Q&A: Australian Artist Neptune Explores Identity, Home, and Hope on EP ‘deaf at the dinner table’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY SHEVON GREENE ☆
BLENDING EARLY 2000S CHARM — with fresh indie flair, Australian artist Neptune is making something entirely his own. Raised in Cronulla, a coastal town just south of Sydney, Neptune’s influences include sun, sand and simplicity. Now, with over 260K monthly listeners on Spotify, he’s ready to release his upcoming project, deaf at the dinner table, on July 4.
deaf at the dinner table is a messy yet heartfelt combination of upbeat guitar lines, layered textures, and lyrics that tackle identity, distance, and simply trying to stay hopeful when the world feels off-balance. With carefree tracks like “just my luck” versus the gut-punching storytelling behind “bad,” or even the unraveling of “year 13,” Neptune leans into that clear contrast—showcasing music you can dance to while masking tough honesty. Collaborating with mixer Lars Stalfors (The Dare, Ruel), the EP beautifully captures both a personal reckoning and a deeper and heartfelt return to home.
The Luna Collective heard from Neptune about early 2000s influences, why “throw it at the wall” is his favorite method when it comes to writing music, and the chaos that shaped this new chapter. Read the full interview below.
LUNA: Your new EP deaf at the dinner table pulls so much from early 2000s sounds. What draws you to that era musically?
NEPTUNE: It just felt a bit less calculated back then. Songs weren’t trying to be cool—they just were. There’s this messy charm to the music from that time, like everyone was still figuring out the gear and just going with their gut. Production’s kind of been happening the same way since DAWs [Digital Audio Workstations] became the norm—and people have become so good at formulating it. But, to be honest, I still have no idea what I’m doing half of the time. So, naturally, the stuff I make leans into that same chaos. It’s very “throw this at the wall and hope it works” energy, which I actually love.
LUNA: A lot of your songs feel bright and nostalgic on the surface, but the lyrics dig into some pretty raw emotions. How do you balance that contrast when you write?
NEPTUNE: I think life feels like that. You laugh through the pain. The sun’s out but your mind is somewhere else. I don’t try to balance it—I just let the melody be the mask and the lyrics be the truth. If a song can make you dance and cry at the same time, I’m just about always into it.
LUNA: “09” captures such a specific feeling of freedom. What were you picturing when writing that one? Was there a particular memory that inspired it?
NEPTUNE: It just reminds me of being a kid when nothing really mattered yet. I used to skate down my street with my mates and that was kind of the whole world. Now it feels like the older you get, the more serious everything becomes—like everyone’s constantly waiting for you to prove something. I wanted it to sound like the background music to those years when none of that existed yet.
LUNA: “just my luck” feels like such a classic summer anthem. Was it as fun to make as it sounds?
NEPTUNE: It was the first song I made for the project. I’d been stuck for months trying to figure out what direction to go in, and then I was away in the middle of nowhere with my cousin and we both kind of snapped and just said “F*ck it, let’s make something that’s gritty and carefree and doesn’t try too hard to be clever.” That’s what came out, which kind of ended up being the process for the majority for the project.
LUNA: How did your collaboration with Lars Stalfors shift your sound or perspective in the studio?
NEPTUNE: Lars mixed the record, and he was great at making me feel like none of what I’d done was wrong. He just added his flavor without pushing it into this shiny, poppy territory that would’ve felt off. We talked a lot about the idea of a modern low end with a vintage high end—which, to me, is the early 2000s sound in a nutshell. He really got what I was going for without me needing to explain it too much. I'm such a fan of Lars so it was an honor to work with him on this, and I definitely gained even more respect for him after witnessing his work ethic.
LUNA: In “bad,” you explore emotional dissonance in a really personal way. What kind of headspace were you in when writing it?
NEPTUNE: Honestly, a pretty fractured one. That song is me trying to be hopeful without ignoring the weight of everything wrong around me. It’s like, am I being positive or just delusional? There’s guilt in feeling good when so much is falling apart. I don't know if it's just because I'm getting older and becoming more aware and informed but it feels like now more than ever the world needs help and sometimes there's nothing you can do about it. So, at the end of the day, am I only adding to everything terrible, if I'm gonna be negative about things being okay?
LUNA: Do you feel like deaf at the dinner table says something new about you that your past songs haven’t touched yet?
NEPTUNE: Yeah, for sure. It’s the first time I’ve really let the idea of home—and just me as a person—take center stage. Not just where I’m from, but how it’s actually shaped the way I think and create. It’s less about other people and more about the stuff I haven’t said out loud yet. There’s more of my personality in this one—more humor, more honesty, definitely less polished.
LUNA: You’re from Cronulla, Australia, which has such a specific vibe. Do you feel like growing up there shaped how you see the world, or how you make music?
NEPTUNE: Yeah, totally. Cronulla’s always been a simple place—beach, school, rinse and repeat. I’ve always loved that, but as I got older, I started to notice what wasn’t there too. It made me want to create stuff that felt bigger than that, so when I first started making music, I almost tried to run as far away from the idea of home in my art as possible. I think no matter what, it was always in the background, though. The last couple years I’ve been reconnecting with the community in a real way. Getting closer to the people I grew up with again, and as my idea of success has shifted to just being as true to myself as I can, that’s really shaped this project into something that feels like home to me.
LUNA: If someone only has time to listen to one track from the EP, which one should they hear first and why?
NEPTUNE: I’d say “year 13.” It’s definitely the saddest song on the EP, but it feels like it covers everything I’ve been influenced by over the last few years. The lyrics read like some of my favorite poetry, and the guitar makes me feel like I’m walking through the rain at night. The flow is almost like rap, but the storytelling is rooted in the folk music I grew up with. It’s raw and honest—a snapshot of where I was, and I think it says a lot about the whole project.
LUNA: What’s something you’re really excited about right now, musically or just in life?
NEPTUNE: I just started listening to Stevie Wonder—which I know sounds insane—but it’s honestly been keeping me up at night. My mum’s trying to get me into cooking on Sundays, which is a bit terrifying but also kind of fun. My local team, the [Cronulla] Sharks, are almost in the top four, which I’m absolutely hopeless for. And it’s Friday right now, so I guess I’m just excited for the weekend … maybe a couple surfs, we'll see, for some reason it's absolutely freezing in Sydney at the moment, so, to be honest, I'm excited for some warm weather ‘cause this is cooked.
