Neon Dreams alt-pop duo to star on New Zealand stages

The alt-pop duo Neon Dreams, hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, has hit New Zealand shores to perform at two upcoming festivals.

The Canadians who these days live in Cape Town, South Africa, are vocalist Frank Cadilac and drummer-guitarist Adrian Morris who say they are the creators of “sunshine music”.

“I call sunshine music, it’s like music for the soul, like when you go outside and the sun touches your skin, it feels good,” Cadilac says.

“Our little spin is that we like to make things that are uplifting, vibey, something to listen to when the sun’s out,“ Morris says.

‘Didn’t have access’

Morris is an indigenous Canadian from the Algonquin people whose whenua runs across Ontario, Quebec and northern parts of New York State.

But growing up, he didn’t have access to the tradition, language or culture of his people.

His grandmother was a survivor of Canadian residential schooling where indigenous people weren’t allowed to practise their language or traditions and died young so nothing was passed on from the culture.

“There are lots of people like myself in Canada that come from residential school survivors; don’t have the language, don’t have traditions or didn’t even grow up around it,” Morris says.

But he says that through music he has been able to connect to his people.

Neon Dreams is playing at the Oempa Festival tomorrow in Tauranga and on Sunday in Auckland.