With the release of their debut album Flourish set for February 15th 2021 via Niteo Records, Bristol electronic duo The Actions open up to ContactMusic about their hopes for the future and the inspirations behind their sound.

The ActionsThe Actions

For those who may be new to your music, how best would you describe your sound?

Dark electronica with dirty bass, cinematic guitars and dreamlike female vocals. 

What challenges have you faced in the music industry so far?

Too numerous to mention. Music industry is a suffering animal and it’s been hard to see it fighting to stay alive across the decades. We’re just one of the independent bands out there working their socks off doing what they do best. You need to be strong, music life is really tough. 

How difficult would you say this career path is in terms of making a name for yourself?

Thanks for the question, we think it’s just a matter of finding your niche today. To find people who like your music and support you, who come to your gigs and buy your records, it doesn’t really matter how big your audience is, the most important thing is how solid it is and the way you act in order to stay always true to them. 

How important is it for you to have creative control over the work you produce?

Well, it’s vital. This doesn’t mean we’re not open to external ideas or influences, it’s just that we worked a lot on ourselves, artistically and technically, for so long that it’s very difficult for us to let others control our stuff. It goes without saying, of course, that there are unbelievably great producers we could blindly give the tracks to and then come back in the studio only to listen to the final product.

Where do you draw influence and inspiration from for your work?

In first place from the music we love, we mean others’ music, records, gigs etc... Then there is general life, science, politics, and of course all forms of art.

If you could collaborate with anybody going forward, who would you choose and why?

There are tons of talented artists that in a way or another influenced our latest work. In a dreamy future we would love to collaborate with (randomly) Low, Beak>, Massive Attack, CUTS, Get The Blessing, Kim Gordon, Tricky, IDLES...

Tell us a random, funny fact about you that not many people know.

A few years ago we decided to be a duo, abandoning the trio formula, and the funniest thing for us is asking ourselves why we didn’t do that earlier???

Do you have definitive aims or goals for your career?

Of course we have aims, and we’ve been working hard all these years in that direction. 

Being focused on making music, rehearsing, playing live, recording/producing/selling records, knowing other artists, getting in touch with people in the industry. Curating your image is an everyday workout. 

Where do you hope to be this time next year?

Obviously we hope to be on the road playing gigs in the winter and festivals in the summer, but we reckon that, with all the mess caused by the pandemic, the climate crisis, plus the man destroying himself and other species, it’s better to make short-term plans and accomplish them one at a time.

What should we expect from you in the coming weeks and months?

Our new album ‘Flourish’ will be out on 15th Feb 2021, we’re going to release a few singles before then. We hope to be back on stage as soon as it will be practically possible. Everyone needs live music.