Introducing: Pavey Ark

21/11/2025

Cinematic indie-folk from Hull…

Hull-based collective Pavey Ark have been crafting their unique blend of cinematic indie-folk since 2016. With a new album on the way, songwriter Neil Thomas talks musical escapism, orchestral collaborations, Yorkshire influences and what happens when you order port instead of beer on a festival rider.

YOUR NAME:
Neil Thomas

BAND NAME:
Pavey Ark

WHAT DO YOU DO/PLAY?
Singer-songwriter and guitarist

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TOGETHER AS A BAND/PLAYING MUSIC?
Since 2016 as a band. Our first ever live performance was on BBC Introducing in February 2016. We played Glastonbury for the first time that same year. I had been playing as a solo artist and in other bands before that for a few years.

GIVE US 3 REASONS WHY WE SHOULD TRACK DOWN, LISTEN AND DISCOVER YOUR MUSIC?
1) We think it’s rather unique. I don’t know who else we sound like. I hope that’s a good thing. Cinematic indie-folk but with lots of string orchestration.

2) We’ve put our heart and soul into this record, and we’ve worked with some great people. It was mixed by LA based producer and Bees frontman Paul Butler (Michael Kiwanuka, Andrew Bird, Teskey Brothers). We also worked with Mercury-nominated Adrian McNally (The Unthanks) who led the live string-quartet studio session and co-produced/mixed three songs.

3) Our music is escapism, the world feels completely f***ed at the moment, so it’s good to let your mind drift somewhere beautiful for a while.

WHERE DO YOU SOUND BEST – FESTIVAL, CLUB, BEDROOM – OR SOMEWHERE ELSE?
I think we sound best in an acoustic venue like a church, when it’s really intense and you can hear a pin drop, but you can also hear every nuance of the acoustic guitar and violins. We played at SXSW in Texas 5 times in a week, which included 2 churches and an awesome venue called the Swan Dive. That was such a great week.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST (PURCHASED)…
Record: Def Leppard – Pyromania (Sorry, guilty pleasure)
CD: It might have been a CD single by The Farm, ‘Altogether Now’.
Download: Hmm not sure on this one.

Introducing Pavey Ark

SO, WHEN IT ALL GOES RIGHT AND YOU’VE GOT A HUGE QUEUE OF HANGERS-ON AND A RIDICULOUS MANSION, WHAT WILL BE YOUR BIGGEST INDULGENCE, MUSICAL OR OTHERWISE?
A huge beautiful studio to rehearse and record in, but it’s also a place to go and chill out. It has to have a pool table and a bar in there. Maybe a cinema room. There’s not going to be much recording going on is there?

SO, WHEN IT ALL GOES WRONG AND YOU’VE ACRIMONIOUSLY BROKEN UP, CITING HUGE MUSICAL DIFFERENCES, WHAT DO YOU FALL BACK ON?
I’m a graphic designer so could continue that, but maybe I’ll have a career change and make erotic glove puppets from socks and sell them on Etsy.

PLEASE CITE SOME INTER-BAND MUSICAL DIFFERENCES…
I’m not sure we have any YET… Everyone is into quite different stuff but it all comes together with minimum friction. It got a bit heated when I ordered a bottle of port instead of beers for a festival rider once.

WHO (OTHER THAN YOURSELVES, NATURALLY) ARE YORKSHIRE’S FINEST IN CULTURE, SPORT AND MUSIC?
Culture: Simon Armitage (Poet Laureate). I went to see the band LYR, which he performs in also and they were excellent.
Sport: I can’t say Hull City, can I? I would lose all credibility, and you won’t publish this article. I’m not a rugby fan at all, but Hull KR are smashing it at the moment.
Music: Mick Ronson and the Spiders from Mars who were from Hull and surrounding area.

NAME YOUR SUPERGROUP – WHO’S PLAYING WHAT, WHO’S ON VOCALS, AND WHO’S YOUR BEZ?
Hamilton Leithauser (from The Walkmen) + Aldous Harding on vocals
Mick Ronson, lead guitar
Nick Drake on acoustic guitar
Danny Thompson on bass
Reni from The Stone Roses on drums

I’ll have Keir Starmer in the role of Bez and hope he slips on a maraca and does himself a mischief.

QUICKFIRE ANSWERS PLEASE:
Go see this film: Get Out
Go read this book: Getting to the Other Side by K.D. Cross
Great lost band/artist: The very best lost artist story is that of Rodriguez. Favourite songs ‘Sugar Man’, ‘Cause’. But Rodriguez was re-discovered. There is a guy from Hull called Stan Cubison, he didn’t start playing guitar till late in life and he has sadly passed away now but he wrote a really beautiful song called ‘Fly’ and it often pops in my head.
Wouldn’t be caught dead supporting: Ed Sheeran… he won’t stop calling us. It’s absolutely relentless.
London, L.A or Leeds?: Hmmm it’s between LA or Leeds. I work in Leeds, so I think I’ll risk the occasional wildfire and try LA for some sunshine. The guy who mixed our new album Paul Butler is in LA so he might fancy a pint.