NEO ARC

Neo Arc attracted attention for their fusion of spoken word, live jazz-grooves and singer-songwriter melodies in 2022, accruing over 800,000 streams on Spotify within 12 months of their debut single release.

The group were led by Leonard Maassen (drums) and Ned Ashcroft (vocals, piano). Other band members included bassist Kielan Sheard, saxophonist Benjy Sandler and vocalist Eliana Veinberga. Collaboration was a key part of the project, which involved singers Gigi Williams, Lila Yin and BRAVVN, as well as numerous other instrumentalists.

Released in February 2022, their catchy debut single, ‘These Days’ attracted attention from Jazz FM and Spotify for the novelty and sincerity of their sound.

After playing two back-to-back sold out launch shows in London, the band began working towards a debut EP before disbanding to pursue solo projects in September 2022.

Releases

• Move (August 14, 2022)
• Footsteps (June 12, 2022)
• In Love? (April 24, 2022)
• Liquid Sunlight (March 27, 2022)
• These Days (February 6, 2022)

String and Horn Arrangements

As part of the production process for Neo Arc, I wrote a number of string and horn quartet arrangements, which I recorded with players from Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

String and horn arrangement for Footsteps by Neo Arc (2022)

Neo Arc – Footsteps (arrangement starts at 00:53)

String quartet arrangement for In Love? by Neo Arc

Neo Arc – In Love? (arrangement starts at 03:03)

Horn arrangement for These Days by Neo Arc

Neo Arc – These Days (arrangement starts at 03:02)

Collaborators:

Ned Ashcroft, Kielan Sheard, Benjy Sandler, Eliana Veinberga

Project Duration:

1 year

Date:

August 2021-September 2022