Negative Pegasus

My initial reaction was that this was something that I had never heard before. This continued throughout my listening. They are extreme and creative in their use of instruments, often distorting and blending sounds together to take on a new form entirely. Their sound can sometimes be extremely eerie.

They have three band members, Richard Netley (guitar and vocals), Carla Foss (drums) and Todd Jordan (guitar and vocals). The band is southern England and all share a love for the bands that initially inspired them; Oneida (NYC rock), KILLL and Zu. although the band says their biggest influence in their early days was a small brooklyn band called Knyfe Hyts. Another band that may have inspired Negative Pegasus is My Device. My Device used similar guitar audio feedback and Todd Jordan was a member of the band until they disbanded in 2003. My Device were renowned for good humoured, energetic and occasionally destructive live performances. Some of the spirit behind My Device may have transferred to Negative Pegasus through Todd Jordan.

As can be seen below their artwork is highly creative. In a way it is almost similar to their music; distorted to be something all its own, new, unique. The choice of colour is very glaring. they use bright colours that stand out and seem to almost demand our attention. This could be for marketing purposes, to get their albums noticed when their on the shelf but I think it also fits with the bands creative style and their image

The below video is the music video for one of Neg Peg's most popular songs, Floating Omen. It is a very visually entertaining piece perhaps because you are never really sure just what is going on. Throughout the video there is so much noise coming at you, so many things happening on screen at once that you can't take it all on at once, it is difficult to pick any one thing to focus on because there is so many other things calling for your attention. This video is the half remembered, action packed dream that you had three years ago. There are no details. There's nothing but your own interpretation on what is happening. There does however seem to be an sense throughout the video that something is about to happen and you never know what it is. The video helps maintain this feeling through the use of very fast editing which keeps the pace of the video going at a very high speed. The video i some ways is similar to a live performance, despite never showing the band, though the use of the constantly flashing lights and colours. This adds an almost hypnotic style to the video, the viewer doesn't want to stop watching. This is also great marketing. The video also matches with the distorted quality of the music which gives the band a consistent feel. They use a great many video effects to achieve this distorted look and this helps add to the confusing noise of the piece. The font used to show the name of the band at 0:31, is very distorted and colourful, chaotic even. This could show the bands desire to not conform or it could be to isolate them from the crowd and make them stand out. The word 'Negative' uses darker colours than 'Pegasus', this could be to emphasis the negative as the colours have a more negative feel to them. Another use of font in the video occurs at 0:54. The words are 'Passion & Comfort' but the important thing is the graffiti like font that the band have chosen to use. This shows their rebellious nature. The video has no real setting as we can make out very little through the psychedelic colours and shapes. From what we can make out there seems to be a recurring theme of worship or religion; from Churches to Egyptian. This could perhaps hint at a social commentary. At 1:08 there is an extreme close up of an animal's eye. I think this is used to symbolise the confusion we feel on a day to day basis and that we never really 'see' anything for what it really is, just like it is almost impossible to guess what kind of animal this is, I'd wager some sort of bird but that's as close as I can get. At 1:25 we can see the word 'you' on screen. On first inspection it looks to be a simple font but then we notice that the 'o' is slightly larger than the the other two and the 'y' and 'u' seem to be stretched. This could represent that our lives our always being affected by variables outside of our control. The text continually flashes also, perhaps symbolising how fast paced life has become.

With the above example of one of their songs you can clearly here the distorted sound that seems to be their signature. It produces an almost chilling effect giving the music an eerie feeling. Coupling this with the echoed and high pitched singing it could be considered quite spooky.

As you can see in the picture below advertising the vinyl release of Looming, there is interesting use of font. The most noticeable is the blurring quality of the title and band name as it crosses onto the vinyl. This could represent the style of psych/rock that Neg Peg makes. Their distort their sound and this is represented in the font. their choice of colour for the record is also distinctive in that it is a deep yellow. This reflects their love of music and of vinyl.

'I can confirm that the 12" vinyl is a thing of genuine beauty. You may wish to buy two copies, one to play and one to put on your mum's wall' says Richard Netley in an interview with This Is Fake DIY.

Neg Peg to me seem to rely on their individuality and the uniqueness of their sound to sell their music. They know that they are a niche market and use this to their advantage, selling vinyl and making it collectable. This tells me that they have a definite target audience in mind and know what the audience wants. This is probably because they are making music that they themselves would buy and listen to, making it easy to know your audience well. To me it would seem that most of the bands on the STA roster make and sell music like this as well. If they sell a lot, great but the main focus seems to be on making music that they like and would listen to themselves.