Pensacola Mist

introducing the UK-based Synth-Pop trio
inspired by the sounds of 80s synths

Artist Bio

Pensacola Mist are the high contrast Synth-Pop trio who’ve become known for their electric, larger-than-life energy, both in their music and on-stage where their customized light show and powerhouse vocals earned them a spot in the “Top 10 NE Artists to See Live in 2022” list by NE Volume Magazine.

Based in North East England and Scotland, Pensacola Mist are inspired by the synths and cinema of the 1980s. They have received national radio play on both BBC Radio 6 and BBC Introducing countless times, and are hotly tipped for a breakthrough 2022.

Pensacola Mist is composed of band members Oliver Payn (Lead Vocals/Bass), Daniel Lee Cox (Synth/Guitar/Vocals/Lighting), and Melissa McNaught (Vocals).

Their album Want to Believe released in 2021 enjoyed a hit with their catchy song “Sex and Violence”. Melissa McNaught’s vocals are delivered with emotive elegance over the sparkling diamond allure of tantalizing 80s influenced synths and punchy drums as arranged by Oliver and Daniel. With echoes of Dream Academy and Kate Bush, Pensacola Mist accurately honors the artistry of a much adored era in electronic music while still charting their own path into the future of Synth-Pop with their own sexy, distinctive style.

With smart and playful lyrics as found in “Achilles”⁠—”You can call me Hercules and your my Achilles”⁠—, the exquisite layered harmonies of “The Dying Light”, and the crafty synth hooks of “Bones/Money”, Pensacola Mist embodies Synth-Pop with pure cinematic depth.

With a new year comes new energy from these artists in the form of new music and new goals.

Horizon – The new single (June 3, 2022)

What influences your music?

“Pensacola Mist have been hugely inspired by synth artists such as The Midnight and Kavinsky, iconic movies like Drive and The Terminator, and the general romanticised aesthetic of 1980s America; a nostalgia tinged time that only exists through rose-tinted glasses and in-between VHS scan-lines. Our live show—including its custom light show—was always designed to be unlike anything anyone would have seen before at the scale we’re currently playing. We want to be the band we never got to see.”

What challenges have you faced as an Artist?

“Playing a niche genre like Synthpop/Synthwave in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere brings its challenges – we’re lucky to have a core audience of hometown supporters, but getting our foot in the door of city venues has proven rather tricky up to this point. We always knew we could build a reputation around how impressive our live shows were, but instead we’re having to reach audiences through our studio output and online presence. Since the world re-opened, we’re sensing rumblings that our name is really getting out there…”

What are your future goals with your music?

“At the start of 2022 we set 5 goals for the year – 1. 100,000 new streams, 2. 5000 total IG followers, 3. Sign with an awesome label, 4. Gig with the best UK synth acts, 5. Release our greatest album yet. Some of these are easier said than done, but I think we’re well on our way! Looking further ahead, one of our biggest career goals is to support The Midnight on tour. We recently saw them in Glasgow and it lit a fire in us. It’s attainable, we just have to put it out into the universe and work hard enough to make it happen.”

Tell us about your studio setup

“Typically we record all of our tracks at Dan’s home studio. We usually start with a blank track in Logic and then head straight to the bass samples in our plug-in of choice, Nexus. From here, we add layers and layers of synth elements recorded via our KORG Minologue or our beautiful light up ROLI LUMI Keys. Our go-to guitars are Oliver’s Reverend Sentinel Bass (in Mulberry Mist colour) and Dan’s Ibanez Iceman PS120 (a replica of Dan’s hero Paul Stanley, lead singer of KISS). The pandemic has meant that we were occasionally forced to record tracks separately, but we always prefer to riff off each other in the studio when we can.”

What projects are you working on now?

“Our next album—Lost In Love—is set to be released in July, 2022. It’s the first album since Melissa joined as full time vocalist, so we’re beyond excited for people to hear the new and improved Pensacola Mist. We’re supporting the album release with a live, invitation only, secret gig that will be filmed for release online this Summer. Looking slightly further ahead we have plans to work on a musical pen-pal project where we collab with other artists in the community that we admire and cover one of their songs in exchange for them covering one of ours. It’s been an idea that’s floated around my head for years now and I think the timing might be right.”

A Message from Pensacola Mist

“You can help support us by engaging with us online! Like our IG posts, check out our YouTube videos, share any songs you like with your friends. These things are all free and make a huge difference to us and artists like us. In a sea full of voices, it can be really hard to be heard, so please make sure to share your favourite artists whenever possible to help them reach a bigger audience.”

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