NEONNOAH are one of the greatest things to come out of Dallas since the frozen margarita. Their music is fun, inviting, and irresistibly catchy. It’s the type of music that inspires joy and dancing. Not a single person at their album show for Bella Vita could stand still, including the band. Conner, Jacob, and Esteban are truly invested in their music, and it shows live. None of the three guys, or the other musicians who played with them, were afraid to move. They matched the energy of their music and the crowd. At one point, Esteban even came down into the crowd and jumped along with us. They really care about their music and they bring that passion to their shows.

Their Bella Vita EP is one of 2016’s best EPs, both on a local north Texas scale and a national scale. The sound, while infectious, is solid musically. Conner, Jacob, and Esteban are clearly talented separately but together created an EP that flows. None of them outshine the other, but instead, they work together to on songs that are just as much fun to blast in the car with the windows down as they are to hear live.

The guys themselves are also fantastic. I got the chance to interview them the day after their show and had a great time. Their passion is palpable and lit up their faces whenever they talked about their music. They really care about what they do but maintain humility. They take nothing for granted and truly appreciate their fans and the success they’ve had.

Conner, Jacob, and Esteban are also some of the most down to earth people I have ever met. They have a genuine sense of gratitude about them and are just very real. We had no issues talking for almost 30 minutes in the actual interview before Esteban took off to spend time with his dad. Conner, Jacob, and I continued to talk after I was done asking questions, and we ended up hanging out for almost an hour. I don’t know how they feel about this, but I’ve decided that means we’re best friends now.

Check out the interview below!

Jacob: Conner and I grew up together, in Frisco, then he went off to college and met Estie. And then we kind of were friends for a little bit and then idk we just kind of naturally stated playing music together

Esteban: it was one of the most organic processes all around

Jacob: and we kind of put out disaster and people liked it so we were kind of like hey let’s do this.

Esteban: I force myself to say this at every interview because it’s so cool, but we met at the same college that Jerry J. Lewis got kicked out of.

Esteban: Frightened Rabbit, I was literally listening to Frightened Rabbit on my way down. And all of the new Bon Iver songs that are out.

Connor: the sky-high soundtrack, that’s seriously at the top. Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay, that’s good. Oh, I just recently listened to Kings of Leon’s first album.

Is that just what y’all like? I mean the sky-high…

C: Snowcone Lady

J: Snowcone Lady

E: Honestly I hated it.

E: I got the salty dog and I was mad.

J: I like Bahama bucks but it’s expensive and I always end up getting the ice cream in it.

C: Yeah, it’s more of a dessert than like a snowcone.

J: And you can get the snowballs at Bahama Bucks and I just think that’s the coolest thing in the world

C: 3, 2, 1.

J: Trader Joe’s.

C: Trader Joe’s.

E: Walmart, just kidding. Trader Joe’s 100% .

J: It would be cool in Central Market I think.

C: Walmart would be cool.

E: Honestly anywhere. But like, Trader Joe’s.

C: I hear that Brandon Flowers is in Target so that’d be cool. I like Target but it’s not really a grocery store.

E: I think anywhere but Whole Foods honestly.

E: No, not if people are like buying $40 waters while listening to neonnoah. There’s this thing called asparagus water. It’s a bottle of water with asparagus in it and it's $10, like are you kidding me?

E: Crunchy.

J: I like smooth. I guess I could do crunchy, but it’s kind of weird to me.

C: I hate when I’m spreading it and the bread just kind of rips.

J: Is the crunchy healthier?

E: It’s less processed I think.

J: I’ll do crunchy then.

E: Trader Joe’s braaaaaand.

J: I eat peanut butter jellies a couple times every time a week.

C: Yeah, me too.

J: But I always get the really nice strawberry jam.

E: You know what I do want to try? I’ve been seeing these ads on Instagram for super raw honey. It’s in a jar and it looks like peanut butter and it’s just wicked raw honey.

C: I think it takes your allergies away or something.

J: I work at hope fellowship in Frisco.

C: We do part time stuff there and I also work at Emporium Pies in Deep Ellum.

E: I’ve been getting into doing music teaching again.

J: I think for me, it sounds kind of cheesy and overdramatized, but when you’re a kid and growing up, there’s just like this intangible feeling of being young and being at a show and all that. I think it’s just cool to be on the other side of that and able to perform and have kids be part of that from the other perspective. I don’t know, it’s just fun and I think there’s something special about it.

E: There’s like a minute and a half where you get on stage and your intro track is playing. You’re putting your guitar on and just getting ready, but there’s like a minute and a half span where all of these emotions build up inside of you and they’re right there and you know you’re just about to do this release for 30 minutes. Like you forget about everything so fast because of it. I remember that minute and a half before, then the show happens, and then like 15 minutes later. But that minute and a half, I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything like that in my life.

C: It’s weird having attention on you for 30-45 minutes because it can either be really cool or it can be awful, not going to lie. I like it when like there are a lot of people singing along. Like last night, there were a lot of people singing along and it was really cool.

J: We’re small enough that it doesn’t feel like performing, at least not for me.