM: How did you choose Neuronspoiler as the bands name? And did you have any other band names before?

NS: The name “Steel Building” was already under copyright apparently 😉 . Neuronspoiler means a head f*ck basically. Neuronspoiler first came to being as a song title, trying to follow footsteps of Jawbreaker, Powerslave, Hammerhead and so on but eventually it grew as a concept that encapsulated nicely what we were trying to do at the time.

THE NWOTHM: As a band, who would you say your biggest influences in life have been, both musically and outside of music?

NS: We all have different tastes in music, the usual suspects Priest and Maiden but there are a few common influences that we share; like we admire James Brown’s work ethic, Dio’s otherworldly magic, Devin Townsend’s refusal to conform as well as individual influences of each band member. We are big fans of Helloween and Gamma Ray too. A special shout to the good old guard of the NWOBHM like Grim Reaper,Demon, Saxon, etc.

THE NWOTHM: Can you tell us more about your instruments? What brands do you play with etc?

NS: David is an old school Jackson disciple but has recently been extolling the virtues of a sweet PRS that he used on recordings. He pairs that with a stadium ready 100 watt Hughes and Kettner amp. JR uses AKG mics live, a cheap and cheerful LD Systems in ear monitor with custom moulds and has only ever recorded with a Neumann mic in the studio. Lukasz uses a custom bass guitar made for him by Polish luthiers – Malwood Instruments, but he is also a big fan of Spector basses.

Soundwise he became fond of amp modeling and is using NeuralDSP products both for stage purposes and for recordings. Adam also has a taste for Polish wood, rocking a Mayones guitar as well as a couple of workhorses from ESP and Schecter. He also has a foot in the digital world, employing a Line 6 Helix but will probably be dead in the cold hard ground before you separate him from his EVH 5150 amp. Neuronspoiler exclusively uses Klotz cables and Dean Markley strings

THE NWOTHM: In your music collections what records would you say are your most prized possessions/favourites?

NS: JR loves his vinyl original with the banned artwork for Appetite for Destruction and his back catalogue of 80s Metal Edge and Hit Parader magazines. David: I’m glad to still own the original release of Megadeth’s So Far, So Good… So What! Not sure removing the reverb for the 2004 re-release was a good thing, it might some clearer but some of the magic’s gone somehow. Adam: Master of Puppets was the first album I ever bought.

I was 8 years old and 8 year old me would never in a million years have expected that some 25 years later I’d be recording Spoiled for Choice with the man who produced Master (Flemming Rasmussen). It may not be an original choice but it’s always been a hugely special album to me and now has even more of a resonance through the experience of working with
Flemming.

THE NWOTHM: If you could hang out with anyone from the past or present, dead or alive who would it be and why?

NS: See Dio above and definitely Tony Iommi. George Carlin. Ric Flair would be a good, calming influence on the band. Woo!

THE NWOTHM: How do you go about writing lyrics for your records and where do you gain inspiration from?

NS: Our lyrics are influenced by what we see all around us, we happily explore the darker side of life through art. We have a strong thread of social commentary running through our albums as well. JR is particularly proud that the word “baby” has never been used on a Neuronspoiler song, ever.

THE NWOTHM: Can you tell us more about your releases prior to ‘Spoiled For Choice’ and any stand out songs you think people should check out?

NS: Its difficult to choose individual songs, as those records represent that moment in time for us, where we were as a band. The EP is raw and youthful, whereas Spoiled for Choice represents more variety in our songwriting.

THE NWOTHM: From your previous releases, which songs would you say are your personal favourites?

NS: Murder City as it seems to be one of our most underrated songs for some reason…
Lukasz is particularly fond of Words, Words, Words from the 2010 EP No one’s safe.

THE NWOTHM: Can you tell us more about the artists behind your artworks? The records all have a very distinct style!

NS: We’ve had the good fortune of having J. Otto Szatmari creating the cover artwork for our last two albums, his skills at futuristic landscapes are without equal and he’s always a great pleasure to work with, he’s also a bass player so he understands really well how to get along with musicians. Having futuristic artwork has been an excellent way of staying away from old and tired tropes in metal, there are enough albums with skulls, blood, gore and demons in this world already.

THE NWOTHM: Your latest release is ‘Spoiled For Choice.’ Can you tell us about the album, the songs and the writing process behind the record?

NS: This is an album in which the boundaries of melodic heavy metal were pushed as far a possible in each of the ten songs. The aim was to take the listener to a journey of all the many elements and influences the band has to offer and thus demonstrate that there’s still so much room for expression in this style of music often seen as stale and rigid.

With that in mind the songwriting process was also as varied as possible, some
songs only have riffs written recently but others are comprised of reworked ideas from many years ago, some songs have music written before lyrics but others are the opposite, some songs were written by one or two people but others were a band effort, no idea was too crazy in the creative process this time.

THE NWOTHM: Do you have any favourite places or countries that you love to play?

NS: Poland for sure. We’ve played a number of cities there and we’ve always been welcomed with open arms. We also played an amazing outdoor open air festival in Romania and that was an unforgettable experience. Maybe one day Latin America will be a viable option. Unfortunately when it comes to venues closer to home, many of our favourites are no longer open but the Cavern (no not THAT one) always look after us extremely well.

THE NWOTHM: Do you have any interesting and insightful stories from the road?

NS: Our tour in 2017 with Ripper Owens has to be a highlight on what not to do: if your band wants to tour the UK do NOT do it in a camper van, you think you’ll save money in hotels but they’re a nightmare to park at venues, recharge, among many other issues…
We have loads of great stories but our lawyers won’t let us tell them anymore.

THE NWOTHM: What are your tour plans for 2023? Do you have any big tours of festivals lined up?

NS: This year will see the band consolidate our lineup and enter a songwriting phase with a view to recording new material for release sometime in the near future. Gigs will be limited this year, but once the new recordings are released we will play anywhere and everywhere.

THE NWOTHM: A few years have past since the last album. Will you be writing/ releasing new music in 2023?

NS: We’re working on it.

THE NWOTHM: Where can people check you out on social media and buy your music/merch?

NS: Across socials Instagram and Facebook – from the Bronze age.

Bandcamp: https://neuronspoiler.bandcamp.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Neuronspoiler

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3JP4fvk

THE NWOTHM: is there anything else you would like to mention?

NS: Let’s all of us forget the shitty pandemic years and bring back the glory days of Rock ’n Roll!