EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: GOOD NEIGHBOURS BLUE SKY MENTALITY
From small-town daydreams to global stages, UK duo Good Neighbours have turned a spark of optimism into a worldwide phenomenon. Formed by friends Oli Fox and Scott Verrill, the band emerged from two neighboring rooms in an East London studio where late nights, cheap microphones, and a shared hunger for escape shaped their sonic identity. Within months of uploading a few demos to SoundCloud “just to test the waters,” their music began circulating through industry inboxes — a quiet experiment that snowballed into a full-blown sensation.
Their debut single “Home” would soon rewrite the rulebook for breakthrough acts, amassing over a billion streams, going Platinum on both sides of the Atlantic, and becoming the most streamed debut single globally from a new artist. Now, with the release of their first full-length album Blue Sky Mentality via Capitol/Polydor Records, Good Neighbours channel the whirlwind of the past two years into a project that feels both euphoric and grounded — a celebration of resilience, community, and finding light in the chaos.
Written across tour buses, hotel rooms, and fleeting moments between festival sets, Blue Sky Mentality captures the grit and glory of living your dream while still trying to make sense of it. It’s a record built on contrasts — bright production meets heavy truths; DIY roots meet widescreen ambition. From the unguarded intimacy of “The Buzz” to the cathartic lift of “Suburbs,” the album embodies the band’s self-declared philosophy: turning angst into optimism, pain into momentum.
As they kick off their North American headline tour with a performance at Austin City Limits, Good Neighbours invite listeners into their world — one built on friendship, vulnerability, and the belief that even in dark times, there’s always a little blue sky waiting to break through.
Read on for our exclusive interview and original portraits of Good Neighbours by Indira Cesarine for The Untitled Magazine.
You first started Good Neighbours by sharing a single SoundCloud demo — can you tell us the story of that moment and how it suddenly snowballed into a global breakthrough?
Yeah, we actually put 3 tunes onto a private link before we even knew what we were doing with them – we just felt really good about the songs and wanted to test the waters, so we found a bunch of emails for our favourite labels. I think the email was just an obnoxious subject line like ‘u shud probably listen to this,’ and the link. The music industry is nosy, and everyone likes to be the first to know, so the link got around pretty quickly.
Both of you came from small towns outside of London. How did your upbringing influence your perspective on chasing bigger dreams through music?
I think being from a smaller town, you’re constantly reminded how hard it is if your dream doesn’t come to fruition, so the last thing you want to do is shoot for the stars. That being said, as two competitive people, we wanted to prove people wrong, and I think that’s the grit you can hear throughout the lyrics of Blue Sky Mentality.
The name Good Neighbours suggests optimism and community — how did you land on that name, and how does it reflect your identity as a band?
The name came from us both sharing two neighbouring rooms in a studio complex we had with our mates in East London. The whole studio is like a family and we were all making music and figuring life out together – so it really is a small neighbourhood.
You mentioned embracing Blue Sky Mentality as your motto since day one – as a sort of escape from jobs you couldn’t stand and “some tough personal times” – can you shed some light on what life was like prior to starting the band and how you were able to channel your energy into it to change your lives?
Life was just crazy up and down, it was more of a living for the weekend mentality but when it came to the weekend you had zero energy and not a lot of money to your name. We found ourselves wanting to chase the dream of being full-time in music whilst working every part-time job under the sun, which really stripped a lot of light from our lives. So when we stumbled across Keep It Up on a random day where we both made it into the studio, we kind of sat back and realised maybe we could reframe the angst we had towards life by making it sound sonically optimistic.
Can you share insight into your musical influences and how they have impacted your sound and mentality?
We both grew up with quite different influences, which I think helps us have a unique approach and sound! Oli grew up with more Motown/Soul music in his household, so has a love for big choruses and reframing darker topics lyrically. Scott was more into his bands and the punk scene, which I think is a testament to his musicality and production.
“Home” became the most-streamed debut single globally from a new artist, earning platinum certifications around the world. Looking back, what do you think made that track connect so deeply with listeners?
The song honestly took us by surprise when it was widely received. I think it’s down to the word ‘home’ and then the message; it’s a message you can dissect in a million different ways, which is always a good place to start. On top of that, I think speaking personally on a big-sounding record invited people into the band.
Can you share how your Blue Sky Mentality philosophy shapes your debut album?
Yeah, I think it does in a bunch of ways – from using bright production to lighten heavy lyrical content, to not overthinking any of the choices and just running with the wind. It’s making the best of a bad situation, and that even applied when we didn’t have a studio and recorded some of the guitars in a bathroom stall.
Having such massive success so early in your career — did that feel like added pressure heading into your debut album?
We’d be lying if we said it wasn’t somewhere on the back of our minds, but ever since it kicked off, we’ve really just kept our heads down and kept ourselves busy on the road. There are a lot of songs on the album that we even think are better than Home, so we’re feeling good about it.
Much of the record was written on the road, in hotel rooms, and on tour buses. How did that lifestyle shape the music?
It just kept the whole process very DIY and scrappy, no fancy studios or expensive microphones. That was how we started the project when we were doing it for fun, so weirdly, not having much time or space was basically our comfort zone.
Which track on Blue Sky Mentality feels most personal to you, and why?
Probably ‘The Buzz’. Even though it’s pretty one-dimensional, it’s maybe the first time we haven’t hidden behind production, which was a freeing but delicate place to be for us. Also, just the melancholic nature of the song really resonates when I’m playing it live.
“Suburbs” is described as a message back to your younger selves about chasing bigger dreams. What dreams did you hope for back then? Did they come true?
Honestly, to be where we are now. Even though it’s a cliché thing to say, this is all a dream come true. It’s hard when you’ve worked so hard for it to take a minute to sit back and appreciate that, but we’re certainly trying.
You’ve supported acts like Benson Boone, Mumford & Sons, and Foster the People. Can you share some highlights from some of these tours? What did you learn most while touring with them?
It’s all been pretty ridiculous! Personally, I remember playing the Adidas Arena (supporting Benson) in Paris very well. It’s a mammoth venue and the crowd were going mad for us, which was sick. We’ve picked up a lot of stuff for sure. Mumford was a really insightful tour – seeing a band so tight and talented made us want to better ourselves and our show.
You will be headlining your own tour in North America this fall. What can audiences expect? What excites you most about sharing the new album live?
Honestly, it’s just going to be really fun to play the album to people who will now know the songs we’re playing. It’s always felt a little odd playing a show that’s 80% unreleased, so that familiarity is gonna give us a lot of joy. As always the shows will be very energetic and uplifting we always want the audience to leave in a better place mentally than they came.
Your shows are described as “inclusive parties.” How do you create that sense of connection on stage?
That maybe feels a bit formal haha, but yeah we always try and make it feel like the gigs that got us here – house parties or sweaty pubs. We get super involved with the audience and get everyone out of their heads for a little while so that they can let go a bit.
After such a whirlwind breakout year, what keeps you grounded as artists and as friends?
I think we’ve been incredibly lucky to travel with our best mates. Who are also playing these big venues and festivals for the first time. So there’s a real emotion that’s tied to these high highs and low lows; it makes the whole thing really set in much more for me and Scott. I also think that as two boys who have done all we can to earn the spot we’re in, we know to look around and feel the gratitude every once in a while.
Photography and interview by Indira Cesarine @indiracesarine for The Untitled Magazine
