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50 Red Hot Neon Jungle Facts!

Everything you need to know about the UK’s hottest girl band!

Published 24th Jan 2014

As Neon Jungle’s amazing second single ‘Braveheart’ storms the charts, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about the hottest girlband on the planet right now!

  1. After first meeting in December 2012, Neon Jungle formed two months later when Shereen Cutkelvin, Amira McCarthy, Jess Plummer and Asami Zdrenka stormed through a series of auditions.
  1. Neon Jungle call their fiercely loyal fans NEONS.
  1. Although they’ve only been together for 11 months, the girls call themselves a “family.” Jess said: “We always get asked ‘you guys haven’t been around that long, do you get on?’ and we genuinely, really do! It’s almost like we’ve skipped the awkward friendship section and become a family!”
  1. Neon Jungle have shared a house together in London since July 2013.
  1. According to her bandmates, Jess can’t stop sticking her tongue out and biting it. Move over Miley Cyrus!
  1. Neon Jungle took their name from a song they’ve written called ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ – nope, it’s not a cover of the eighties Guns N’ Roses classic.
  1. The girls have BIG ambitions. According to Amira, they want to match the success of The Spice Girls! She told Music Week: “Not to say that we want to be (The Spice Girls) – but the scale, the way they took over the world in terms of music, everyone they reached.”
  1. The girls hail from different parts of the UK – Shereen is from Lanark in Scotland, Amira and Jess are both Londoners, while Asami comes from Suffolk.
  1. There are ten Chihuahuas in Neon Jungle’s debut video ‘Trouble’. Count them!
  1. Neon Jungle have very different musical heroes. Amira’s idol is Beyoncé, Asami is a HUGE fan of Dido, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters, while Jess loves Kanye West. Shereen’s idol is her singer-songwriter dad who she says has “taught me a lot, he’s just amazing.”

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  1. When asked to describe Neon Jungle in two words, the girls said “chaotic” and “mayhem.” Nice!
  1. All the girls have very different backgrounds. Amira’s mum is from Gambia and her dad is from Jamaica, Asami was originally from Japan, Jess’s dad is Jamaican and her mum is English, while Shereen’s dad is from Belize in Central America.
  1. At school, Amira says she was the “teacher’s pet” while Asami admitted to Planet Notion: “I was a bit of a naughty one – stealing pencils, stealing rubbers, that sort of thing.”
  1. Explaining the ‘Neon’ part of their name, Asami said: “We do like our bright colours but not to the extent when it’s like fluorescent; Neon Jungle is more about vibrant personalities rather than colours.”
  1. If they could be just one jungle animal Shereen says she’d like to be a panther, Jess would be a lion (aren’t they from the African plains?!), Amira would be a panda and Asami would like to be a chimpanzee.
  1. Amira is a sleep eater! She often wakes up in the night and helps herself to food from the fridge. 17. The girls have very closely related pet hates! Amira doesn’t like people without a sense a humour, Asami is irked by slow walkers, Jess hates human traffic and Shereen gets annoyed when anyone eats something crunchy right in her ear! 18. Asami is a bit of a daredevil – her perfect date would be to go skydiving!
  1. If Asami wasn’t a pop star she’d love to be an archaeologist or a fisherwoman on a crab boat. Errr, ok! 20. Asked about their own worst habits, Amira admits she often finishes people’s sentences for them. Asami sometimes eats raw pasta (!!!), Jess swears a lot although she says she “needs to cut it down because it gets me into trouble”, while when Shereen was younger she used to scratch my nails down walls to annoy people.

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  1. Jess favourite food is a Sunday roast complete with Yorkshire puddings, Amira loves seafood and Asami adores nattō - aka Japanese minted soybeans. Shereen’s choice is a bit unhealthier: a wrap filled with hot chocolate spread!
  1. ‘Trouble’ peaked at number 12 when it was released in the summer of 2013 – a great effort for a debut single!
  1. Jess says she “freakishly OCD” about cleanliness. She explains: “If I sense that someone’s touched my towel I will put it in the dirty washing and I will not use it again!”
  1. If Neon Jungle had three words to describe themselves, Shereen’s would be “weird, fun and heavy-handed”, Asami calls herself “crazy, fun and competitive”, Asami is “awkward, cool and awkward (again)” and Jess couldn’t possibly sum herself up in three words!
  1. In November 2013, Neon Jungle were personally invited to perform at the world famous Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York where they rubbed shoulders with Taylor Swift and Fall Out Boy!
  1. A month earlier in October 2013, ‘Trouble’ was used as the soundtrack to the opening group number on Dancing With The Stars in America. Choreographed by the Emmy Award nominated Mandy Moore (not to be confused with the actress), the energetic opener saw the likes of Jack Osbourne and High School Musical star Corbin Bleu dance along to the track.
  1. Neon Jungle’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show performance was viewed by 10million Americans and was broadcast to over 180 countries across the globe.
  1. Although it wasn’t officially released stateside, ‘Trouble’ rocketed to number nine on the US Billboard Dance/Electronic Digital Songs chart after Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and Dancing with the Stars. Impressive!
  1. Neon Jungle’s dream collaborators would be the Midas touched Pharrell Williams and the ultra-cool Major Lazer.
  1. Jess is the oldest member of Neon Jungle at 21. 17-year-old Shereen is the baby of the group!
  1. Neon Jungle’s upcoming debut album will be extremely eclectic featuring elements of “dance, pop, dubstep, grime and rock”. Sounds awesome!

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  1. According to the girls, ‘Braveheart’ is about “letting go and having a good time.” They added: "We experience a lot of different emotions performing and listening to the song. Having it loud pumping through speakers it’s just like a rave every time it plays.”
  1. Jess got scouted to be in Neon Jungle when she was sat outside a bar in London’s trendy Brick Lane.
  1. Neon Jungle supported Jessie J in October 2013 on her sold-out UK tour. Describing it as the pinnacle of their career so far, Amira said: “It was amazing. To think we had the opportunity to share a stage with an artist as amazing and famous as her was a dream.”
  1. Asami absolutely loves One Direction and met them when she was a “fan girl”. In fact she sleeps with little cardboard 1D cut-outs next to her bed.
  1. When she was younger, Amira accidentally set her mum’s kitchen on fire! She told heat magazine: “(My mum) had candles and the open flame set fire to a toilet roll. I threw it into the bin and that caught fire too! I tried to smother it with towels and hairspray and it totally exploded!” Yeah, not the greatest idea Amira!
  1. At Neon Jungle’s first ever arena gig, Shereen and Asami were so overcome with emotion they started to cry before they went on stage.
  1. Although Shereen is the youngest Neon Jungle star, she says she “feels like the oldest.” Shereen added: “I feel like a 30-year-old! I see myself as mature and fun.”
  1. Shereen’s nickname is “dave” or “davey.” A tomboy growing up, she got the nickname as she always hung around with boys.
  1. After being scouted, Jess got the job in Neon Jungle when she gave the band’s manager a recording of her singing The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme tune. Amazing.
  1. One of Asami’s favourite all time artists is Johnny Cash. She says: “I remember always having (Johnny Cash) vinyl around as a kid. I love ‘Ring Of Fire’ and ‘Wayfaring Stranger’.”

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  1. Asami buys most of her clothes from charity shops and rarely spends over £5 on an item. “My number one tip for charity shopping is BE PATIENT”, she insists.
  1. Neon Jungle have covered loads of songs including Lorde’s ‘Royals’, Britney Spears’ ‘Work B****’, The Vamps’s ‘Can We Dance’, Miley Cyrus’s ‘We Can’t Stop’ and Pharrell’s ‘Happy’.
  1. Amira often puts her makeup on before she gets in the shower. She says: “I wash my face first, put my makeup on then get in the shower.” You might want to change the order Amira!
  1. Jess is the biggest shopaholic in the group. However, she likes to keep her secret addiction quiet.
  1. Asami has two big two tattoo designs on her left arm - one of an owl and the other is a series of red roses. Amira has a tattoo of a palm tree on her forearm to remind herself of being in sunny California.
  1. Shereen takes the longest to get ready in the morning followed (in order) by Amira, Jess and Asami.
  1. Amira has two very unusual piercings! The first is on underneath her tongue on the ‘web’ connecting it to her mouth and the other is on her frenulum, which connects your top lip and gum. In case you’re wondering, Amira told In:Demand “it hurt a lot!”
  1. Shereen has a bizarre habit of keeping every single train ticket she’s ever bought.
  1. Asami takes a toy monkey with her wherever she goes. In fact, she has a huge collection of over 100 stuffed toys!
  1. Amira and Asami are both double jointed. Asami’s are so elastic that she can do the ‘human skipping rope’ – this is where she holds her hands together, steps through them and brings them back over her head… eek!

Neon Jungle’s amazing second single ‘Braveheart’ is out now! Download it right here

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