{"id":35597,"date":"2025-03-28T16:22:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T16:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/quench\/?p=35597"},"modified":"2025-03-28T16:22:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T16:22:24","slug":"in-conversation-with-remote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/quench\/music\/in-conversation-with-remote\/","title":{"rendered":"In Conversation with Manchester’s Indie-Pop Duo ‘Remote’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u2018We just wanted to tell people \u2013 we feel this, and people don\u2019t really talk about it. We wanted this to be played to our past selves\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of the release of their debut EP \u2018I Need More Time\u2019 in November 2024, I had the opportunity to speak with Manchester\u2019s indie-pop duo, Alex and Reuben of Remote, diving into the meaning behind their debut EP \u2018I Need More Time\u2019, and their journey to its release. Centred around their experiences as early twenty-year-olds, the Mancunian pair\u2019s five-track EP self-consciously explores the pressures, confusion and sentimentalities experienced in life post-university. \u00a0Emerging onto the music scene in 2021 with their single \u2018aMeRiCa\u2019 (2021), the lockdown-born band have been on the up ever since, creating tenderly fresh and vibrant self-produced songs that are fizzing to be played live as they embark on their journey into the world of supporting and headline gigs. Whilst the pair have built a strong foundation for themselves, with lots of exciting opportunities in store and on the horizon, I was curious to find out what Remote <\/em>looked like in its earliest days, before the release of their debut EP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winding back the years to pre-COVID Manchester, Alex and Reuben recalled how their journey began in sixth form when Alex\u2019s music teacher Ian would encourage students to write and perform their songs to pupils in the canteen at lunchtime \u2013 which Alex did. The pair laughed about how \u2018everyone would just be chilling and eating their lunch, and then this band would come down and play so loudly\u2019<\/em> to an audience of unsuspecting spectators who were probably more concerned with the price of their ham and cheese paninis or whether they had enough time to finish their pasta before the bell rang. However, there was clear genius to this idea, as whilst giving music students experience and exposure to a pre-made audience (whether the audience members were willing participants or not), it also led to the birth of Remote<\/em>.\u00a0 Whilst Alex was encouraged to showcase his musical talent in the lunch hall, Reuben\u2019s desire to make music was growing, as he recounted: \u2018As it turns out, at the same time I was thinking that I really want to start doing music \u2013 like producing a bit more and writing stuff \u2013 and I was like you know I really want to get in touch with a singer\u2019<\/em>. Luckily enough, the now-duo were in the right place at the right time one lunchtime in 2020:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I literally walked into this canteen and Alex was singing away and I thought \u201cHe is sick!\u201d, so I recorded Alex singing in his band just as a weird way to go \u201coh, now I need your number to send you the video\u201d<\/em> And then it kind of went from there.\u2019 <\/em>(Reuben).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the college canteen transformed from a hub of gossip and meal deals, into the student equivalent of LinkedIn <\/em>for musicians, as Alex and Reuben joined forces. However, shortly after the duo formed, the land of lunchtime gigs \u2013 and any kind of gig for that matter \u2013 came under threat as the country plunged into lockdown in March of 2020. In a time of incredible uncertainty, the prospect of live performance and in-person collaboration was therefore off the cards for Alex and Reuben \u2013 but their passion and determination did not let their aspirations dwindle as they made the best out of a bad situation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Through covid we carried on doing music remotely \u2013 that\u2019s literally the essence of our name \u2013 we\u2019d literally send logic files to each other, and I\u2019d just produce a bit and then Reuben would produce a bit and send it back to me \u2013 it would go back and forth like ping-pong and by 2021 we put our first track out.\u2019 <\/em>(Alex).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although working remotely had some perks as it ultimately became the band\u2019s namesake, I appreciated how it must\u2019ve been difficult to navigate the musical world in such a strange and isolating time and posed a question asking how they managed to work through such difficulties:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We navigated it budget consciously, and you can hear the added tools we get in our songs \u2013 for our first song, Alex has a USBC mic and that was it and I used the keyboard on my mac. For \u2018America\u2019, we recorded the drums through my phone microphone and my laptop, and I pieced them all together and fixed them. We were very much trial and error \u2013 but it worked.\u2019 (Reuben).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When lockdown restrictions lifted, Remote <\/em>had their first track \u2018aMeRiCa\u2019 (2021) under their belt and since released two singles \u2018homewrecker\u2019 (2021) and \u2018Transpennie trail\u2019 (2022) whilst they studied at different universities. After establishing their career remotely \u2013 in lockdown and at university \u2013 since graduating the duo have been able to collaborate in their shared studio, leading to the release of their first EP \u2018I Need More Time\u2019 (2024). In the early days of the creation of their debut EP, Alex and Reuben were deliberating what they should call the record, wanting the name to reflect and perfectly sum up the tone of the songs as a collective:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u2018The name literally came from a conversation we both had in Reuben\u2019s room when we were thinking about what to call this project that we wanted to do \u2013 we had no idea what we wanted to call it. And then Reuben said \u201cI just need more time to figure it out and more time to think about it\u201d and I thought \u2013 wait, that\u2019 a really good name!\u2019 <\/em>(Alex).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar to how Reuben coincidentally stumbled upon Alex\u2019s entrancing vocals in the college canteen, the name of their debut record was naturally stumbled upon in casual conversation, accrediting to the duo\u2019s authentic nature. This authenticity softly underpins \u2018I Need More Time\u2019, as Alex and Reuben self-consciously explore the feelingly unconquerable maze of post-graduate life, extending a comforting hand to others attempting to make sense of this limbo part of adulthood. As we discussed their new EP it was clear to see how creativity flows freely and passionately from the pair. They expressed how the songs on their self-written and self-produced EP were written in a non-chronological order, proving that their creativity drives their music candidly and without limitation; the melody of one of their songs even came to them sporadically in the kitchen. We delved into the meanings behind each track on the EP, with Alex and Reuben summarising each one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n