Near Death Experience (NDX) Brings a Mesmerizing Summer Groove with New Single 'Trance'

Get ready to groove into a hazy summer daze with London’s psychedelic rock’n’soul superheroes, Near Death Experience (NDX). Their highly addictive and mesmerizing new single, 'Trance,' is set to release on Friday, 2nd August. Perfect for those sweltering, sun-soaked days with a storm brewing on the horizon, 'Trance' combines cool retro grooves with a hypnotic vibe. Featuring award-winning drummer Josh Van Ness, funky chord chops from Ian Whiteling, and Jack Dawkins' cool saxophone stabs, the track promises to be a summer anthem that will keep the heat on through autumn and beyond. Join us as we delve into the creative minds behind NDX and discover the magic of 'Trance.'

1. Your new single "Trance" has a mesmerizing and addictive vibe. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the song and how it came together?

The opening line “I’m walking in a trance, I’ve gotta find someone to dance with” along with the melody literally popped into my head a few months ago. As I’m a copywriter by trade as well as a song writer, this happens quite a lot. I then quickly grab my iPhone and record these random ideas. Some I take further, some I don’t. 

For this song, the whole verse came pretty quickly afterwards. Then for some reason I thought it would be a great idea for the chorus to start with a Robert Plant style “Ooooooooo!”, while also imagining what kind of lyrics he might sing. Et voila, ’Trance' the song was born, which I then took to my acoustic guitar, starting the verse in Am with a funky strum, and then plunging into the chorus on a big open E major chord. I was aiming for something weird and wonderful, which I think I’ve achieved. So, inspiration: Robert Plant. Process: Spontaneous! 

2. The blend of influences in "Trance" ranges from Bowie and Iggy Pop to Roxy Music and Talking Heads. How do you approach combining these different sounds and styles into your music?

I’m obsessed with 60s and 70s music. Everything from The Doors and Bowie, to Roxy Music, Talking Heads, the Stones, Beatles and Led Zeppelin, plus the soul and funk of James Brown, early Stevie Wonder, Isaac Hayes, Marvin Gaye and, probably my favourite soul man, Curtis Mayfield. So with all these incredible sounds and styles running through my veins and my brain, it’s a pretty natural process from a songwriting perspective. I love crafting songs ‘properly’ with carefully thought out verse, chorus, bridge, etc, even if their beginnings can be very spontaneous. And the 60s and 70s were the decades of true songcraft.

In terms of arrangements, I work with some great musicians who are similarly inspired and totally understand where I'm coming from. So the template is there, which we then adorn, and another NDX song materialises. Once all our parts are recorded I sit down to finesse the arrangement and production, and the 60s/70s psychedelic soul rock vibe is infused even more. 

3. The track features some standout moments, like Jack Dawkins’ saxophone solos and Josh Van Ness’ thumping 60s beats. Can you share more about the collaborative process within the band when creating this song?

Currently we must have one of the craziest ways of recording. The core of NDX right now is just me (Ian Whiteling – vocals, guitar) and Amar Grover (bass guitar – a lovely blonde Rickenbacker). But we have other key collaborators. Jack’s based in Watford in the UK, not too far from my and Amar’s Ealing, London base. But Josh lives in New York. Jack offered his services when we performed alongside a electro-swing band he plays with, while Josh invited us to support his US band on their 2023 tour of London, later asking if we’d like him to drum for us too. So how does that all work in practice?

Well, I write the songs, then work through the initial arrangement with Amar. I then record a version featuring just acoustic guitar and vocals alongside a drum machine beat. This is then emailed to Josh in NYC, who records and mixes all the drum tracks, and shares them with me through Dropbox – I know, how incredible is that! I drop them all into GarageBand on receipt, and Amar joins me in my recording loft space to lay down the bass guitar, while Jack then comes over to record a few saxophone takes. I then mix and produce the song, blending all the elements, sending it over to our regular mastering engineer – the amazing Pete Maher – to get it ‘release ready’. 

I know that our retro ‘live’ sound almost feels like we’ve performed it together in the studio. In fact, the process is totally remote. The key to our sound is how the instruments are recorded. Josh has a great drum recording set up, while I've carefully chosen a microphone that’s designed to record vocals and acoustic instruments. It’s the British-made Aston Origin and it’s great for acoustic guitar and saxophone, along with my voice. Jack actually loves the sound I get for his sax! 

This is how we worked for ’Trance’ and our previous single ’Soul’, and we have three more songs in the pipeline featuring Josh's drumming at various stages of the production process.  Our live set up is me and Amar, plus our live London and Madrid-based drummer Isidro Thomas, with Jack and our new keyboard player Andy Grigg joining us when required.

4. Your lyrics in "Trance" talk about walking in a trance and finding someone to dance with. What message or story are you hoping to convey through these words?

The lyrics were really spontaneous, clearly bubbling up from deep in my subconscious, which naturally gives them an air of mystery and intrigue. As such, they are really for the listener to interpret as they want. I’ve painted a word picture, given it a vibe through music and have set it free for each individual listener to make of it what they will – to own it for themselves. 

For me, it’s come to reflect that feeling you get when you’re in a great venue, or bar, or at a festival when you feel at one with your surroundings and on autopilot wandering, interacting, dancing and hugging the great people you’re with. That’s why I wanted a kind of hypnotic but funky feel. But I’m happy for people to see it as they want to.  

5. As summer fades, how do you see "Trance" fitting into the seasonal transitions, and what do you hope listeners take away from this song as they carry its groove into autumn and beyond?

I hope people will love listening to ’Trance’ across the summer, losing themselves in its groove, weirdness and rising and falling pattern, as they drink in the warmth of a summer’s day or drive and fly off on their vacations. Then, during autumn and winter, they’ll dive back into the song and it will brighten, warm and cheer up a cold grey day.